"They welcomed the message very eagerly
and examined the scriptures every day
to see whether these things were so"
--Acts 17:11
As we make our way toward the 2012 elections, many feel tossed to and fro by often contradicting claims about what the Bible says on this or that political issue. Most people just don't know the Bible well enough to say whether these claims are right, wrong, correct, incorrect or a matter of interpretation. How can we keep political Biblespeak honest? Inspired by PolitiFact.com, BibliFact roundups aim to do just that.
BILLY GRAHAM AND MARRIAGE IN THE BIBLICAL SENSE
"At 93, I never thought we would have to debate the definition of marriage," Billy Graham's statement said. "The Bible is clear -- God's definition of marriage is between a man and a woman. I want to urge my fellow North Carolinians to vote for the marriage amendment." -- Billy Graham, in support of North Carolina's Amendment 1, which would stipulate that marriage between one man and one woman is the only valid domestic legal union in the state
With all due respect to Reverend Graham, who has tended to avoid engaging in political debates about homosexuality and gay marriage, the Bible does not clearly define marriage. Nor is the Bible clear that God's definition of marriage is between a man and a woman. Nor is the Bible straightforwardly applicable to any of the current policy debates about gay marriage, civil unions, and homosexuality. For an excellent summary and assessment of biblical-political discourse around gay marriage, read biblical scholar Lee Jefferson's excellent article, "What Does the Bible Actually Say About Gay Marriage?," written last summer in the wake of its legalization in the state of New York. His conclusions: (1) although the institution of marriage has often been governed by ecclesiastical authorities, it is not a biblical institution but a civil one; (2) there is no biblical endorsement of one particular form of marriage (the creation of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2, which is the primary text used to support the argument that it does, is about the creation of gender, and desire, not heterosexual marriage); (3) discussions of specific sexual behavior in Paul's letters are not about marriage; and (4) the modern concept of homosexuality or same-sex orientation is foreign to the ancient texts of the Bible. Professor Lee reasons out each of these points, drawing out all the potentially relevant biblical texts along the way. Long and short, "The Bible is not specific, literate, or even concerned with what we call same-sex orientation or gay marriage."
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1. Christians draw their views of marriage from two main sources. The story of the Creation with Adam and Eve.
2. And second in the New Testament when Jesus said a man is to leave his parents and cling to his wife. And yes liberals I know he said it as an answer to a question about divorce. However a main part of Jesus's ministry was to clear up confusion about what it meant to be holy and how to live to please God. Therefore if he did not include gay marriage then he did not mean for it to be included.
3. I'm sorry I know I said two but I thought of another. The verse that says Husbands love your wives even as Christ loved the Church. No gays there. In the bible Gods relationship with the church is always shown as analogous to that of a bride and a groom, not a groom and a groom, not a bride and a bride.
4. The abscence of condemnation is not acceptance, notwithstanding homosexual acts are condemned explicitly in the Old Testament and part of the New Testaments.
If you want to be a Christian and live by Christian rules - nobody has a problem with that.
Why do you have a problem with people choosing not to live by those rules in relation to marriage? Does it harm you? Does it take away your liberties?
This means that there were no reasons to explain and justify their "committed" relationship. They didn't need 'advocates" attempting to explain away something unnatural as being natural. To take away the shame and guilt, "advocates" show up to attempt to convince people of normal intelligence that God didn't say that about what constitutes marriage. One is walking on dangerous ground when an "advocate" attempts to put words in God's mouth and pull off a Jedi Mind Trick. "Did God really say that? (Genesis 3:1).
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Matthew 19:4 And he (Jesus) answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Since God had already made His thoughts known concerning homosexuality, nothing more needed to be said.
Meanwhile, "traditionalliberalsrock" seems not to grasp that America is not a theocracy.
He also doesn't acknowledge that the bible is full of concubines and multiple wives.
Nor does he seem to fathom the implications of Galatians 3:28 -- in which Paul quotes Genesis 1:27 "male and female" in order to overturn it! -- because Christians believe we are no longer under the old order of creation but are a new creation in the Risen Christ!
Mat 19:4 And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE,
Mat 19:5 and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'?
Just show me where male and male should be joined together and then your blog might be relevant.
ALL of the elements of a traditional Jewish wedding are present in the passages describing the relationship between David and Jonathan. They exchanged gifts, and vows, and had sex. Any one of those elements all by itself is sufficient to constitute a marriage, if performed with the intent to create a marriage, and they had all three.
It's a discussion. They are opinions. Soon enough neither you nor I will have one. Share them while you can.
Marriage is a legal contract between the marrying individuals and the state in which they are marrying.
The church has NOTHING to say about this. Therefore... they cannot rightly say ANYTHING about which gender is allowed to marry or not. The ONLY thing the church has any purview in relation to marriages is whether or not they allow the marriage to take place within their individual walls of worship.