I know Jim well. My pastor who also knows him has said that Jim can walk into any room and instantly be recognized as the smartest person in that room. My pastor is correct.
This was the BEST read on these subjects I have ever read.
Let’s all be gay for a day and demand the qu’ran be renounced!
Homosexuals, particularly the males, are nothing more than sex-offenders. Sex-offenders should be monitored, not married.
Great read. Very true, especially the part about slavery. I’m sick of arguing with people who say the Bible ‘ednorsed’ slavery. They clearly have never actually studied it.
ping for later
I believe that racism is the greatest sin in America
If I were to list "the worst sin", the daily murder of countless innocents, would head my list.
As a side note, regarding the Levitical prohibition: in the Orthodox Church, those sins which were punished with death under the Old Covenant Law are referred to as “sins unto death” and are peculiar in present usage in that the canonical penance is lifelong excommunication with communion of the Holy Mysteries on the deathbed only (not usually imposed, since penances are regarded by us Orthodox as medicines for the sick soul, rather than punishments, so that priests have great leeway in imposing lighter penances than the canonical penance in hope less drastic treatment will provide a cure). The Orthodox reading of the prohibition that potentially imposes this penance is very narrow — male-on-male anal intercourse — other homoerotic acts have lighter, often much lighter, canonical penances.
I know Jim well. My pastor who also knows him has said that Jim can walk into any room and instantly be recognized as the smartest person in that room. My pastor is correct.
The old law also provided for a release of slaves every sabbath year (seventh year) and at the year of Jubilee (Every 50 years) and even provided a provision for those slaves that did not wish to leave their masters.
Thanks! A thoughtful article. I disagree with Dr. Wink’s statement that slavery is condoned in the Bible. While it doesn’t say anywhere that it is immoral, it does say a lot about the treatment of them, and they were never supposed to be treated as property, but as humans, created in the image of God. God knew that the heart of man would always be deceitful and treacherous, and while slavery began as a way to deal with conquered peoples, or a way to pay one’s debt, they were still to be treated as human beings. It was not God’s will that men became slaves.
Slavery can be associated with homosexuality on these grounds only: it is a sexual sin that you (mostly) submit yourself to, although lots of young boys are raped by adult men they trusted in their childhoods. That normally does not mean they were slaves to anyone, but some we know today are kidnapped to be inducted into the sex slavery trade...by corrupt evil men!
Thanks! A thoughtful article. I disagree with Dr. Wink’s statement that slavery is condoned in the Bible. While it doesn’t say anywhere that it is immoral, it does say a lot about the treatment of them, and they were never supposed to be treated as property, but as humans, created in the image of God. God knew that the heart of man would always be deceitful and treacherous, and while slavery began as a way to deal with conquered peoples, or a way to pay one’s debt, they were still to be treated as human beings. It was not God’s will that men became slaves.
Slavery can be associated with homosexuality on these grounds only: it is a sexual sin that you (mostly) submit yourself to, although lots of young boys are raped by adult men they trusted in their childhoods. That normally does not mean they were slaves to anyone, but some we know today are kidnapped to be inducted into the sex slavery trade...by corrupt evil men!
Also, when life is the standard of evaluation,homosexuality is not a value.The homosexual lifestyle lowers life expectancy by 20 years.
Good summary.
Sorry. This has to be done every now and again.
It’s why no one listens to Bible-thumpers.
Leviticus 15:19. Live it or be a hypocrite.
A most excellent essay. It is important, imho, for Christians not to be dragged down in the gutter with the ‘haters’. You can be destroyed by their hate.
Love the sinner as he/she “is loved by our Father in heaven” but hate the sin.
What is being stated about the so called “homosexual lifestyle”....follows the same pattern as was taken for taking the life of the babies now killed in the womb.
Language is softened or changed to that which is palatable to the public...and it goes on from there. The “issue” is dissected and flooded with every conceivable argument one can give, and that from every resource of “Professionals” to the laymen.....until the true definition is completely lost in the shuffle.....then the general public gets tangled up in all the unnecessary details presented.
It's a sin....which needs forgiveness...and repentance from. As with any sexual “addiction”.
the very fact the gay lifestyle results in homosexuals and lesbians living decades less than normal people indicates the fact this does carry a swifter death penalty than other sins. it is still that wicked and severe that their lives are shortened by their own actions.
we all die because we have sinned and death is a penalty that will be administered for our sin, but some sins get you there quicker than others. of that fact, it is not debatable.
Acknowledging slavery and dealing with the subject does not equate to condoning or endorsing it. The closest you’ll come would be the admonishment to a slave not to rebel, to obey his master. Humans have been bound in one form or another for all recorded history. Our era is the exception, not the rule.
Thanks for the good reference and study guide!
Whatever the consequences shall be, this genie has been freed from the bottle, again.