Teen girls' Bible talks of oral sex, lesbianism: smears 'filthy graffiti across the Word of God'

http://worldnetdaily.com/ ^ | March 18, 2005 | Ron Strom

[deepFR]

Bible created especially for girls age 13-16 that includes profiles of fictional teenagers discussing oral sex, lesbianism and "dream" guys is drawing sharp criticism from some Christian parents who say such material should not appear alongside Scripture.

The "True Images" Bible, published by Zondervan, promises on its dustcover to "strengthen your relationship with God, family, friends and guys."

While the book includes the entire text of the New International Version of the Bible, it's the "over 1,000 relevant and compelling notes and articles" that have critics upset.

The "In Focus" profiles are peppered throughout the text of the Bible and deal with subjects like sex, pregnancy, alcoholism, dating, homosexuality, depression, pornography and flirting.

An introduction in the Bible explains its goal: to present to young girls "true images": "God's message about who you are in his eyes."

The "In Focus" article on sex appears amidst scriptural regulations on offerings in the book of Leviticus. It profiles the fictional girl "Ashley" and is entitled "Casual or Not?"

While the message of the profile is to save sex for marriage, critics aren't convinced the frank-talk approach is appropriate for young teens.

Discussing her friend "Emma," Ashley says, "The story is that she had oral sex with a guy friend of ours last week. Just for fun. They're not dating, although they've always flirted with each other a lot. Emma took one look at my face this morning, and she knew I knew."

Emma goes on to claim that oral sex "is not even sex," but Ashley disagrees, saying, "God's definition of sexual purity covers much more than intercourse."

Following Ashley's narrative is a warning that "the physical and emotional effects of oral sex are similar to intercourse," along with tips for dealing with friends who are engaging in the practice.

[scripter]

Twice in the forum I have asked you to stop posting to me, and I have privately asked you as well. And in my private freepmail I said I would hit abuse if you posted to me again. Apparently you don't care. Just to let you know, I've been true to my word.

Your zeal is awesome yet severely misguided.

[CatoRenasci]

That's why the fictional companion pieces, which hope to address this issue, must not give a single inch to the presupposition of sinful life. From the very beginning, the characters who engage in casual sex should be seen to be selfish, self-centered, vain dolts.

I understand your concern, and feel pretty much the same way. However, based on what I've learned over the past six years with two teenage daughters (one turning 20 this mont and one 17) who've pretty much stayed on the straight path, it's not just the obviously selfish, self-centered and vain dolts who end up in these situations and making very bad choices. It can be girls they've known all their lives and have gone to Sunday school and through Confirmation with, girls and boys whose parents we know, and know they've been caring, involved Christian parents. In some of the cases we've shared (through our friendship with the parents) the agony of seeing kids take a bad turn and hurt themselves and others. So, to paint the pictures so starkly is likely to be inconsistent with the teenagers actual experience. The teaching points are strongest not when they are portrayed most starkly, but when they are most believable and consistent with what the kids actually see in their lives.

[mamelukesabre]

Yeah, I think hillary says the same thing about the US constitution.

[unlearner]

I agree that the original is what was inspired.

The example set by the apostles in handling the Septuagint is revealing. Often the New Testament quotes it as a translation of the Old Testament. Often the New Testament quotes differently than the Septuagint. They used it but did not treat it as the only correct way to express the meaning of Old Testament scriptures in the Greek language.

There is value in making the Bible accessible in the common language. I am convinced that the translators of the KJV, based on their preface to that version, would be in favor of a revised translation for today.

The problem is that most modern translations do much more than improve the translation. They often make the wording more complex not less. They often use terms that are ineffective, like the examples I cited. And there are many, many more.

Additionally, many translations use translators who should not be allowed to participate. There are people who have been involved in mainstream translations who were involved in homosexuality. These same people contributed opinions about the best way to translate passages that deal with this issue.

Further, translations cannot dictate the reading level necessary to understand them. If a passage can be understood by a second grader, fine. If it requires college level comprehension, fine too. There are some scriptures that are hard to understand, period.

My point about literacy is that the primary reason why literacy is so prevalent today is that the Bible was made available to people in their language. It has spread through the world due to financial benefits, but the ability of masses to read and write came about as a result of the Bible. Most of the colleges of this nation (including Harvard, Yale, and Princeton) were founded to help people understand the Bible better.

Yes, Christianity has survived with many illiterate people, but that does not make it desirable. God does not want His children to be ignorant. Part of Biblical New Testament teaching is to equip believers with the ability to learn from scriptures for themselves. Doesn't it make more sense to educate and equip believers with the ability to comprehend (or at least look up) the meaning of difficult words, than to try to dumb down the scriptures so that it will be understood by those at a lower reading level. The latter does not constitute translation but commentary.

