Clement On Belief & Understanding

/ Newsgroup > alt.religion.christian.biblestudy / Date > 17 Aug 1999 /
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 But the husbandry is twofold: -- the one unwritten, and the other written. And in whatever way the Lord's labourer sow the good wheat, and grow and reap the ears, he shall appear a truly divine husbandman. "Labour," says the Lord, "not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth to everlasting life." And nutriment is received both by bread and by words. And truly "blessed are the peace-makers," who instructing those who are at war in their life and errors here, lead them back to the peace which is in the Word, and nourish for the life which is according to God, by the distribution of the bread, those "that hunger after righteousness."
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 For each soul has its own proper nutriment; some growing by knowledge and science, and others feeding on the Hellenic philosophy, the whole of which, like nuts, is not eatable. "And he that planteth and he that watereth," "being ministers" of Him "that gives the increase, are one" in the ministry. "But every one shall receive his own reward, according to his own work. For we are God's husbandmen, God's husbandry. Ye are God's building," according to the apostle.
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  Wherefore the hearers are not permitted to apply the test of comparison. Nor is the Word given for investigation; to be committed to those who have been reared in the arts of all kinds of words, and in the power of inflated attempts at proof (whose minds are already pre-occupied; and have not been previously emptied).
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 But whoever chooses to banquet on faith, is stedfast for the reception of the divine words, having acquired already faith as a power of judging, according to reason. Hence ensues to him persuasion in abundance. And this was the meaning of that saying of prophecy, "If ye believe not, neither shall ye understand." "As, then, we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to the household of faith." And let each of these, according to the blessed David, sing, giving thanks:
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 "Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed. Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than the snow. Thou shalt make me to hear gladness and joy, and the bones which have been humbled shall rejoice. Turn Thy face from my sins. Blot out mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my inward parts. Cast me not away from Thy face, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, and establish me with Thy princely spirit."
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 -- From: The Stromata, or Miscellanies / By: Clement of Alexandria

/ Newsgroup > alt.religion.christian.biblestudy / Forum > TheologyOnLine - Religion / Date > 26 Sept 2000 /

 "For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and the one on whom it falls will be crushed." - Mt.21:43-44 / NETbible

 The Faith is now two thousand years young; and as we begin to enter upon the third Christian millennium, it may well be high time for all of us to stop for a moment and take stock of the current situation. From very humble beginnings 2000 years ago, Christianity has risen up to become one of the world's leading religions. All across the globe, over two billion people acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and identify themselves as his disciples. This easily suggests that the Kingdom of God is growing and expanding, and that what was once but a mere mustard seed is now becoming a great and magnificent tree giving shelter and rest to all manner and type of Christian-bird.
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 But it may well be the case that this rosy vision of the history and destiny of the Faith is not quite all that it's cracked up to be. Indeed it may be, rather, that we have merely exchanged quantity for quality. Consider, first of all, that our Lord plainly taught that the Kingdom of God is NOT of this world, and could not be seen with our physical eyes, such that we may point and say "Lo, there it is!" or "No, here it is!":

 Now at one point the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God was coming, so he answered, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There!' for take note, the kingdom of God is in your midst."  -- The Gospel According to Luke 17:20-21

