In today’s culture, modesty is often viewed as old-fashioned, judgmental, and repressive. Even in many churches, the topic is rarely preached (or practiced) because it is unpopular to limit a person’s “freedom of expression” and “right” to choose what to wear.

The reality is that modesty is not a theological issue. It is not even a fashion issue. It is a heart issue. We like what we wear. We like how it makes us feel. And we like the compliments (whether stated or implied) that we get from others.

However, the Bible introduces us to a new idea – that our lives are not our own. Our bodies are not our own. Our dress choices are not our own. We are bought with a price, and we are saved for one purpose – that every aspect of our lives would glorify God.

We are called to be separate from the world because the Christian value system is completely contrary to the world’s ideals. The world values self-expression, self-esteem, and fashion; but God calls us to self-control, self-denial, and a lifestyle that honors Him above all else. The world values familiarity and pushes the boundaries of appropriateness, but God calls us to honor and respect each other out of love for Him. The world values the praise and approval of people, but God calls us to see the qualities of the heart.

This is why the New Testament says that we should not adorn ourselves outwardly to be seen by people, but rather we should adorn our hearts to be seen by Him:

• “Do not let your adorning be external – the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear – but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.” – 1 Peter 3:3-4
• “Women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness – with good works.” – 1 Timothy 2:9-10

Two thousand years ago, the women of the world adorned themselves much as they do today – with jewelry, cosmetics, expensive clothing, and elaborate hairstyles. However, Christian women were different. Following the New Testament commands, they not only focused on adorning their hearts, but they avoided adorning themselves outwardly:

• “A woman should not be adorned in a worldly fashion. . . . ‘Let your women be such as adorn themselves with shamefacedness and modesty, not with twisted hair, nor with gold, nor with pearls, or precious garments.’” – Cyprian (c. 250)
• “Concerning modesty of dress and embellishments, indeed, the commandment of Peter is likewise plain, restraining as he does . . . the glory of garments, the pride of gold, and the showy elaboration of the hair.” – Tertullian (c. 198)
• “It is not right before God that a faithful Christian woman should be adorned. . . . God’s heralds . . . condemn as being unrighteous those women who adorn themselves in such a manner. You stain your hair. You paint the opening of your eyes with black. . . . You anoint your cheeks with some sort of reddish color. . . . You are rejecting the law when you wish to please the world.” – Commodianus (c. 240)

The early Christian writings reveal five principles of modesty that these early believers (both men and women) applied to their lives.

Principle #1: Draw attention to the heart rather than the outward appearance.

“The greatest sin of immodesty is not how short your skirt is,” a motivational speaker told her college-aged audience. “The greatest sin of immodesty is that we’re saying ‘Look at me’ instead of ‘Look at God.’” The early Christians believed that the outward appearance of a man or woman should draw attention – not to itself – but to the qualities of the heart and ultimately to God:

• “Those who glory in their looks – not in their hearts – dress to please others.” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• “All of you should also be elegant and tidy in person and dress. At the same time, your dress should not in any way attract attention because of extravagance or artificiality. Otherwise, Christian modesty may be scandalized.” – Theonas of Alexandria (c. 300)
• “But self-control and modesty do not consist only in purity of the flesh, but also in seemliness and in modesty of dress and adornment.” – Cyprian (c. 250)

Principle #2: Avoid causing others to stumble because of how you dress.

What we wear – or don’t wear – has the power to influence others. Have you ever worn a new outfit, knowing that your friends would admire it and compliment you? Have you ever “dressed down” simply because you didn’t want people to notice you?

