Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: vm0t+@andrew.cmu.edu (Vincent Paul Mulhern) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Moral reasoning (was Re: draft of Identity Task Force statement) Message-ID: Date: 7 Jan 91 04:10:08 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 35 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Responding to the post by Mike Maas... The Bible tells a married couple not to "deprive" each other for a long period of time, unless it's a mutual desire (1 Cor 7:5) so I think mood changes are natural enough and were addressed by Paul. Second...The Bible says what it says. Saying, "Maybe there's a cultural aspect to this that nobody has found that makes specific only and not really general principles" is so bogus it isn't even funny. Come on...sin is sin. There are some things GOD says, "DO NOT DO THIS." about. Like, eat the fruit, etc. etc. Well, HAVE SEX WITH SOMEONE YOU AREN'T MARRIED TO is in there. Gal. 5:19. Eph. 5:3. Elizabeth Tallant cited I Cor 6:15-20. It's there, and it's clear. God did not stutter. It doesn't say, "Don't fornicate with selfish motives." It doesn't say, "Don't fornicate unless you really love the person sincerely and with the love of God." It says, "DON'T FORNICATE." About the cultural context bit...yes, there is a context to be considered. Paul says the same thing to several DIFFERENT CITIES in the Roman empire. I've some schooling about this time period...guess what the context is...Roman culture said that SEX (when you want it, how you want it, where you want it) was not really bad. Well, guess what OUR culture says...same thing. So Paul's instructions are quite applicable in this matter today. It's not easy. It's not always fun. But it's obediance to God. If Jesus is "savior and lord" then we're "savee and servant". If we expect Him to do His part, then He can expect us to do our part. Was what He did easy? natural? fun? harmless? No. Then none of those are valid criteria for OUR behavior, either. Was what He did obediance to the Father no matter what the Father's demands were? Yes. Jesus is Lord! Vince Mulhern