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: James.Quilty@comp.vuw.ac.nz (James William Quilty) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Gay Ordination in the Presbyterian Church Message-ID: Date: 2 Apr 91 08:50:52 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Computer Science, Victoria University, Wellington, NewZealand Lines: 52 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article , jhpb@garage.att.com writes: |> |> Don't confuse temptation with sin here. Just because bad thoughts |> pop |> into one's mind, doesn't mean that sin is involved. It depends on |> whether one consents to the thoughts. Why ? and who defines what 'sin' is ? Please don't counter with Mat 5:28 - I don't subcribe to the "if you've thought it, you've done it" interpretation of that verse, because I don't think that it makes any sense. |> Our thoughts come from 3 things: ourselves, evil spirits, good spirits. Is there a strong Biblical precedent for this ? |> Here's an example that happened to me, by way of illustration. [deleted for brevity] |> The thought was from an evil spirit, most probably, ...[deleted] I (as a confirmed sceptic) would like you to prove that the thought 'came from an evil spirit' and not from your own subconcious, expressing a perfectly HUMAN emotion, Pleeeeeaaase. :-) |> |> A further comment: I gave the thought/word/deed categorization; there |> are others. For example, somone who defends homosexuality, while not |> strictly engaging in it himself, is guilty of it. I mean that quite |> literally -- someone who defends a sin has to answer for that sin at |> their personal judgement. This is sin by way of condoning, vs. doing. |> |> Joe Buehler Once again, who is it that has decided what a 'sin' is ? If I 'defend homosexuality' would you say that I have sinned ? Are you in a position to tell me what sin is for me ? for anyone ? And aditionally: |> |> [At times Christians have tried to define exactly what |> degree of dwelling on the thought has to happen to make it a sin. If |> carried to excess, this sort of moral hairsplitting can lead people |> into spending their time diagnosing their own spiritual state when |> they should be out following Christ. --clh] Who decides what 'a sin' is ? Surely: "Anything that is not of faith is sin" ? (near the end of Romans 14) so sin, like faith is a personal matter, not a universal one ??!! Jim.