In the same way, what we wear can draw attention to ourselves in a way that is provocative and visually tempting – for both men and women. While those who give into the temptation are accountable for their own choices, we are also responsible to avoid placing a stumbling-block in the way of our brothers and sisters:

• “By no manner of means are women to be allowed to uncover and exhibit any part of their person. Otherwise, both may fall – the men by being excited to look; the women, by drawing to themselves the eyes of the men.” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• “I know not whether He allows impunity to him who has been the cause of perdition to some other person. For that other person perishes – as soon as he has felt lust after your beauty. . . . And you have been made the sword that destroys him – so that, although you are free from the actual crime, you are not free from the infamy attaching to it.” – Tertullian (c. 198)
• “She is not a modest woman who strives to stir up the fancy of another – even though her physical chastity is preserved. Away with those who do not really adorn their beauty, but prostitute it instead. For anxiety about beauty is not only the wisdom of an evil mind, but belongs to deformity.” – Novatian (c. 235)
• “So far, in fact, are Christians from indulging in incestuous desire, that with some Christians even the modest mingling of the sexes causes a blush.” – Mark Minucius Felix (c. 200)
• “Let a holy woman, if naturally beautiful, give no one such a great occasion for carnal lust. Certainly, even if she is beautiful, she should not show off [her beauty], but should rather obscure it.” – Tertullian (c. 207)

Principle #3: Dress simply, and avoid luxury.

The early Christians dressed simply. They avoided expensive and luxurious clothing in order to spend their money on heavenly treasures instead:

• “How much wiser to spend money on human beings, than on jewels and gold. . . . For women should be adorned within, and show the inner woman beautiful.” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• “The words of the Gospel . . . [teach] us not to be disturbed with anxieties about our food and clothing. Rather, while living in plainness and desiring only what is needful, we should put our trust in the providence of God.” – Origen (c. 248)
• “Neither are we to provide for ourselves costly clothing. . . . Buying, as they do, a single dress at the price of ten thousand talents, they prove themselves to be of less use and less value than cloth.” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• “He takes away anxious care for clothes, food, and all luxuries as being unnecessary. What are we to imagine, then, should be said about love of embellishments, the dyeing of wool, and the variety of colors? What should be said about the love of gems, exquisite working of gold, and still more, of artificial hair and wreathed curls? Furthermore, what should be said about staining the eyes, plucking out hairs, painting with rouge and white lead, dyeing of the hair, and the wicked arts that are employed in such deceptions?” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• “These suggestions are not made to you, of course, to be developed into an entire crudity and wildness of appearance. Nor am I seeking to persuade you that squalor and slovenliness are good. Rather, I am seeking to persuade you of the limit, norm, and just measure of cultivation of the person.” – Tertullian (c. 198)
• “The wearing of gold and the use of softer clothing is not to be entirely prohibited. Nevertheless, irrational cravings must be curbed. . . . The proper dress of the temperate man is what is plain, becoming, and clean.” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)

Principle #4: Maintain gender distinction.

Deuteronomy 22:5 instructs, “A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.” The early Christians did their best to maintain gender distinction in their clothing choices:

• “Let a woman wear a plain and becoming dress, but softer than what is suitable for a man. Yet, it should not be immodest or entirely steeped in luxury. And let the garments be suited to age, person, figure, nature, and pursuits.” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• “I find no dress cursed by God except when a woman’s dress is on a man. For he says, ‘Cursed is every man who clothes himself in woman’s attire’ [Deut. 22:5].” – Tertullian (c. 200)
• “What reason is there in the Law’s prohibition against a man wearing woman’s clothing? Is it not that it would have us to be masculine and not to be effeminate in either person or actions?” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• “In His Law, it is declared that the man is cursed who wears female garments. So what must His judgment be of the pantomime, who is even trained to act the part of a woman?” – Tertullian (c. 197)

Principle #5: Avoid falsifying your appearance.