 If this is so (and I have no reason to doubt the Word on this matter), then we must conclude that the growth and diversity of the churches is no real indication of the condition of the Kingdom of God in our current (corrupt and debased) generation.  How, then, can we assess the condition and quality of the Faith of today's People of God? Well, consider this: over 80% of all Christians today fall (more or less) into two general categories; (1) the Catholics (for our purposes here we may include the Orthodox, Anglican, Episcopal, and other priestly churches in this group) and (2) the fundamentalists and evangelicals (containing a wide variety of more or less autonomous churches). The other less than 20% of Christians belong to churches that are relatively small and do not fit easily into the two major groupings above (eg. the Society of Friends).
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 In other words, the vast majority of Christians today are either Cats or Fundies! Now the significance of this sad fact lies not in the differences between these two types of Christians, but rather in their similarities. Thus the Cats practice 'friendship with the world' by making religion as easy and painless as possible for as many people as possible. Consequently, lawyers, lesbians, and landlords are gladly numbered among the Sunday People of God; as if what people do the other six days of the week has no relevance to religion, or even to the quality of our faith. The shepherds of these lukewarm flocks are both tolerant and condescending, and also treat their sheep as though they were all eight year-old children.
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 Now the Fundies do not make such a great distinction between the sheep and the shepherds, to be sure, but their hard-won freedom from priestcraft has not led them into a greater maturity in the Faith (as one might expect). Rather, it has merely deprived them of any real sense of Christian leadership and authority. Consequently, the Fundies have placed all authority in the only reliable authority that they are aware of; and have accordingly invested the sacred scriptures with qualities and attributes that are proper to God alone (eg. inerrancy and infallibility).
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 Thus while Cats have made an idol of their pope and their church, Fundies have likewise made the Holy Bible into a 'paper pope'. And while the latter are completely lacking for effective authority and leadership, they make up for this deficiency by supposing that a literal and simple-minded approach to the scriptures allows every one immediate and instant access to the full truth and mystery of the Faith. And so the Cats have their shepherds; and the happy cost is that the sheep are allowed (indeed encouraged) to remain spiritually immature and ignorant. On the other hand, the Fundies have become 'the People of the Book', whereby each and every individual sheep (provided that s/he is armed with a Bible) is a shepherd unto himself!
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 Thus despite the obvious and dramatic differences between these two groups of Christians, in reality they are equally idolatrous, equally immature and childish, and equally deficient in the most basic spiritual realities of the Faith! In light of all this, if seems clear that the mature and passionate faith of the early Greek churches (so beautifully expressed and realized within the pages of the New Testament) is *nowhere* to be found among the current generation of post-modern Christians.
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 Yes, some gains have been made over the course of the last 2000 years (of that there can be little doubt), but it is also true that we have sacrificed the *quality* of our faith in favor of *quantity*; (as if numerous noses can make up for shallow and empty hearts). So the question of whether or not the Kingdom of God has grown in any significant way (since the demise of the early apostolic churches) remains uncertain at best ...

P.S.  "Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor!" - James 2:5-6/NETbible

/ Topic > Re: Whither Goes the Kingdom? / Newsgroups > alt.religion.christian.biblestudy / Forum > TheologyOnLine - Religion / Date > 27 Sept 2000 /
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] On 26Sept stainless replied: erasmian, I'm guessing by the tone of your post that you are
] in the 3rd group of Christians (the last 20%)?
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 erasmian answers: Dear stainless, actually - and to be perfectly honest - I don't seem to fit well into that category either. Therefore, logically, I fall outside all three groups into a "new" fourth group: a type of prophetic-Christian the likes of which have not been seen on this good earth since the days of Clement and Origen of Alexandria ... :( ... Oh well, at least I'm in good company there. :)
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>> On 26Sept DonW replied: I doubt that quality has either decreased or increased in this century.
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 Dear DonW, if you were at all familiar with the history of the churches of Canada in the twentieth century it would be perfectly apparent that quality has indeed taken a *major* nosedive of late! 4X: The leadership of these churches is composed almost entirely of three types of "Christian": (1) perfectly pious perverts (ie. those who preach and practice the oh so smurfy Gospel of Perversion (cf. Gomes (that vile perverter of truth) for details)); (2) those who support, protect, and encourage the previous type; and (3) those who are utterly ignorant of the previous two types. How's that for quality?!
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>> I would rather see believers who need a little moderation than
>> believers who are lukewarm. I think Jesus would agree.(Rev 4:14ff).
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 I am certain that the Lord would agree; since He (in that same book of Revelation) clearly states his preference for those with a *zealous* faith. Please note that the Lord urges us to a zealous faith, NOT a *moderate* faith!
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>> In that respect I'd say there is more increase worldwide than in the USA.
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 Oh yes, I quite agree. More increase worldwide in *quantity*; NOT necessarily in *quality*!
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> On 26Sept TRUTH4U replied: Jesus was in their Midst (Among them);
> and he represented the Kingdom of Heaven.
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 Dear Truth4U, actually that is not quite right. Jesus not only represented the Kingdom of Heaven, he manifested and actualized it; not only in His own person, but also by spreading it among all those who came into contact with Him, and walked away with faithful hearts and a renewed spirit. That is why he said that His Kingdom is not of the World, and could not be seen with physical eyes.
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> At this present time we have the spirit indwelling the Christian
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 What spirit is that, please? The spirit of lukewarmness? The spirit of arrogance and vanity? The spirit of ignorance and blindness, perhaps?
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> and renovating his mind.
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 I do not see the Christian renovating his mind in any way, shape, or form. Rather, I see his mind clinging to outworn and outrageous theologies and traditions with a spirit of vain and stubborn conservativeness that refuses even to consider *any* new idea, which does no honor whatsoever to the Lord, or to the Spirit of Truth!
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 "renovating his mind" ... Yeah, right. Wanna sell me a bridge now?
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> The change starts out small like a mustard seed and eventually
> encompasses all of his thinking and develops the character of Jesus.
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 Must be very small indeed. ... But perhaps you are right. I certainly hope and pray that you are!
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> Real Christians are not just one denomination. They do not necessarily need a formal religious
> body. They are individual believers who have the Holy Spirit within them and are quietly living
> the christian lifestyle that Jesus wants them to.
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 Love is soft and quiet, and changes the world in ways that are indeed very difficult to measure ...
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> So, condemning one denomination or another is frivolous and prejudicial.
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 Nonsense. It is our duty as True Believers to identify (and announce) the anti-christs and anti-churches that present themselves to the World as the only authentic source of Christian faith. There is so much corruption of the Faith today (eg. the New York Times bestseller 'The Good Book' by Peter J. Gomes) that any Christian who simply ignores it all is actually actively encouraging and supporting the Wicked One (and all those false Christians who service Her).
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 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For the things they do in secret are shameful even to mention. But all things being exposed by the light are made evident. For everything made evident is light, and for this reason it says: "Awake, O sleeper! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you!"  -- Ephesians 5:11-14 / NETbible
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> Christians only have one denomination and that is to be A Christian according to God's Word.
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 There are pretty darn few of those; considering the appalling ignorance about the scriptures that is so popular among *all* the People of God!

