Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!ukma!seismo!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: tblake@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu (Thomas Blake) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Biblical Sexual Morality Message-ID: Date: 27 Mar 91 04:40:17 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: State University of New York at Binghamton Lines: 127 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article bgsuvax!kutz@cis.ohio-state.edu (Kenneth J. Kutz) writes: >> The Bible is full of injuctions that we choose to ignore... >> Leviticus 19:19 >> "Obey my commands. Do not crossbreed domestic animals. Do not plant >> two kinds of seed in the same field. Do not wear clothes made of two >> kinds of material." (TEV) > >Tom I believe that God gave the nation of Israel many commands to >separate them from the surrounding nations. Israel was to be >different, set apart to God as a light for the nations. You'll >find in this book that these commands were given to the *nation* >Israel. The church had not been built yet (Jesus said "I will >build my church" - future tense). This is an interesting loop hole, but I don't think you really want to apply it. The injunctions I cited from Leviticus were indeed given to the nation of Israel. (I also cited 19:26-28) But, the 10 Commandments were also given to the nation of Israel. And here's a little gem from just before 19:19: Leviticus 19:17-18 "Do not bear a grudge against anyone, but settle your differences with him, so that you will not commit a sin because of him. 18 Do not take revenge on anyone or continue to hate him, but love your neighbor as you love yourself. I am the Lord. (TEV) So, I don't think we really want to ignore injunctions just because they were given to the nation of Israel, and not to followers of Christ, and yet there are items of the law that I think many of us would agree we are better off without. Deuteronomy brings us a commandment which certainly puts "The Prodigal Son" in an interesting light... Deuteronomy 21:18-21 "Suppose a man has a son who is stubborn and rebellious, a son who will not obey his parents, even though they punish him. 19 His parents are to take him before the leaders of the town where he lives and make him stand trial. 20 They are to say to them, `Our son is stubborn and rebellious and refuses to obey us; he wastes money and is a drunkard.' 21 Then the men of the city are to stone him to death, and so you will get rid of this evil. Everyone is Israel will hear what has happened and be afraid. (TEV) Here's one that I'm afraid we all fall down on (Pardon the Pun) Deuteronomy 22:8 "When you build a new house, be sure to put a railing around the edge of the roof. Then you will not be responsible if someone falls off and is killed. (TEV) So, should we discard Deuteronomy? There's a baby in with the bathwater. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 "Israel, remember this! The Lord-and the Lord alone-is our God.* 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. * The Lord...is our God; or The Lord, our God, is the only God; or The Lord our God is one. (TEV) The books of The Law have many laws we all accept. They have a number of laws which a many of us reject, (not all of us). By what ruler do we judge which laws are meant for us, and which ones are not? Do we look to Paul? Do we look to Peter? Do we look to the words of Jesus recorded in the Gospels? Do we pray to God to show us his way for us? I'd say any and all. Kenneth says "and above all, pray." I'll go along with that. Tom Blake SUNY-Binghamton P.S. I include this citation from Numbers. Does any denomination practice this ritual? Numbers 5:11-31 The Lord commanded Moses 12-14 to give the Israelites the following instructions. It may happen that a man becomes suspicious that his wife is unfaithful to him and has defiled herself by having intercourse with another man. But the husband may not be certain, for his wife may have kept it secret-there was no witness, and she was not caught in the act. Or it may happen that a husband becomes suspicious of his wife, even though she has not been unfaithful. 15 In either case the man shall take his wife to the priest. He shall also take the required offering of two pounds of barley flour, but he shall not pour any olive oil on it or put any incense on it, because it is an offering from a suspicious husband, made to bring the truth to light. 16 The priest shall bring the woman forward and have her stand in front of the altar. 17 He shall pour some holy water into a clay bowl and take some of the earth that is on the floor of the Tent of the Lord's presence and put it on the water. 18 Then he shall loosen the woman's hair and put the offering of flour in her hands. In his hands the priest shall hold the bowl containing the bitter water that brings a curse. 19 Then the priest shall make the woman agree to this oath spoken by the priest; "If you have not committed adultery, you will not be harmed by the curse that this water brings. 20 But if you have committed adultery, 21 may the Lord make your name a curse among your people. May he cause your genital organs to shrink and your stomach to swell up. 22 May this water enter your stomach and cause it to swell up and your genital organs to shrink." The woman shall respond, "I agree; may the Lord do so." 23 Then the priest shall write this curse down and wash the writing off into the bowl of bitter water. 24 Before he makes the woman drink the water, which may then cause her bitter pain, 25 the priest shall take the offering of flour out of the woman's hands, hold it out in dedication to the Lord, and present it on the altar. Finally, he shall make the woman drink the water. 27 If she has committed adultery, the water will cause bitter pain; her stomach will swell up and her genital organs will shrink. Her name will become a curse among her people. 28 But if she is innocent, she will not be harmed and will be able to bear children. 29-30 This is the law in cases where a man is jealous and becomes suspicious that his wife has committed adultery. The woman shall be made to stand in front of the altar, and the priest shall perform this ritual. 31 The husband shall be free of guilt, but the woman, if guilty, must suffer the consequences.