Question:
Is the word Homosexual in the Bible (rebuttle)?
2007-12-28 06:39:58 UTC
Since I was blocked and cannot view the 'other' person question who asked a similar question I decided to post one myself, 1st off, who agrees with me,(Thats the question)
The Word Homosexual is not mentioned Specifically but the act of Homosexuality is mentioned, It's like this, The Word "trinity" is not mentioned in the Bible but is used by Christians to describe the unity of God, Son, Holy Spirit.
Further more, The Word Bible is not used or mentioned in the Bible but is used to describe the collection of books from Gen. to Rev. As For the Bibles Views on Homosexuality, go to this link ; http://www.carm.org/questions/homosexuality.htm
Now, Who agrees ? No Insulting answer please, Those who do ? well I heard it said that whoever strikes first is an indication that their arguement has run out.
23 answers:
2007-12-28 06:47:14 UTC
Yes, I block bigots.





The Greek text of the NT does NOT use the specific word homosexual. If you have a Bible that uses the specific word "homosexual," then you need to throw it out and get a new Bible, the translators have taken gross liberties.



The word being translated to "homosexual" in 1 Corithians 6, and 1 Timothy 1 is "arsenokoitai." This word does not appear in Greek writings prior to Paul's use of it in the NT. Paul made the word up!!



Nobody knows for sure what meaning Paul was trying to convey by it's use. If the meaning Paul wanted to convey was homosexual, then he would have used the word "paiderasste", which was the term used at the time for male homosexual. The word "paiderasste" does not appear in the Bible.



"Arsenokoitai" is made up of two parts: "arsen" means "man"; "koitai" means "beds." Literally translated "arsenokoitai" is a "male-bedder." It is interesting to note that during the time of Martin Luther, the word was universally translated as masturbators untill the 20th century.



Male-bedder has also been interpreted to mean a male prostitute. Which seems to me would be much closer to it's meaning than homosexual.



The Greek word being translated as effeminate is "malakoi." The word appears two other times in the NT, both times being translated as "soft." Taken in the context of this passage some believe it to actually mean "soft in morals." Within it's context, that meaning makes more sense than it does as a descriptive of a person's outward mannerisms.



Jesus, himself, never says one word against homosexuality. If it is the grave sin it is made out to be, then you would think that Jesus would have mentioned it.



In fact, Jesus may have confirmed that homosexuals are from birth in Matthew 19:11. The modern meaning of the word eunuch is a castrated male. However, in ancient times it was a broad term that included any man who lacked sexual desire for women for whatever reason. Hence, their use as chamberlains or officers in the Bible.



It should be noted that men who are castrated after puberty do not lose their sex drive, and historically have made untrustworthy chamberlains. In fact, many women of the harem preferred having sex with castrated males because they could not get pregnant by them.



Jesus even states that not everyone can accept this word. If eunuch simply meant a castrated male or a person born with deformed genitals, then why would some not be able to accept this word? If the ancient term "eunuch" did indeed include homosexuals (some surviving ancient Roman literature points to this), then Jesus was proven right, some cannot accept that homosexuality is normal and natural from birth.



BTW: Sodom and Gomorrah were not destroyed because of homosexuality.



The decision to destroy the city of Sodom was made prior to the incident with the angels.



Ezekeiel 16:49-50 tells us exactly why the city of Sodom was destroyed: "Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen." There is no mention of homosexuality.



In Matthew 10:14-15 & Luke 10:7-16, Jesus implies that the sin of the people of Sodom was inhospitality to strangers.



Jude 1:7 talks about the sin of Sodom as "going after strange flesh." That would seem to me to be talking about bestiality, the angels were not human. Would angels even be confined to definitions of male or female sexual characteristics?



The other problem with saying that this story is about homosexuality is that Lot offers his two daughters to the mob. Lot lived in Sodom and would have certainly known if the men in the mob were homosexual. Why would he even offer his two daughters to a mob of homosexuals? If the mob's intentions were homosexual in nature, then why didn't Lot offer the mob his two future son-in-laws?



Romans 1:26-27 is not speaking about people with a homosexual orientation. It is speaking specifically about heterosexual men and women who go against their own sexual orientation.



