Medical Treatment and Nudity of the Opposite Sex: The Urhobo Christian Dilemma from a Biblical Perspective

John Arierhi Ottuh

                   Vicar: Winners Baptist Church, Effurun, Delta State, Nigeria.

Email:wibachef90@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT Nudity before the opposite sex is abhorred by the Church in Nigeria. There appears a paradox between the Christian doctrine of purity of man and the medical science of physical wellbeing of man. Therefore, using the comparative analysis model as a method, this paper compared the Christian doctrine of purity with the medical science that defiles such Christian purity in the area of nudity before the opposite sex in medical treatment. The paper was a Christian critique on the church’s silence over the nudity of the opposite sex before a medical doctor of an opposite sex in medical treatment. The paper also showed that both the silence of the church and defilement of the Urhobo understanding of ofarie (imorality) posed a serious dilemma to the Urhobo Christian. This paper argued that the gap between Christian morality and scientific justification is very narrow. The study was concluded on the presupposition that if the Church regarded nudity before the opposite sex as a sin, it is therefore a dilemma for the Christian when the church does not regard it as sin in medical practice. This raises the question of whether the church is just and fair on this