P.S. It was he who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God - a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ's full stature. The purpose of this is to no longer be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who with craftiness carry out their deceitful schemes. But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. -- Ephesians 4:11-15 / NETbible

The Untold Secret of the Faith.

 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers!'" -- Matthew 7:21-23 / RSV
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> On the eve of the celebration of JC's birth (in the year of our Lord 2004)
> believer1 wrote: Oh wise and majestic cyber-prophet, what sayest thou
> about the great and powerful religion of Christianity?
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 textman sayeth: Pick you up your scriptures called the New Testament, which thou readest so often and yet so poorly (and knowest not), and thou shalt find within those good pages many references to a strange people called Pharisees. Now a proper modern translation of those ancient Greek scriptures should always render the term for Pharisee as 'Christian' in English, for those two creatures are really one and the same animal.
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   "All have turned away, together they have become worthless;
     there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.
       Their throats are open graves, they deceive with their tongues,
         the poison of asps is under their lips." -- Romans 3:12-13 / NETbible
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 The only real difference between the old Pharisees and the new post-modern believers is that these fancy Christians dress themselves up a little better now than they did in their early Pharisee days. But underneath the shiny surface lurks the same arrogant, self-righteous squareheads that gave Jesus so much grief.
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 "So he said to them, Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrine human commandments.' Having no regard for the command of God, you hold on to human tradition." -- Mark 7:6-8
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 Yes, there were some true Christians right up into the second century (and even occasional spatterings throughout church history), but on the whole these true Christians were soon replaced by pharisees who took their name for themselves, and made of the Faith a thing of superstition and priestcraft which has ever been a stench unto the nostrils of the Lord!
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 "Do not be carried away by all sorts of strange teachings. For it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not ritual meals, which have never benefited those who participated in them." -- Hebrews 13:9 / NETbible
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 Thus when we see the meager differences among the various Christian groups, we are NOT impressed; for the same attitudes, the same hypocrisy, the same feigned righteousness, the same ignorance and blindness and intolerance remains firmly in place behind all the silly and superficial differences in doctrine and practice. Know you then the true color of these supposed "believers" who believe more in themselves, and in their priests, than they do in Jesus Christ and his God.

P.S. "But woe to you experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in. Woe to you experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, and when you get one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves!" Mt 23:13-15 / NETbible

Prophet Bible-Bytes Rabbi!.