The key word here is "exchanges." That implies that the men and women being talked about had known something different previously. They had previously known the truth about God, then exchanged him for what they knew to be a lie, (what went against their own nature.) They had previously been heterosexual, and again exchanged it for what goes against their own nature.
2007-12-28 11:41:04 UTC
I have had many argument with many Christians on the subject

of homosexuals and search in the Bible if God have actually

mentioned anything of man with man,only what I found in Genesis

(1)Adam & Eve was that God said be fruit full and multiply,now as you read Gods first creation of life of Adam & Eve baring many children of sons and daughters spread through the land

multiplying wouldn't this be considering incest ? so if ? it's said

that incest & homosexuality is a abomination I believe this contradicts Gods creation of Adam & Eve



(2) It was acceptable during early Roman Empire before the Bible was written that many Roman Empirors have many sexual men and women slaves as well any one can have if they wished,homosexuality was common way of life then

until 300 years later when Saint Augusta of the Roman Catholic Church written the laws for sexual behaver morals

and when Constantine became Christian and Empiror of Rome him as many other athoritys have written the Bible what scriptures that they have accepted to be in the Bible

these are proven documented from scrolls found and kept hidden

now here's a test I give to many Christian that I have found

hyprocritical that they can't give a direct answer to,I ask them

people who are born with both sex is this a abomination ?

the common reply is it's Satan doing or and I ask what if you where standing at a street corner waiting for the traffic light to change and you for see a gay man crossing the street that he was going to be hit by a speeding car and you have the chance to pull him out of the way to save him would you ?

common reply is they start quoting Bible scriptures hidding to avoid the question or I ask them if it was you that was going to be hit by the car and a gay man pull you away to safety are you going to turn gay the common reply a dirty look no answer or avoiding the question with Bible scriptures



the point is the Bible is written for want man wants God to say

and that homophia is B.S. what people do behind there bed room door is there business you are not forced to be there and most of all people are ignorent



p.s sorry for the misspelling I'm in a rush
cubby
2007-12-28 07:39:01 UTC
You are right, the Bible doesn't actually say the word homosexual, but the Lord didn't use our modern day words as we do. However, God did put it so plain that even a child could understand that he was against a man lying with another man in a sexual way.



Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. ( Leviticus18:22 )



God is the same yesterday, today , and forever. He hasn't changed his mind. He said that the sin of man with another man is an abomination to him. That means it is a sin today!



He also so said in ( Leviticus 20:13)-- If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.



God destroyed Sodom because of this sin. You may read it for yourself in the Bible: Genesis 19: 1 -11



It really doesn't matter what name is put on this sin, we can put a nice name like gay, homosexual, or anything else, but it is still an abomination to God.
Tikhacoffee/MisterMoo
2007-12-28 07:14:35 UTC
I agree with you that the word homosexual is not in the Bible. As for the other part, about the CONCEPT of homosexuality as we know it today, I disagree 100%. The leviticus laws forbidding homosexuality in context outlawed the pagan rituals of temple homosexual prostitution. To extend this to what we call homosexuality today, especially between monogamous loving couples, goes FAR beyond the original intent of those prohibitions, at least in my opinion.



As for the writings of Paul, those are a different matter entirely. One of the 2 main passages there that mention the concept is a greek word that is used in a list of rules, and has changed in meaning over time to the current view that is homosexual 'offender', whatever that means. To me that doesn't mean homosexual, but ADDS offender to it. If it simply meant homosexual, it would say THAT, and not offender.



As for the one about turning homosexuals over to wickedness, that is a little more difficult to understand. I have heard the explanations of that, but it doesn't sound as simple as the 'explanations' of the gay-rights people. Being gay, I WANT to believe them, but the explanations don't logically wash with me yet.



Thanks for the interesting question!
LineDancer
2007-12-28 06:42:41 UTC
For the record, although the word "trinity" is not in the Bible, the concept is not there either. There is not a single verse that says the Father, Son, and the holy spirit are co-equal, co-eternal, and that they make up a single God. The trinity was invented by the Catholic Church in the 4th century. As A Catholic Dictionary notes: “The third Person was asserted at a Council of Alexandria in 362 . . . and finally by the Council of Constantinople of 381.”



As for homosexuality, the word is not in the Bible, but the concept is there. At 1 Cor. 6:9, 10, it says: "Do you not know that unrighteous persons will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be misled. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men kept for unnatural purposes, nor men who lie with men,... will inherit God’s kingdom."