"My basic point is this this: words and language chage; God's laws and his teachings do not. We should not be so slavishly devoted to mere English words that we actually obscure the clear teachings of God. Anything that conveys the truth of God in language people actually use and understand is okay in my book."

I agree with this statement. The problem is that many modern translations do not make the meaning clearer, they obscure and dilute the meaning. The are less precise in many cases.

One last point regards money. Many of the modern translations are about money. While there are missionaries who are underwritten in their efforts to make the scriptures freely available in other languages, there are some here who see Christians as nothing more than a marketing demographic. They "make merchandise" of believers. Why do these translations need copyrights? Why are they not underwritten by voluntary contributions? Making new Bibles is big business in America. It is why there is this special Bible for teenage girls.

Many translations are compromised by trying to adapt the meaning of the Bible to current cultural views. Rather than allowing the Bible to speak out against the wickedness of a culture, there seems to be an effort to try to make the teachings of the Bible fit within certain ideologies. What the Bible has to say about distinctions between the sexes, alcohol, ownership of property, marriage and sexuality, etc. should be taken at face value rather than trying to accommodate modern thinking. Once money becomes an issue, trying to appeal to the target audience results in telling people what they want to hear, rather than what they need to hear.

[scripter]

It can be girls they've known all their lives and have gone to Sunday school and through Confirmation with, girls and boys whose parents we know, and know they've been caring, involved Christian parents.

That's an excellent point to ponder. We homeschool and allow about 1 hour of television a month for our children. We strive to protect their minds until they reach an appropriate age where they can better understand the more adult issues.

But... what can you do about the children they get to know in little league and other sports? Also, our family does not share our passion to protect the minds of our children, and they let their own children have access to things we find completely unacceptable. How can you protect the minds of your children from cousins and others that may discuss inappropriate issues for their age range?

You can do your best, but there will be many times children will be exposed to something they shouldn't, and often times from family.

While I can't really endorse the book without reviewing it myself, unless we live in a cave, children will be exposed to issues many folks find objectionable, and other than doing our best to proect their minds, there's little to nothing we can do about some things.

[Corin Stormhands]

Teenagers who engage in "this kind of stuff" should be disfellowshiped from the church, and removed from the communion of other Christians--JUST AS PAUL TOLD US.

Some of us still think our teenagers are children.

Toss 'em out on the street? Yeah, that's a Christian attitude for you.

Remember Jesus said "the well need no Physician."

And Jesus wouldn't toss them out.

[farmer18th]

Yeah, that's a Christian attitude for you.

< Take it up with Jesus. (Read Matthew 18.)

[farmer18th]

it's not just the obviously selfish, self-centered and vain dolts

That's partially because the "myth-makers" in our society, the storytellers in the media, create cultural assumptions, and pave the way for everyone, even the well churched, to feel comfortable about sin. The Lord wants us to be on a war footing against sin, and that means that you use literature, among other things, to lead the way into righteousness. The term "role model" shouldn't just be theoretical. Your daughters sound like them, and since such children exist, those sorts of children need to be made into the heroines of such companion pieces.

[CatoRenasci]

Again, I hear what you're saying and know where you're coming from. If I can make an analogy: When I was in junior high school in 1962, the State of California Dept. of Education sent a woman around to lecture us about the evils of drugs, marijuana in particular. This was before Tim Leary's "turn on, tune in, and drop out." In fact, at that time, the most likely consumers of marijuana were the local Mexican kids known as pachuchos who wore duck-tail haircuts, rode around in "low rider" cars and were into petty (and not so petty) crime. The highlight of the presentation was the 1930's movie Reefer Madness. The movie, which a few years later was shown on college campuses all over the country as a camp tribute to the silliness of anti-drug hysteria, was so over the top that everyone was laughing by the time it was over. And, as first a few, and then more, kids tried pot without the immediately doleful effects depicted in the movie, even ordinary good kids came to think that the warnings against pot were way overblown and hyped. The anti-drug forces lost credibility to such an extent that they have not yet fully recovered it. I fear that your approach -- as satisfying as would be to me -- might have the same effect to undermining the credibility of the message. Based on my own childrens' experiences, I think what the kids hunger for are ways of understanding how they can make Christian choices, and deal with the dilemmas as they really run into them on a daily basis. I think, again, without having read it, that's what the Zondervan people (who can hardly be called weak Christians as a group) are trying to accomplish. How well they've succeeded, I cannot say. But, I do think the effort is worthwhile.

[farmer18th]

I think, again, without having read it, that's what the Zondervan people (who can hardly be called weak Christians as a group) are trying to accomplish. How well they've succeeded, I cannot say. But, I do think the effort is worthwhile.