/ Newsgroup > alt.religion.christian.biblestudy / Date > 24 Jan 1999 / Subject > Re: Jewish Lust for Lesbianism /
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> On 28Dec98 Michael Turner wrote to the following newsgroups: alt.politics.nationalism.white,
> soc.culture.jewish, alt.politics.white-power, soc.culture.russian, and alt.religion.christianity:
> Gays and lesbians are our brothers and sisters in the family of God.
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 textman answers: And how did this come about so suddenly & decisively, pray tell? Especially in light of the fact that the constant and undeniable witness of both scripture and Judeo-Christian tradition so strongly suggest otherwise? Perhaps they are our "brothers and sisters" in the sense that all people (yes, even unbelievers) are ultimately God's imperfect creatures ... But this is not what "brothers and sisters in the family of God" implies. Oh no; not by a long shot! What that phrase implies is that the new pagan versions of Christianity (that seem so popular with the newbies) see no conflict or contradiction between serving the Lord, and serving the forces of darkness. Or, in other words, that discipleship and iniquity sit very well with each other indeed. ...
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 They just don't go to bed at the same time!
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> Even if we disagree about things, including orientation and lifestyle,
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 Dear Michael, you mean *little* things like orientation and lifestyle, maybe?
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> we have an obligation to our Lord to try our best to love each other,
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 And if your best is not good enough for the Lord, what then? ... Will you finally turn and repent and receive the Good News in humility and grace as befits a stubborn and willful creature?
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> respect each other,
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 Just like that, huh? No need for honor and dignity? No need for the satisfaction of earning the respect of your brothers and sisters in the Faith?
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> and honor each other as children of the Divine.
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 John the Evangelist speaks of the children of light and truth; to be sure. But he also speaks of the children of darkness and corruption and death.
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> It's far too easy, and a cop out, to give in to anger, hatred and violence.
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 Very few here are giving in or copping out or throwing up or whatnot. And we are certainly not taking the easy way. On the contrary, the easy Way of the World would be to give everything over to the politically correct 'social justice' types, and those who so "naturally" place *all* their faith in the marvelous reasonings of their own enlightened and logical minds. But every True Believer knows that the church-that-reason-built is built on sand.
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> The greater challenge, with the far greater rewards, is to give in to love.
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 Whose love? What love? Is love to be anything at all then? Anything that you say that it is? What if we all agreed that true Christian love can only be mutual-love? What if we say that our God has revealed this to us? ... Well and good then. But let us not then turn and say that it has always been so, that even the sacred books say so; for that would surely be a lie of great enormous vastness.
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> It is the essence of Christ's teachings (and those of the great prophets and mystics throughout
> the ages), and what matters the most.
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 Yes. And the bulk of these prophets and saints and mystics have shut their mouths in awe at the mystery and life and power of this divine/ human spiritual reality - this most obscene four-letter word - that you toss about so casually.
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> Love, and fraternally yours   -- Michael Turner
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 Thx, MT.  btw: Where *do* you get your ideas on the Faith?
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>> Claymore wrote: All LEZZAS are Hate filled Bigoted Scum, just like faggots and should be GASSED !.
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 Claymore's interpretation of textman's prophetic rantings maybe?  ...  Good Grief!   :(
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] On 23Dec96 Elazar wrote: "For my Jewish brethren searching for a Biblical basis for sanctioning
] homosexuality, I provide you with words from Rabbis Marc Angel, Hillel Goldberg and Pinchas
] Stopler in their joint article published in the Winter, 1992-93 edition of Jewish Action Magazine;"
] <presumably snipped>
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 Rabbi Marc Angel? Would you buy a used Torah from this man?
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] Well, here's another viewpoint: Bible Review, December 1993, p.11
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 Hey folks! That's six years ago. The scholars have long since solved the WWWebs number one ongoing controversy!  ...  How bout that?    :)
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] DOES THE BIBLE PROHIBIT HOMOSEXUALITY?
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 Simple questions rather demand simple answers, don't you think so: YES!
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] by Rabbi Jacob Milgrom: "The Biblical prohibition is addressed only to Israel.
] It is incorrect to apply it on a universal scale.
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 So far, I rather tend to agree. ... But watch where the good and liberal Rabbi takes this.
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] This past Yom Kippur, September 25, 1993, my synagogue invited me to explain the afternoon
] scriptural reading, the list of forbidden sexual liaisons in Leviticus 18.