Ro. 1:26, 27: "That is why God gave them up to disgraceful sexual appetites, for both their females changed the natural use of themselves into one contrary to nature; and likewise even the males left the natural use of the female and became violently inflamed in their lust toward one another, males with males, working what is obscene and receiving in themselves the full recompense, which was due for their error. Although these know full well the righteous decree of God, that those practicing such things are deserving of death, they not only keep on doing them but also consent with those practicing them."



What the Bible says on homosexuality is very clear.
Oberon
2007-12-28 06:55:26 UTC
Sure it does, if you want to listen to the mistranslations of King James.



The word in Hebrew is Catamite. Which is not a gay person, rather a MALE prostitute. God takes issue with prostition, as it leads to adultery. And, adultery leads to break up of the homes and family. That's the reason it's in the 10 Commandments.



People can say what they want about gay people. You can site this verse and that verse until the cows come home. The one thing that EVERYONE fails to notice is that neither God directly (via the 10 Commandments) nor Jesus himself ever touched on the topic. I, for one, find that more complelling than any ''letter'' written that has been made out to be God's word.



I personally don't understand why Christians target gay and lesbian people as the worse sin ever. Lies are made about how they are trying to convert people to being gay, or teaching our children to be gay, or gay people wanting ''special rights'' or to take over the world with a ''gay agenda''. It's all a bunch of nonsense.



As Christians, we have a responsibility to love everyone. Treat everyone with dignity and respect. To accept people for how they are, and simply show through our words and actions the love and peace that dwells within us through Jesus Christ. Jesus never turned anyone away, nor did he belittle them by pointing out their ''flaws''.



Even roughly 2000 yrs after Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice, we still aren't getting the message right. It's so sad, it hurts.
2007-12-28 06:43:37 UTC
Carm is not a good source for anything. They may get a few things right, but it doesn't mean they know what they're talking about with everything.



However I do agree with you that the exact word "homosexual" is not used in the bible, but other terms/phrases regarding homosexuality are used.





---------



BTW, she blocked me too just because I said the word homosexual isn't in the bible but other terms for homosexuals are.



Her profile says she blocks bigots, but I guess you can't block yourself. What kind of hypocritical *blank* is she that she is herself a bigot for blocking people whos beliefs aren't what she believes?



I have no respect for her.
Chapter and Verse
2007-12-28 06:47:56 UTC
Paul doesn't coin the label homosexual but the homosexual act leaves no doubt in anyone's mind about what a homosexual is. That's very interesting that an Apostle would conjure up such an image.
NJ Gold
2007-12-28 06:48:40 UTC
Yes, I was blocked after answering the question as well. Thank you for bringing this to the attention of the community.



Effeminate.



Greek: malakovß



1 Corinthians 6:9 - Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,



Definition

soft, soft to the touch

metaph. in a bad sense

effeminate

of a catamite

of a boy kept for homosexual relations with a man

of a male who submits his body to unnatural lewdness

of a male prostitute
B Jones
2007-12-28 06:45:37 UTC
Interesting that some one choose to block you rather then let you supply answers to their questions. you must have caused them to actually have to think!

I like your approach the question of whats in the Bible. The word Homosexual likely was not used or did not exist in the original Greek or Hebrew texts.
2007-12-28 06:46:34 UTC
The only problem I have with your argument is that modern translations of the Bible are highly flawed and contrived. There is a tonne of evidence to support the idea that the original texts did not contain any of those passages. I am not fluent in Aramaic but I have read quite a bit of information on the subject.
2007-12-28 06:52:30 UTC
The phrase "two men on the field of battle, wailing each other with their staves" could've been translated into the current Scripture to read "two men lying on the field of battle, wanking each other's staves".



Hey, anything's possible. None of us lived during the torrid times of the Bible, who knows what other than human flesh and thatched houses was flaming during those times.
2007-12-28 06:51:34 UTC
The trinity is nowhere implied in the Bible.



The word "homosexual" is not used, but its definition is used.



