Yep, unless the National Portrait Gallery photoshops their paintings...

NPG 1; William Shakespeare

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Mason
Member, Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA)
New York, NY

"Come now, and let us reason together," says the Lord, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool." - Isaiah 1:18

I, too, agree that we should look for deeper principles that transcend culture, but I don't see how we can deduce from the Decalogue that men shouldn't wear earrings. I used to wear them but stopped because of personal aesthetic preference. This obviously cannot, however, equate to a general proscription, but I'm open to being shown otherwise.

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Davidius
Husband of Emilia
Member: First Reformed Presbyterian Church of Durham (RPCNA) - Durham, NC
Student: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, German Literature and Classics

This may explain the old adage about Baptists being Methodists with shoes, and Presbyterians being Baptists who can read. To round out the adage, Lutherans might qualify as Presbyterians who drink to excess, and Episcopalians as Lutherans who know when to say when. - D.G. Hart

I remember my brother coming home one day, at 14 or 15, with an earring in one ear. My dad ignored my brother, turned to me and said "you know Eric there are two types of men who wear earrings, pirates and homosexuals, and you don't see too many pirates around any more." My brother turned on his heals and walked out of the room. We never did see that earring again.

In all seriousness though, earrings aren't my thing, but since there is nothing unbiblical about them their use should be a matter of personal taste and liberty.

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Eric
Woodgreen Presbyterian (PCA)
Calgary, Alberta CANADA

Wow. I guess it's a good thing that God knew who and who not to put on the examining commission when He called me to the office of Elder! I find it interesting that, substituting a few words in that last paragraph, you've used a very similar argument to those who'd say that they'd never vote for an elder who used alcohol. VERY similar. But I don't know; maybe you feel the same way about alcohol.

Anyway, it's pretty obvious that we're going to disagree fundamentally on a few things, but I just want to make sure we're actually addressing what the other is saying instead of "arguing around" eachother. You've been a Christian for almost as long as I've been alive, so I definitely appreciate your wisdom and education. Still, it seems to me that we're talking about different things when we talk about "culture". For instance, I'm having a tough time understanding where the pre-WWII era even figures in this discussion. Sure, it's interesting from an historical perspective, but we're talking about the propriety of earrings on men in 2008, in "our culture". All I'm saying is that the minute one says "our culture" in a discussion like this, anything after that point is useless without an agreed-upon definition of what "our culture" is. For instance, there's a huge difference in the culture that my church largely ministers to (urban, younger, bohemian, artistic, highly educated) and the culture that our sister PCA church fifteen miles away ministers to (suburban, older, more "working class", but also educated). We have a common bond in Christ and in the reformed faith, but the cultures of our churches are not the same. I'm not about to tell their elders that their khakis and polos or suits and ties are inappropriate (unless in jest). Neither should they tell ours that our jeans, goatees, Converse sneakers, or earrings are.

[I'm honestly a bit baffled that this is being argued as an issue of "morality" (unless, of course, we're going the "everything is an issue of morality" route).]

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Rae W. | Elder @ Grace Central Presbyterian Church | Columbus, OH
not another blog, v2.0

My cousin showed up at Sunday dinner one time with an earring. My grandfather said, "Let me get a closer look at that earring, Greg." My cousin leaned in for Papaw to get a better look. My grandfather grabbed the earring and yanked it out of his ear and said, "No grandson of mine will wear women's jewelry." Greg has never worn one since, and no other male in our family ever showed up with one until after my grandfather passed away.

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~James Helbert~, Wytheville, VA
Providence Reformed Presbyterian Church, RPCUS
TheBibleAlone.com / The Edinburgh Inn
"Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” - Zechariah 3:2

As opposed to the one where it was acceptable to wear women's jewlry in private?

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Andrew DeShazo, Deacon, Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, Memphis, TN
"All of us stumble in many ways, but if anyone is never at fault in what he says, then he is mature, able to control his whole body."(James 3:2)

The only men that should be wearing ear rings are PIRATES.....arrrrrrrrrr!

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Jim
Elder, Harvest Reformed Church (RCUS)
http://www.harvestreformedchurch.org/
http://tbftgoggi.wordpress.com/

Upon a life I did not live; upon a death I did not die, Another's death, Another's life, I'd rest my soul eternally
Omnia dicta fortiora,si dicta Latina
Si vis pacem, para bellum

Adam, does this suffice?

Ex 32:2-4

Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool.


Ezekiel 16:12-AV And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.

And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the LORD.


We have therefore brought an oblation for the LORD, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets, to make an atonement for our souls before the LORD.

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N. Robert; Trinity Reformed Church RCA, Holland MI

Once in a while you can get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right."

The earing was added later, look
here

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Paul W.
Ordained Pastor, SBC
Girard, Illinois

My blog: A Pilgrim's Ponderings Wife's blog: Grace in Bloom

You forgot to quote this section as well...

"In 2006, Tarnya Cooper of the National Portrait Gallery completed a three-and-a-half-year study of the purported Shakespeare portraits and concluded that the Chandos portrait was the most likely to be a representation of Shakespeare. Cooper points to the earring and the loose shirt-ties of the sitter, which were emblematic of a poet."

Ex 32:2-4 In this text the Israelites had just departed from Egypt, the mosaic law had not been given. Plus, I would not base a practice after the pattern of an idolustrous and stiff necked people.

Ezekiel 16:12 It would be a stretch to use this as a proof text for piercings for men given the overall context given.

Make your case from Ex. 21:6 and Dt. 15:17, I have seen those who have pieced their ears as a mark of being wholly givin to Christ's service.

You forgot to quote this section as well,

Quote:

However, she acknowledges that the painting's authenticity cannot be proven.[3]

Doesn't that just mean that the authenticity of the painting as being the Bard cannot be proven but the dress and earring seem characteristic of a poet of that era? And, if so, isn't that the point?

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Dennis E. McFadden, Ex Mainline Baptist (in Remission)
Atherton Baptist Homes, CEO
First Baptist Church of Alhambra, Member, Transformation Ministries (CA)

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

Exactly.

I found this thread helpful, it also answers the question If he still holds the same view.

I personally do not care what people think of my style, so I am not overly critical of others. I try to be modest and orderly in my dress and try to ask the same of others. I try to focus on my own logs, most of the time. Yet, I still find myself picking at the specks of others before I deal with my logs, all too often.

I must admit that outward appearance does play a role in how I judge one's character upon first acquaintance. You can tell a lot about a person by how they style their self. Most stereotypes are the rule, and exceptions do come along from time to time, but not often.

Its not up to me or anyone to dissect the verses provided to be dogmatic on the issue. Men had piercings and was not determined unlawful. Therefore it is not a stretch to denounce them as sinful or immoral by any means. The stiff neckedness idolatry is not at all connected to jewelry or dress. Perhaps ill have to have my wife take back all of her pants!!!