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 Now Leviticus happens to be smack in the middle of the Torah & Law & Revelation, aka 'the Five Scrolls of Moses' ... Thus Torah holds the highest authority and dignity for Judaism. Whereas, for Christians, Revelation is perfected in Jesus; just as the Hebrew scriptures are glorified and increased by the Greek scriptures.
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] I chose to focus on what is today one of the most frequently quoted passages in the entire
] Bible, "Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman, it is an abomination" (Leviticus 18:22).
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 Since this command is clearly addressed to men, and only men (Jewish or otherwise), it cannot logically be applied to lesbians (be they Jewish or Gentile or something in between). We can assume that the abominableness crosses gender lines, but that would be imposing on the text more weight than the words can bear. After all, Rabbi M. has just said that it is incorrect to "apply it on a universal scale".
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] What I said may be both good news and bad news to my Christian friends,
] depending on their position on gay and lesbian rights.
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 Oh, oh! Here it comes ...
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] This Biblical prohibition is addressed only to the Jews. Non-Jews are affected only if they reside
] in the Holy Land, but not elsewhere (see the closing exhortation in Leviticus 18, verses 24-30).
] Thus, it is incorrect to apply this prohibition on a universal scale. But I spoke to my fellow Jews,
] who are required to observe this prohibition.
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  This, then, is (as they say) "the thing". Rabbi Jacob takes the bull and goat literally as meaning that the 'prohibition on abomination' applies only to Jews. [And resident aliens; of all things.] But this interpretation of the Torah is utter nonsense in any case, even from the Jewish perspective. How so? Well, animal sacrifice was effectively abolished by the Romans with the destruction of the Temple; so how could Lv18:24-30 be applied directly to any living Jew?
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 Moreover, according to ancient traditions, the five books of Moses (the archtypical prophet; or *the* prophet) was given from the LORD on the mountain through Moses to the newly created People of God. Now these people were not "Jews" as such. No; rather they were worthless "hebrew" slaves of the mighty Egyptians! They were, fundamentally and substantially, the "scum of the earth". So the Judeans come along centuries later (with the advent of the Persian Messiah/King), and the rest (as they say) is biblical history. And after the Temple finally went down in flames (for the last time yet), and 'the parting of the ways' [that offered the second century CE Roman Empire two "jewish" religions for the price of one] was accomplished, *then* the rabbis *really* set to work, earnestly "applying" the Hebrew scriptures to the hellenized, romanized, urbanized, and thoroughly civilized "Diaspora Jews" that remained ...
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  How then can anyone suppose that the Torah - being the very word of the one LordGod Almighty - means nothing to Christians? Or that things like sin offerings, atonement, repentance, baptism, etc cannot be spiritually applied on a universal scale? Truly the death sentence given for the violation of the abomination-prohibition cannot - and should not - be applied on anyone; but this does not mean that the sin is now pleasing in the eyes of the Lord!
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] What is the rationale for this prohibition? In a previous column, I noted that the Bible's impurity
] rules are part of a symbol system representing the forces of life and death. Israel is required to
] avoid these impurities and adhere to the laws commanded by God, who promotes the forces of life.
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 In the same way, the many and varied synagogues of Christ Jesus *also* inherited the promises, warnings, and commands ...  For the Body of Christ (aka the spiritual church of true believers) is *also* the New Israel.
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] Thus in the same chapter we read, "You shall heed my statutes and my rules, by doing them
] one shall live" (Leviticus 18:5).
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 Christians must also heed the spiritual and religious meaning and significance of the statutes; insofar as they do not violate the Golden Rule, and the command to love God and neighbor.
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] A man who discharges semen, whether intentionally or otherwise, is declared impure and must
] purify himself by bathing (a sort of re-baptism) before he is permitted to enter the Temple or
] touch sacred (sacrificial) food (Leviticus 15:16-18). Why? Because semen stands for life, and
] the loss of semen symbolizes the loss of life.
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 It could also be argued that, for the ancient Hebrews, blood was a vivid symbol/token of life, and that the loss of blood (eg. menstruation) symbolizes the loss of life; thus causing the impurity that required rituals of purification. But for Christians, impurity comes from within; and both menstruation and ejaculation are natural parts of the human reproductive process. Thus we either defile ourselves, or allow others to defile us. In either case, homosexuality *still* symbolizes the loss of life, and therefore the abomination-prohibition remains in effect for all of God's People (be they Jew, Gentile, or Martian)!
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] Note also that in the entire list of forbidden sexual unions,
] THERE IS NO PROHIBITION AGAINST LESBIANISM.
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 Note also that the Apostle to the Gentiles *rightly* makes up for this unfortunate oversight (after carefully observing the strange ways of the Corinthian women-folk).