1 Cor 6:9,10

What! Do you not know that unrighteous persons will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be misled. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men kept for unnatural purposes, nor MEN WHO LIE WITH MEN, nor thieves, nor greedy persons, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit God’s kingdom.
Eagle Feather
2007-12-28 13:07:29 UTC
I agree.
2007-12-28 07:13:46 UTC
Yes



You are correct it is a sin
synopsis
2007-12-28 06:45:30 UTC
which koine word are you taking to translate 'homosexual'?



i realise that this point can be argued either way, but in my experience to date all the people who argue it from your side are people who don't read greek (and therefore have no right to an opinion at all).
crissypeach
2007-12-28 06:51:18 UTC
If you believe in the bible ( I do not ) it says God loves everyone not just the so called Straits, Christan's and there likes. The people who are out there saying you will go to hell if you are gay are



1.) gay their self and have not came out

2.) afraid of people who are different ( I believe this to be the most common reason )

4.) stupid to a new level like worse the the ones bombing people
JFK fan--(Hug Brigade)
2007-12-28 06:46:12 UTC
ok so the bible says that but it doesn't change the fact that homosexuality isn't wrong, the bible says it but homosexuals are people and love is love, there is no gender
2007-12-28 06:43:40 UTC
I agree.
BelieverinGod
2007-12-28 06:49:45 UTC
I agree.
Tim A
2007-12-28 10:26:59 UTC
Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 are the only direct references to same-gender sex in the Old Testament. They are both part of the Old Testament Holiness Code, a religious, not a moral code; it later became the Jewish Purity Laws. ["Abomination" is used throughout the Old Testament to designate sins that involve ethnic contamination or idolatry. The word relates to the failure to worship God or to worshiping a false god; it does not relate to morality.] Professor Soards tell us, "Old Testament experts view the regulations of Leviticus as standards of holiness, directives for the formation of community life, aimed at establishing and maintaining a people's identity in relation to God."(Soards, Marion L, Scripture and Homosexuality: Biblical Authority and the Church Today, 57) This is because God was so determined that his people would not adopt the practices of the Baal worshipers in Canaan, and same-gender sex was part of Baal worship. (The laws say nothing about women engaging in same-gender sex; probably this had to do with man's dominance, and such acts by the subservient had nothing to do with religious impurity.)



God required purity for his worship. Anything pure was unadulterated, unmixed with anything else These Purity Laws prohibited mixing different threads in one garment, sowing a field with two kinds of seed, crossbreeding animals. A few years ago in Israel when an orthodox government came into power, McDonalds had to stop selling cheeseburgers. Hamburgers, OK. Cheese sandwiches, OK. But mixing milk and meat in one sandwich violated the Purity Laws--it had nothing to do with morality. These were laws about worshipping God, not ethics, and so have no bearing on our discussion of morality. Helmut Thielicke remarks on these passages: "It would never occur to anyone to wrench these laws of cultic purification from their concrete situation and give them the kind of normative authority that the Decalogue, for example, has."(Helmut Thielicke, The Ethics of Sex, 227)



Another reason they are not pertinent to our discussion is that these laws were for the particular time and circumstances existing when they were given. If you planted a fruit tree, you could not eat its fruit until its fifth year, and all fruit the fourth year must be offered to the Lord. A worker must be paid his wage on the day of his labor. You must not harvest a field to its edge. We readily dismiss most of them as not applicable to our day and culture, and if we dismiss some of them for any reason, we have to dismiss all of them, including the sexual regulations, for that same reason.



When we add the fact that these laws were talking about heterosexuals, it makes three reasons, any one of which would be sufficient, why they have no bearing on questions about homosexuals or homosexuality or on the morality of same-gender sex by homosexuals today.



Romans 1:26 and 27 clearly speak of same-gender sex by both men and women, the only passage in the New Testament that does so. Rom. 1:18-32 speaks of Gentiles (heterosexuals) who could and should have known and served and given thanks to God but would not, so God gave them up and let them do whatever they wanted to do, and that resulted in degrading and shameful acts, including same-gender sex. It is almost a moot point, but Paul is not listing sins for which God will condemn anyone, he is listing sins that occur because people have forsaken Him. These are acts committed by those who have turned away from God and so become "consumed with passion." All of us recognize that those who forsake God and give themselves over to lustful living--homosexual or heterosexual--stand condemned by the Bible. This passage is talking about people who chose to forsake God.



Conservative theologian Richard Hays says, "No direct appeal to Romans 1 as a source of rules about sexual conduct is possible."(The Journal of Religious Ethics, Vol 14:1(1986) 206,7)



A comparison of how the two Greek words are translated in the different versions shows that translations often, unfortunately, become the interpretations of the translators. In I Cor. 6:9 Paul lists the types of persons who will be excluded from the kingdom of God and for some he uses the Greek words malakoi and arsenokoitai. KJ translates the first "effeminate," a word that has no necessary connection with homosexuals. The NIV translates the first "male prostitutes" and the second, "homosexual offenders". The RSV in its first edition of 1952 translated both words by the single term, "homosexuals". In the revised RSV of 1971, the translation "homosexuals" is discarded and the two Greek words are translated as "sexual perverts"; obviously the translators had concluded the earlier translation was not supportable.