And I would have to say they are going about it the wrong way. Holding up bad art with good intentions ("Reefer Madness") doesn't really argue your point, or do justice to mine. The role of art is to make heroism and virtue look credible, not ridiculous. Opting for titles like "Am I Gay?", moreover, almost surrenders the argument before it is ever made.

[billbears]

The words in the Bible are quite clear if one sits down and studies it, even without some catechism. I don't need someone else to tell me what it means as God shows us clearly through His word if we are open to the Holy Spirit

And just curious because I've never read the catechism to the Catholic Church but the part you posted says nothing of Christ's sacrifice or his resurrection from the dead. Seems that would be the central message of any church and should especially find it in the prologue, perhaps in big bold red letters? I realize it comments on our relationship to God through Christ, but it doesn't mention exactly what Christ did for us does it?

[Notwithstanding]

Remember, what I posted are a few introductory paragraphs of a 1000 page work that is very detailed and comprehensive - and chock full of scripture references.

Never-the-less, I am puzzled by your post to me since the excerpt I posted highlights scriptures that declare that Jesus is the Savior:

---

FATHER,... this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." Jn 17:3

"God our Saviour desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 1 Tim 2:3-4

"There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" - than the name of JESUS. Acts 4:12

[Notwithstanding]

The whole point of my post was to note that man needs help from the Church in order to make sense of Scripture.

God EXPECTS the Church to assist people in comprehending the Word - in fact he commands it!

The Catechism does not replace Scripture - and it presumes the reader will have access to or familiarity with the OT and NT.

[billbears]

Yes it does, but it doesn't really make the statement of what Christ did to give us that salvation does it? Just seems you would want that at the very beginning to me. Don't get me wrong. I'm not degrading it, just questioning. Is more information about Christ's actions in the catechism?

[Notwithstanding]

Catechism of the Catholic Church

ARTICLE 2 - GRACE AND JUSTIFICATION

I. JUSTIFICATION

1987 The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us, that is, to cleanse us from our sins and to communicate to us "the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ" and through Baptism:[34]

But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves as dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.[35]

1988 Through the power of the Holy Spirit we take part in Christ's Passion by dying to sin, and in his Resurrection by being born to a new life; we are members of his Body which is the Church, branches grafted onto the vine which is himself:[36]

[God] gave himself to us through his Spirit. By the participation of the Spirit, we become communicants in the divine nature.... For this reason, those in whom the Spirit dwells are divinized.[37]

1989 The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus' proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."[38] Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high. "Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.[39]

1990 Justification detaches man from sin which contradicts the love of God, and purifies his heart of sin. Justification follows upon God's merciful initiative of offering forgiveness. It reconciles man with God. It frees from the enslavement to sin, and it heals.

1991 Justification is at the same time the acceptance of God's righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. Righteousness (or "justice") here means the rectitude of divine love. With justification, faith, hope, and charity are poured into our hearts, and obedience to the divine will is granted us.

1992 Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ who offered himself on the cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God, and whose blood has become the instrument of atonement for the sins of all men. Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy. Its purpose is the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life:[40] But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus.[41]

1993 Justification establishes cooperation between God's grace and man's freedom. On man's part it is expressed by the assent of faith to the Word of God, which invites him to conversion, and in the cooperation of charity with the prompting of the Holy Spirit who precedes and preserves his assent:

When God touches man's heart through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, man himself is not inactive while receiving that inspiration, since he could reject it; and yet, without God's grace, he cannot by his own free will move himself toward justice in God's sight.[42]

1994 Justification is the most excellent work of God's love made manifest in Christ Jesus and granted by the Holy Spirit. It is the opinion of St. Augustine that "the justification of the wicked is a greater work than the creation of heaven and earth," because "heaven and earth will pass away but the salvation and justification of the elect . . . will not pass away."[43] He holds also that the justification of sinners surpasses the creation of the angels in justice, in that it bears witness to a greater mercy.

1995 The Holy Spirit is the master of the interior life. By giving birth to the "inner man,"[44] justification entails the sanctification of his whole being:
Just as you once yielded your members to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now yield your members to righteousness for sanctification.... But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life.[45]

II. GRACE

1996 Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life.[46]

1997 Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life: by Baptism the Christian participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of his Body. As an "adopted son" he can henceforth call God "Father," in union with the only Son. He receives the life of the Spirit who breathes charity into him and who forms the Church.