The early Christians practiced honesty in every area of life, including how they dressed. In their writings about modesty, a common thread is that believers should avoid falsifying their appearance. They believed that each person is the perfect work of God, and to cover up or change one’s appearance is to reject the beauty that He has made:

• “What does God think of spurious beauty, rejecting utterly as He does all falsehood?” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• “In their manners, there was no discipline. . . . In women, their complexion was dyed. Their eyes were falsified from what God’s hand had made them. Their hair was stained with a falsehood.” – Cyprian (c. 250)
• “Whatever is born is the work of God. So whatever is plastered on is the devil’s work. . . . How unworthy of the Christian name it is to wear a fictitious face – you on whom simplicity in every form is enjoined. You, to whom lying with the tongue is not lawful, are lying in appearance.” – Tertullian (c. 198)
• “Do not paint your face, which is God’s workmanship. For there is no part of you that lacks beauty. For God has made all things very good. But the wanton extra adorning of what is already good is an affront to the Creator’s work.” – Apostolic Constitutions (compiled c. 390)

Principles of modesty

In summary, the early Christians did their best to follow these five principles of modesty and appropriateness:

1. Draw attention to the heart rather than the outward appearance.
2. Avoid causing others to stumble because of how you dress.
3. Dress simply, and avoid luxury.
4. Maintain gender distinction.
5. Avoid falsifying your appearance.

The following sections will demonstrate how the early Christians applied these five principles to their culture (influenced by the Roman Empire), time period (first through third centuries), and geographical location (Europe, the Middle East, and northern Africa). The purpose of this article is not to instruct 21^st-century believers to live by first-century dress codes. Rather, we ask that the reader approach the early Christian viewpoints with an open mind, and prayerfully consider how to best apply these principles to his/her life.

Modesty for men in early Christianity

• “Do not adorn yourself in such a manner that you might entice another woman to you. . . . Do not further enhance the beauty that God and nature has bestowed on you. Rather, modestly diminish it before others. Therefore, do not permit the hair of your head to grow too long. Rather, cut it short. . . . Do not wear overly fine garments, either.” – Apostolic Constitutions (c. 390)
• “Let the head of men be clipped, unless they have curly hair. But let the chin have the hair. . . . Cutting is to be used, not for the sake of elegance, but on account of the necessity of the case . . . so that it may not grow so long as to come down and interfere with the eyes.” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• “How womanly is it for one who is a man to comb himself and shave himself with a razor for the sake of fine effect, and to arrange his hair at the mirror, shave his cheeks, pluck hairs out of them, and smooth them! . . . For God wished women to be smooth and to rejoice in their locks. . . . But He has adorned man, like the lions, with a beard, and endowed him, as an attribute of manhood, with a hairy chest – a sign of strength and rule.” – Clement of Alexandria
• “The nature of the beard contributes in an incredible degree to distinguish the maturity of bodies, or to distinguish the sex, or to contribute to the beauty of manliness and strength.” – Lactantius (c. 304-313)

Modesty for women in early Christianity

Clothing

• “If you desire to be one of the faithful and to please the Lord, O wife, do not add adornments to your beauty, in order to please other men. Do not wear fine embroidery, garments, or shoes, to entice those who are allured by such things. It may be that you do not do these wicked things for the purpose of sinning yourself – but only for the sake of adornment and beauty. Nevertheless, you still will not escape future punishment for having compelled another to look so close at you as to lust after you.” – Apostolic Constitutions (c. 390)
• “Let [married women] be fully clothed: by garments on the outside and by modesty on the inside.” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• “Neither is it seemly for the clothes to be above the knee.” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)

Jewelry

• “The characteristics of jewelry, garments, and the allurements of beauty are not fitting for anyone except prostitutes and immodest women.” – Cyprian (c. 250)
• “These women, who do not comprehend the symbolism of Scripture, gape all they can for jewels. And they use the astounding argument, ‘Why can I not use what God has exhibited?’” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• “Let not their ears be pierced, contrary to nature, in order to attach to them earrings.” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)

Cosmetics

• “Those women who wear gold imitate the Egyptians. They occupy themselves with curling their locks. They are busy anointing their cheeks, painting their eyes, dyeing their hair, and practicing the other pernicious arts of luxury. The truth is that they deck the covering of their flesh in order to attract their infatuated lovers. . . . If anyone were to refer to these women as prostitutes, he would make no mistake. For they turn their faces into masks.” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• “For those women sin against God when they rub their skin with ointments, stain their cheeks with rouge, and make their eyes prominent with antimony. To them, I suppose, the artistic skill of God is displeasing.” – Tertullian (c. 198)
• “The work of God and His fashioning and formation should in no manner be adulterated – either with the application of yellow color, black dust, rouge, or with any kind of cosmetic. . . . God says, ‘Let us make man in our image and likeness’ [Gen. 1:26]. Does anyone dare to alter and change what God has made?” – Cyprian (c. 250)

Perfumes

• “The use of crowns and ointments is not necessary for us, for it leads to pleasures and indulgences, especially on the approach of night. . . . Let a woman breathe the odor of the true royal ointment – that of Christ, not of lotions and scented powders.” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• [A pagan antagonist speaking to Christians:] “You do not grace your bodies with perfume. You reserve ointments only for funeral rites. You even refuse garlands for your sepulchers.” – Mark Minucius Felix (c. 200)

Hairstyles

• “It is enough for women to protect their locks, and bind up their hair simply along the neck with a plain hair-pin, nourishing chaste locks with simple care to true beauty.” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• “What purpose, again, does all the labor spent in arranging the hair render to salvation? Why is no rest allowed to your hair, which first must be bound, then loosed, then cultivated, then thinned out? Some are anxious to force their hair into curls.” – Tertullian (c. 198)
• “Neither is the hair to be dyed, nor gray hair to have its color changed. . . . Old age, which conciliates trust, is not to be concealed.” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• “Although it is written of the Lord, ‘His head and His hair were white like wool or snow’ [Rev. 1:14], you curse that whiteness. You hate the hoariness that is like the Lord’s head.” – Cyprian (c. 250)
• “You dye your hair, so that it will always be black. . . . But these things are not necessary for modest women.” – Commodianus (c. 240)

General

• “To a wife approved by her husband, let it suffice that she is so – not by her dress, but by her good disposition. . . . Flee from the adornment of vanity. Such attire is fitting for women who haunt the brothels. Overcome the evil one, O modest women of Christ!” – Commodianus (c. 240)
• “Women who wear gold seem to me to be afraid, lest, if one strip them of their jewelry, they would be mistaken for servants, without their adornments. . . . There are circumstances in which this strictness may be relaxed. For allowance must sometimes be made in favor of those women who have not been fortunate in falling in with chaste husbands, and so they adorn themselves in order to please their husbands. But let desire for the admiration of their husbands alone be proposed as their objective.” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• “No wife is ugly to her own husband. She pleased him enough when she was selected [to be his wife]. Let none of you think that, if she abstains from beautifying herself, she will incur the hatred and aversion of her husband. Every husband is the exacter of chastity. But a believing husband does not require beauty. For we are not captivated by the same graces that the Gentiles think are graces.” – Tertullian (c. 198)

Conclusion

Believers are to be separate from the world not only in their beliefs and practices, but also in how they dress. The early Christians did their best to follow these five principles of modesty and appropriateness: (1) Draw attention to the heart rather than the outward appearance; (2) avoid causing others to stumble because of how you dress; (3) dress simply, and avoid luxury; (4) maintain gender distinction; and (5) avoid falsifying your appearance.

Based on these principles, the early Christians avoided expensive clothing, cosmetics, jewelry, perfumes, and elaborate hairstyles. “Those who glory in their looks – not in their hearts – dress to please others,” wrote Clement of Alexandria. These believers understood that modesty is not the legalistic observance of rules; rather, it is the natural outflow of a heart that seeks to love God and treat others respectfully and appropriately.

Lord, how do you want me to dress? What changes do you want me to make in this area?