Malakoi literally means "soft" and is translated that way by both KJ and RSV in Matt. 11:8 and Luke 7:25. When it is used in moral contexts in Greek writings it has the meaning of morally weak; a related word, malakia, when used in moral contexts, means dissolute and occasionally refers to sexual activity but never to homosexual acts. There are at least five Greek words that specifically mean people who practice same-gender sex. Unquestionably, if Paul had meant such people, he would not have used a word that is never used to mean that in Greek writings when he had other words that were clear in that meaning. He must have meant what the word commonly means in moral contexts, "morally weak." There is no justification, most scholars agree, for translating it "homosexuals."



Arsenokoitai, is not found in any extant Greek writings until the second century when it apparently means "pederast", a corrupter of boys, and the sixth century when it is used for husbands practicing anal intercourse with their wives. Again, if Paul meant people practicing same-gender sex, why didn't he use one of the common words? Some scholars think probably the second century use might come closest to Paul's intention. If so, there is no justification for translating the word as "homosexuals." Other scholars see a connection with Greek words used to refer to same-gender sex in Leviticus. If so, it is speaking of heterosexuals given to such lust they turn to such acts.



Richard Hays tells us, "I Corinthians 6:9-11 states no rule to govern the conduct of Christians."(Richard B. Hays, The Moral Vision of the New Testament (San Francisco: Harper, 1996) 394)



One commentator has another reason for rejecting the NIV and original RSV translations, "homosexuals." Today it could mean that a person who is homosexual in orientation even though "of irreproachable morals, is automatically branded as unrighteous and excluded from the kingdom of God, just as if he were the most depraved of sexual perverts."(Quoted in D. S. Bailey, Homosexuality and the Western Christian, 39)



So I Cor. 6:9 says nothing about homosexuality with the possible exception of condemnable pederasty.
bad tim
2007-12-28 06:47:57 UTC
do you really not have anything better to worry about, hon?
Andrew W. Peoples
2007-12-28 19:08:50 UTC
The word trinity is not in the Bible as we know it. Neither is the concept directly mentioned. Yet there are countless verses that speak of the mystery of God. The prophets wrote about the suffering servant or the anointed one who would come at an appointed time and redeem God’s people. At other places, it’s written about God being with us. The incidents during the life of Moses, Samson, (King) Saul, David and many of the OT Prophets all illustrate the Holy Spirit.



They are examples of how the writers of the books of the Bible wrote the living Scriptures, being inspired by God and their perception of a picture they could not comprehend (in human terms) but which became clearer as the time came for Jesus’ birth. They painted parts of the same picture and as you read and understand the Bible you find that the whole is in harmony with its various parts, even though some verses of the Bible may appear to contradict other verses.



So while we know God as the Father, or whether it is Jesus saying that the Father is in me and I am in the Father, or the mention of the Holy Spirit which comforts us and fills us making us God’s children because Jesus intercedes for us and on account of the Grace of God, and not because of any good or bad deeds we may have done, then we all know it’s the one and only God - the Lord God Almighty that we are alluding to. To Him be Glory and Praise and Honour for ever and ever.



Now to the second topic: yes, the term homosexuality is not mentioned in the Bible but the description clearly defines what we during present day call homosexuality. Again my brothers and sisters in Christ have painstaking listed verses from the Bible, both from Old Testament and the New Testament that clearly mention that this is a sin according to God as well as basic human morals and laws of society.



Moreover, sexual sin is not just limited to homosexuality. It encompasses fornication, adultery, sexual relationship with animals or using strange devices for pleasure etc. Jesus went so far as to say that if a man looks at a woman with sexual thoughts in his heart (or vice versa), he has committed adultery with her in his heart! Now how many of us men do that every day? Likewise how many women?



Some of you claim that neither God the Father nor Jesus directly condemned homosexuality. Very interesting! Have you read how it all started in Genesis? God made male and female. That is why a man shall leave his father and his mother and be united to his wife and they shall be one flesh. Not a physical joining, but a very deeper spiritual bonding together as one person, an emotional union as lifelong companions and friends (husband and wife) and finally a physical tie through sexual relationship between man and wife within marriage.



