Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: credmond@watmath.waterloo.edu (Chris Redmond) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Gay Ordination in the Presbyterian Church Message-ID: Date: 22 Mar 91 03:19:54 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Waterloo Lines: 54 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article jhpb@granjon.garage.att.com presents an argument that amounts to "I think some sins matter more than others, so God thinks so too." For instance: >Some >sins, not completely repented of, deserve Hell, and some do not. All >sins deserve punishment, but some deserve eternal punishment, others >only temporal. >There are plenty of people who deny this. Well, maybe I'm one of them. It depends on what you mean by "deserve". We all deserve far worse than we get -- if I were to say that according to Christian theology we all deserve hell, could you really disagree? >Everyone understands that there are just some things that one does NOT >do. Striking one's father, murdering someone, grand theft, or >frequenting houses of prostitution are things that a follower of Christ >does NOT do. Does not do? Or just should not do? >People may SAY that these things are equivalent to, say, making a sharp >remark to someone when provoked in a high pressure situation, but in >reality, they don't ACT that way. Some sins have to be completely cut >out of one's life all at once, others are of a lesser sort that need to >be worked on over time. Because the former are more serious when committed once? Or because they are easier to eradicate? Personally I have no trouble cutting out murder. None at all. Come to think of it, I haven't been to any houses of prostitution lately, either. But I really don't think it's because I consider those offences "more serious", so much as because the temptation is so much rarer. If I *did* feel the frequent temptation to visit brothels, and gave in to it occasionally, would that rule me out as a follower of Christ? Or would it just point to the moral weakness where I need to concentrate my effort, while you concentrate yours on your bad temper? >Homosexual thoughts, words, or actions CANNOT be engaged in, if one >wishes to enter the kingdom of Heaven. They're sins of the grave kind, >like murder, large theft. Says you. Somebody who is less lazy (now that's REALLY where I need to concentrate my moral effort ;-]) please post the relevant Bible verses. You know -- the ones where Jesus says that the serious sins are those inside the heart; calling one's brother a fool; looking at a woman as a piece of meat instead of a fellow-human, a friend; little weaknesses like that. CAR