View Single Post
  #10  
Old June 27th 04, 03:31 PM
Gary Drescher
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...

"Gary Drescher" wrote in message
news:xSoDc.121926$Sw.103486@attbi_s51...
"JJ" wrote in message
...

What was it the bible said?


Well, some of my personal favorites are that eating shellfish is an
abomination (Lev 11:11); that a sacrificed goat's kidneys should be

burned
on an altar (Lev 3:16); and that it's alright to enslave people who

don't
share your religion (Lev 25:44). But the newfangled

political-correctness
fad seems to have instilled doubt about these commandments.


That argument does not wash with Christians, who consider the Mosaic Law
fulfilled in Jesus Christ.


I can assure you that many Christians still quote Leviticus (albeit very
selectively) to bolster their positions. And it is quite a stretch to
construe "fulfillment" of Mosaic law as the *repeal* of that law--especially
when Jesus explicitly affirmed the continuing validity of the Pharisees'
Mosaic authority (Matthew 23:3). But the Bible's longevity is due largely to
this sort of ambiguity, which allows people of widely varying philosophies
to conclude that their personal creeds are actually the will of God.

In many ways, the Christian requirements are more strict than the Mosaic
Law. Where before you could not commit adultery, now you cannot look upon
another with lust...
The Mosaic Law ruled your actions. The Christian Law rules your
intentions. It makes all the difference in the world.


So is it now an abomination even to *want* to eat shellfish?

Seriously, though, a growing number of Christian denominations are formally
sanctifying gay unions precisely because, as you say, the New Testament
emphasizes intentions; and the intentions of a loving couple, living
together and raising children, are the same regardless of the genders involv
ed.

--Gary