1998 This vocation to eternal life is supernatural. It depends entirely on God's gratuitous initiative, for he alone can reveal and give himself. It surpasses the power of human intellect and will, as that of every other creature.[47]

1999 The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God makes to us of his own life, infused by the Holy Spirit into our soul to heal it of sin and to sanctify it. It is the sanctifying or deifying grace received in Baptism. It is in us the source of the work of sanctification:[48]
Therefore if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself.[49]

2000 Sanctifying grace is an habitual gift, a stable and supernatural disposition that perfects the soul itself to enable it to live with God, to act by his love. Habitual grace, the permanent disposition to live and act in keeping with God's call, is distinguished from actual graces which refer to God's interventions, whether at the beginning of conversion or in the course of the work of sanctification.

2001 The preparation of man for the reception of grace is already a work of grace. This latter is needed to arouse and sustain our collaboration in justification through faith, and in sanctification through charity. God brings to completion in us what he has begun, "since he who completes his work by cooperating with our will began by working so that we might will it:"[50]

Indeed we also work, but we are only collaborating with God who works, for his mercy has gone before us. It has gone before us so that we may be healed, and follows us so that once healed, we may be given life; it goes before us so that we may be called, and follows us so that we may be glorified; it goes before us so that we may live devoutly, and follows us so that we may always live with God: for without him we can do nothing.[51]

2002 God's free initiative demands man's free response, for God has created man in his image by conferring on him, along with freedom, the power to know him and love him. The soul only enters freely into the communion of love. God immediately touches and directly moves the heart of man. He has placed in man a longing for truth and goodness that only he can satisfy. The promises of "eternal life" respond, beyond all hope, to this desire:
If at the end of your very good works . . ., you rested on the seventh day, it was to foretell by the voice of your book that at the end of our works, which are indeed "very good" since you have given them to us, we shall also rest in you on the sabbath of eternal life.[52]

2003 Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts that the Spirit grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church. There are sacramental graces, gifts proper to the different sacraments. There are furthermore special graces, also called charisms after the Greek term used by St. Paul and meaning "favor," "gratuitous gift," "benefit."[53] Whatever their character - sometimes it is extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues - charisms are oriented toward sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church. They are at the service of charity which builds up the Church.[54]

2004 Among the special graces ought to be mentioned the graces of state that accompany the exercise of the responsibilities of the Christian life and of the ministries within the Church:

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.[55]

2005 Since it belongs to the supernatural order, grace escapes our experience and cannot be known except by faith. We cannot therefore rely on our feelings or our works to conclude that we are justified and saved.[56] However, according to the Lord's words "Thus you will know them by their fruits"[57] - reflection on God's blessings in our life and in the lives of the saints offers us a guarantee that grace is at work in us and spurs us on to an ever greater faith and an attitude of trustful poverty.
A pleasing illustration of this attitude is found in the reply of St. Joan of Arc to a question posed as a trap by her ecclesiastical judges: "Asked if she knew that she was in God's grace, she replied: 'If I am not, may it please God to put me in it; if I am, may it please God to keep me there.'"[58]

34 Rom 3:22; cf. 6:3-4.

35 Rom 6:8-11.

36 Cf. 1 Cor 12; Jn 15:1 4.

37 St. Athanasius, Ep. Serap. 1, 24: PG 26, 585 and 588.

38 Mt 4:17.

39 Council of Trent (1547): DS 1528.

40 Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1529.

41 Rom 3:21-26.

42 Council of Trent (1547): DS 1525.

43 St. Augustine, In Jo. ev. 72, 3: PL 35, 1823.

44 Cf. Rom 7:22; Eph 3:16.

45 Rom 6:19, 22.

46 Cf. Jn 1:12-18; 17:3; Rom 8:14-17; 2 Pet 1:3-4.

47 Cf. 1 Cor 2:7-9.

48 Cf. Jn 4:14; 7:38-39.

49 2 Cor 5:17-18.

50 St. Augustine, De gratia et libero arbitrio, 17: PL 44, 901.

51 St. Augustine, De natura et gratia, 31: PL 44, 264.

52 St. Augustine, Conf. 13, 36, 51: PL 32, 868; cf. Gen 1:31.

53 Cf. LG 12.

54 Cf. 1 Cor 12.

55 Rom 12:6-8.

56 Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1533-1534.

57 Mt 7:20.

58 Acts of the trial of St. Joan of Arc.

[unlearner]

Thanks for the links. I have not had time to read all of it yet, but found some of the content very interesting. I have book-marked your link and plan to review it when I have more time.

Thanks.

[billbears]

Thanks. Makes more sense now

[Corin Stormhands]

Are sinners not allowed in your church?

Who turns out the lights when there's no one there to begin with?

[farmer18th]

Are sinners not allowed in your church?

Re-read the new testament. If you're dismissive and petulant about it, you have to take up with God, not me:

1 Cor 5:11 "...But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat..."

Zondervan wouldn't approve?