Then what did Jesus teach? Read the Gospels again: in the beginning God made male and female and that is why a man shall leave his father and his mother and cleave to his wife and they shall be one flesh.



If we go by the most conservative estimate of the events of Genesis occurring at least five thousand years before Jesus, then Jesus upheld the very same thing that God made the institution of marriage (and sexual relationship only within marriage) between man and woman. God does not change. His law or promises do not vary either. He is strong in commitment. Therefore, according to God’s law in the Bible, we Christians are not even supposed to divorce, let alone indulge in any form of adultery or fornication or sexual relationship outside marriage. As a new year is round the corner do you know what this hymn means, “O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come.”



It is one man and one woman in marriage, or holy matrimony... anything else, including homosexuality (even if attempts at calling it a marriage), is a sin.



I once asked God why very few listen to the good news of Jesus. This was the answer (it’s in the Bible, OT Isaiah and NT quoted by Jesus):



For seeing they will not perceive and hearing they will not understand, lest they turn to me and I heal them.



Only remember if you have read so far, that one of us can be wrong: either homosexuality is a sin or not a sin. If I am wrong, then you have lost nothing other than one or more sexual relationships. However, if I am right, you’ll end up in a place where the spirit is destroyed by God (who is able to destroy both body and spirit), yet it takes all of eternity... where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched! Any sane person would not stake that much without first exploring further if it is true or false. After all, there have been many Christians who were/are renowned scientists and other great men and women and they all believed in God as given in the Bible, throughout the ages! Thus, if folks smarter than us believed in something then at least I should put in a little time, at least a few months or weeks of my life to test it out. And whatever the persecution or oppression, no ruler or empire has been able to completely eliminate Christians, though we are hated (perhaps not so much in the west) by all for apparently no reason other than our faith in Jesus Christ. (If you claim Christians are bad, look again around you at all the good work we have been doing and continue till today, and onwards tomorrow; compare with the rest of the evil in this world...).



Now some of you may not believe in God or what is written in the Bible, right? So here are some less Biblical reasons:



Almost all civilized societies have condemned homosexuality in some form or another, even if those communities were predominantly NON Christian. Why? Take the world’s largest democracy for instance. Leaving aside certain larger cities (where immoral behaviour of all kinds abounds), one cannot be openly homosexual or engage in such behaviour. Such persons could easily pay the price with their lives or be thrown out by the community at the minimum. I write of a nation that is not even remotely Christian or Jewish or Muslim.



Continuing with more examples of the same place: if the community / village / town / city is conservative, marriages and families are strong, homes stable, children are taught basic morality, decency and manners (spare the rod and spoil the child), they turn our the best citizens, people who are the backbone of the nation even though the family they may come from may not be very well off (in monetary terms). I have never found in any such home a child who lacks the love of both parents (father and mother) or who is emotionally unstable that he/she takes causes a bloodbath at school etc. They may never have the so called pleasure of physical relationship with multiple partners, not even know that their spouse could be the worst person in the world in bed and yet they live happy contented lives. And the love which binds such families is unique and immeasurable: there is not one example, no not even one, of anyone having a prenuptial agreement. Ha, if any advocate would even dream to bring up such a topic before a marriage, he/she would have their head blown off to say the least!



Let’s flip the coin. Our more open societies (usually cities with plenty of money and the high paying IT jobs) where college boys and girls experiment with different partners till they find love and/or someone who is compatible according to them, have families that break apart, marriages ending in divorce or separation and children going through the torment and pain of all this mess. Whatever happened to the love marriages and all the experimentation, huh? All these so called “live and let live” cities / towns/ villages also turn a blind eye to homosexuality and other immoral activities.



Now isn’t that interesting. If a society has rules for morality and tries to follow them, they grow stronger and have better homes irrespective of less or more money etc. However, take away the rules and let everyone do as they please and that nation slowly but surely falls apart, in spite of the amount of money or wealth or firepower it has!



Another befitting example: I work in IT and we use a lot of equipment which has connectors named male or female. The male connectors normally have pins sticking out and the female ones with matching holes for the pins to fit into. During the past 10 years, I have trained / seen my colleagues train many bright as well as mediocre new joinees / trainees and we usually show them only one or two examples of such devices / connectors. However, even the most dumb of them knows without telling when he/she sees a different type of connector or device and can locate the matching counterpart. They never, never try to fit one male with another male or one female with another female connector!



