Thursday, December 02, 2004

You may seen the Atrios link to the Media Matters story about Pat Robertson quoting chapter 19 of the Book of Matthew to prove that Christ rejects homosexuality.

"'Haven't you read,' he [Jesus] replied, 'that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,'"-- I want to emphasize that male and female. And he [Jesus] says, "'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh' [Matthew 19:1-5, New International Version]."

There's just one problem: Christ doesn't say anything about homosexuality in Matthew 19. Matthew 19 is Christ's rejection of divorce:

Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?" "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

"Why then," they asked, "did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?"

Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery."


Falwell goes on to say:

The whole concept of marriage is to bring forth a godly seed, to bring forth children who will grow up to serve the Lord.

That's what marriage is about and it is about nothing else. It has nothing to do with these hedonists, self-absorbed hedonists, if you will, that want to impose their particular sexuality on the rest of America. They don't need marriage because marriage was the protection of men and women, male and female, for the bringing forth of children. That's what it's about, nothing else, bottom line. And if America goes the other way we will be flying directly in the face of the clear word of the Bible.


But Paul, in chapter 7 of his First Letter to the Corinthians, says quite specifically that marriage is about sex:

Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry. But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command. I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.


This isn't an endorsement of homosexuality -- but it's absolutely an acknowledgment that sex for the sake of sex is a part of marriage (although Paul clearly believes that it would be a hell of a lot better if you didn't want to have any sex at all).

No comments: