Subject:
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Re: Is God gay? (was Re: Does God have a monopoly on gods?)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Mon, 6 Mar 2000 23:00:34 GMT
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Viewed:
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1576 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, James Brown writes:
> In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Peter Callaway writes:
> (much snippage, excepting the passage references cited as advocating against
> homosexuality)
> > Can you point me towards these alternative interpretations? I'd like to see
> > these interpretation of the following verses;
> > Leviticus 18:22
> > 1 Corinthians 6:9,13
> > 1 Timothy 1:10
> > Matthew 15:19
> > Mark 7:21
> > 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
> > 1 Corinthians 10:8
> > Romans 13:13
> > Deuteronomy 22:5
> > Jude 7
> > Hebrews 13:4
> > Ephesians 5:13
>
> I can't address most of these, as my memory is horrible, and I don't have a
> bible handy, but I will haul out my standard response to any citation of
> Leviticus...
> Anyone who cites Leviticus as a source for recommended behavior had better
> be keeping Kosher, and cutting their hair appropriately. Leviticus has a
> large volume of laws and guidelines, most of which speak to behavior, and most
> of which are given equal weight under the law.
And the fact that my tent isn't x cubits long and y cubits high, and I prefer
to shake hands on an agreement rather than carve up an ox and walk through the
middle of it means that most of the Levitical laws I don't practice.
Jesus stated that he did not come to abolish the law (of God), which was what
the religious leaders of the time accused him of. They enjoyed a position of
great power and wealth, as the number of laws Jews had to keep were so huge
that no one could possibly keep them all, so the religious leaders
"represented" the people before God, for a small representation fee of course.
Jesus challenged them on numerous occasions on points of law, and showed them
to be severely lacking. But He also stated that "I am the way, the truth and
the light. No one comes to the Father (masculine) except through me". That is
part of the basis of Christianity. I could try to keep all the laws, and may
do a reasonably good job of it, but what good is that if I don't have the all
important relationship with Jesus? Faith without works is dead, but works
without faith are meaningless. Meaningless is a pretty strong word in any
language.
The fact that we could not possibly keep to all the laws is just a
representation of the fact that, no matter how hard we try, we're never going
to be as "good" as God requires us to be. Unfair? No, because it's God's
creation, and he set the T&C's we have to play by.
> Out of curiosity, are you a biblical literalist?
Larry has me pegged as one (and the splinters are starting to hurt ;-), but I
would say no. There are a lot of things in the Bible I don't fully understand,
mostly in the Old Testament, but I'm not Jewish, so I'm not surprised. But on
the other hand I'm not finished researching the Bible, so things are likely to
change with respect to my understanding.
There are a lot of good laws in Leviticus, a lot of amusing ones, and a few
that have me saying "Huh?". Should I keep them all? The only answer to that is
to examine Jesus' life and ask "What did He say we should do?". What he said
was "Love the Lord your God with all your heart .... and love your neighbour
as yourself. On this hangs all the laws of all the prophets".
Out of curiosity, do you have a standard response to Deuteronomy, Matthew,
Mark, Romans, Ephesians, Hebrews, Corinthians ...... ?
Pete Callaway
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