I know you don’t believe me or want to read what is written. Then find an answer to this question. All major empires throughout history have had a lot of immoral and homosexual activities during the height of their power; then they faded away without much of an external challenge... is there a cause and effect?



We humans need some amount of rules to have stability. Freedom means responsibility and to respect and obey those rules, whether from the Bible for those who call ourselves Christians or moral laws for those who are atheist or of different beliefs. Unfortunately, where as our ancestors have slaved and built a strong and wealthy society for us, we children get drunk in our wealth and assuming we own the world forget how a nation was made in the first place: through love, sacrifice, a strong family, society based on morals and a lot of hard work! Taking things for granted we saw off the very branch we are sitting on, forgetting that one day we’ll fall with it.



Then others have written about love. Do you know what love is when you can barely differentiate between lust and love? Love is kind and gentle. It is pure and honourable. It causes one to sacrifice one’s best, even one’s life for loved ones. True love means to wait, to understand, to be there. Two men can love each other a lot: like father and son, brothers, father and son in law, even friends. Similarly, two women can have the strongest love as among relatives or friends. However, when degraded to sexual love, it turns into something worse than lust, and God rightly calls it an abomination.





I am not judging anyone, for there is someone else who will judge us all one day.



For all of us have sinned!



There is neither Christian nor Jew nor anyone else in this world that is sinless - the only exception being Jesus Christ who was tempted yet without sin! However, our sins are not the same, nor are they equal. Jesus himself described that certain types of sins that will never be forgiven, and also of severe (eternal) punishment for other kinds - like whoever causes the little ones (i.e. children) to sin it will be better if a millstone is tied around their neck and are cast into the sea!



So what example are we giving to our children? Sex before and outside marriage. Lust between man and fellow man, or woman and her kind? Or divorces and separations at the drop of a pin, having broken homes and step parents who don’t care. Or parents or single mothers that work all day and don’t have time for their children, and then spoil them with gifts just to try to make them happy, whereas their children seek only the love and presence of their parents, and not toys or babysitters!



Looks like we have too much to eat and to drink, toss our mind into the drain and have the devil come and take over whatever is left.



My parents and ancestors for many generations have been Christians. Staunch ones! I have been a little different - with a scientific bend of mind, a quest to find the answers, and to know more. It took more than the Bible for me to have faith in God, yet I believed even as a little child and have followed my Lord all the days of this life which God has blessed me with. The Bible is a wonderful manual that tells us about God’s love. It also lists out such laws that if a society would be based on them, it would be perfect! E.g from OT: when we celebrate (festivals or other occasions), remember to invite the widows and orphans and the poor and God will bless us. Complementary e.g. from NT. Jesus said, when you throw a party, invite those who are poor and needy, etc. instead of your relatives and friends. For the poor and needy cannot invite you back and our Heavenly Father who sees all things will reward us. However, when we invite the rich and well-to-do, who invite us back, we have received our reward.



Are we are gong off track? Not really, for the topic we are discussing can be better overcome based on the Bible which illustrates the person of Jesus Christ, the kind of person God would be (and we would expect God to be) if He ever came to us in human form. But Jesus is the word of God and God Himself. And He came to us in human form. Jesus said to discover God (who is a Spirit and cannot be seen or perceived through the ways of flesh - i.e. our material minds and bodies), we need to come to Jesus. So the Bible as a manual leads us to Jesus Christ, as do many true Christians who exemplify the love of God and Jesus Christ in their lives and through their witness and example and bring others to Jesus. Moreover, when we have found Christ and received of the gift of the Holy Spirit freely given to anyone who sincerely repents and truly believes, we come home to God.



And through the grace of the Spirit abiding within us, which we cannot grieve through our sins (it gets harder and harder to even try to sin) our lives get transformed (a faint one, nevertheless a transformation) into a likeness of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.



Who demonstrated His great love for us and the world that while we were still sinners, He died for us. In the same Spirit we end up having that same great love in our hearts for everyone, good or bad, poor or rich, friend or enemy - the love which lights up the darkness and the darkness can neither comprehend nor overcome it.



May you come to a true faith in Jesus Christ and find healing and peace,

Andrew


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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