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] Can it be that lesbianism did not exist in ancient times
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 Extremely unlikely!
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] or that Scripture was unaware of its existence? Lesbians existed and flourished, as attested
] in an old (pre-Israelite) Babylonian text and in the work of the lesbian poet Sappho (born c.612
] BCE, during the time of the First Temple), who came from the island of Lesbos (hence lesbianism).
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 The silence of the Hebrew scriptures on the matter may be attributed to the fact the basic world-view of the inspired writers was decidedly patriarchal and male-oriented in nature and essence, such that the more feminine world-view was all but completely lost to the limited historical scope of the holy books. ...  BUT see the Song of Songs for a startling reversal of this OT norm!
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] But there is a fundamental difference between the homosexual acts of men and women.
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 And this is due to the fact that men and women were created equal, but *different* (and very very complimentary)!
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] IN LESBIANISM THERE IS NO SPILLING OF SEED.
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 Thus Lesbian-christians can drench themselves in mutual-love, and remain ever faithful to the pressing need to abstain from all artificial aids that inhibit or prohibit conception. And equally faithful to the need to abstain from "illicit sex" (meaning 'sex with men', since only the hands of men can actually defile the virtue of good Christian women)!
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] Thus life is not symbolically lost, and therefore lesbianism is not prohibited in the Bible.
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 The lack of "seed" in this case *IS* the loss that is actually (NOT symbolically) lost! So maybe it's not 'where's the beef'? Maybe it's just 'where's the mayo'? Either way, there's something very not-kosher in this distorted sandwich! In other words, religious-lesbianism is NECESSARILY prohibited by the Bible (in both word and spirit).
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] My argument ostensibly can be countered by a more comprehensive biblical injunction.
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 Oh yeah? Shall I build thee a list?
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] The very first commandment, given to Adam and repeated to Noah, is "Be fruitful and multiply and
] fill the earth" (Genesis 1:28 and Genesis 9:1,7). The descendants of Noah - the entire human race -
] are duty-bound to fulfill this commandment.
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 OR at the very least, to honor it with the seriousness it merits.
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] But the truth is that we have not only filled the earth, we have over-filled it. This does not mean,
] however, that the commandment should be thought of as no longer in force- <snip brief digression>
] To Jewish homosexuals I offer an unoriginal solution. As compensation for your loss of seed, adopt
] children. <snip another brief digression>
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 To what end? Will the children then 'be fruitful and multiply'? Even when it is apparent to all that being "fruitful" is the best contraceptive *ever* devised (short of outright self-emasculation)?
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] Lesbian couples have an additional advantage. Not only do they not violate biblical law,
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 That is: they do not violate the *letter* of the Law of the Old Covenant; but they sure as hell do violate the *spirit* of the biblical teachings on human sexuality *as a whole*! Moreover, since Paul's epistles *are* scripture to the New Israel, they do violate the biblical Law after all.
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] but through artificial insemination each can become the natural mother of her children.
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 Great! Now freaks and perverts can "naturally" reproduce the madness that possesses them!
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] Thus from the Bible we can infer the following: Lesbians, presumably half of the world's
] homosexual population,
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 The prophet's crystal calculator says that Lesbian-christians outnumber gay-christians ten-to-one; minimum.
So may we *PLEASE* have some "reliable" hard stats on this!?!
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] are not mentioned.
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 The Lord, through his stubborn slave Paul, mentions them.
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] More than ninety-nine percent of the gays, namely non-Jews, are not addressed.
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 Pagan and unbelieving homosexuals are not judged and condemned by the Word of God, to be sure. However, those called to the Faith are required to "turn, and sin no more"!
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] This leaves the small number of male Jewish gays subject to this prohibition. If they are
] biologically or psychologically incapable of procreation, adoption provides a solution.
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 A solution to what?
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] I hope the Eternal, in love and compassion, will then reckon their spilled seed as producing fruit.
] --  Jacob Milgrom." (Bible Review, a publication of the Biblical Archeology Society 3000 Connecticut
] Avenue NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20008, 202 387 8888
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 I can't imagine how spiritual death and desolation can produce anything other than a highly poisonous fruit. It's the same deadly fruit produced - in much greater abundance - by the forces of darkness masquerading as angels of light ... All the better to destroy the *Faith* with, I'd say.    . . .   Thx a bunch, rabbi!