Pablo Rafael
04-17-2007, 10:13 PM
Sex and the Single Savior
By Dale B. Martin
copyright 2006
I just finished this book and thought it had some thought-provoking ideas. I don't agree with everything by any means; the author is much more liberal than I am in his views, but I found his arguments quite well-reasoned and sound. Has anyone else read this?
Just a few topics covered:
The Bible doesn't say anything. It has to be interpreted. No one can claim that they know the true interpreattion. There is no "right" interpretation. The Bible must speak to the community of believers. This lack of certainty might make people uncomfortable, but it is how the Bible must be read.
Concerning the terms "arsenokiotes" and "malakos" He states that interpreatations of "arsenokoites" and "malakos" as condemning homosexuality have been driven more by ideological interests in marginalizing gay and lesbian people than by a historical understanding of those terms.
About passion in Paul's letters. "Paul was apparently not a very romantic fellow. While most modern Christians consider marriage the proper sphere for the expresion of desire, Paul considered marriage a mechanism by which desire could be extinguished. In Paul's view sex was not so much the problem as desire. And sexual intercourse within marriage functioned to keep desire from happening."
Also discussed: Was Jesus married? Was he gay? (Not a sacreligious as the topic might sound.)
Abut the nuclear family : "Contemporary Christianity in the U.S. has so closely aligned the basic message of Christianity with the family and 'traditional family values' that it is currently in a state of idolatry... The religious term for for identifying anything but God at the center of the Christian faith is idolatry. And the idolatry of contemporary American Christianity is the familiar idolatry of the church's current focus on the family
He discusses how Paul steered away from traditional interpretation methods of the day using very liberal interpretation of the Old Testament to include people (gentiles) in the church where they had previously been marginalized.
About LGBT peple and the church: "We gay and lesbian Christians have repeatedly born wittness to our own inclusion in the family of God and our experience of the Spirit and the grace of God. Our experiences have confirmed, at least to our satisfaction and to the satisfaction of millions of other Christians, that we are full members of the body of Christ as gay and lesbian people. This is not to ignore or reject scriptrure. It is to follow the exapmles of Paul, Peter and James in interpreting Scripture by the leading of the Spirit from slavery to freedom."
What are the Biblical teaching on divorce and remarriage? Is it wrong?
He is of the "Postmodern" school of thougt. I generally have some trouble with this philosophy because so much of it seems to discard Scripture altogether. This book I found different.
Tu Amigo, Pablo
By Dale B. Martin
copyright 2006
I just finished this book and thought it had some thought-provoking ideas. I don't agree with everything by any means; the author is much more liberal than I am in his views, but I found his arguments quite well-reasoned and sound. Has anyone else read this?
Just a few topics covered:
The Bible doesn't say anything. It has to be interpreted. No one can claim that they know the true interpreattion. There is no "right" interpretation. The Bible must speak to the community of believers. This lack of certainty might make people uncomfortable, but it is how the Bible must be read.
Concerning the terms "arsenokiotes" and "malakos" He states that interpreatations of "arsenokoites" and "malakos" as condemning homosexuality have been driven more by ideological interests in marginalizing gay and lesbian people than by a historical understanding of those terms.
About passion in Paul's letters. "Paul was apparently not a very romantic fellow. While most modern Christians consider marriage the proper sphere for the expresion of desire, Paul considered marriage a mechanism by which desire could be extinguished. In Paul's view sex was not so much the problem as desire. And sexual intercourse within marriage functioned to keep desire from happening."
Also discussed: Was Jesus married? Was he gay? (Not a sacreligious as the topic might sound.)
Abut the nuclear family : "Contemporary Christianity in the U.S. has so closely aligned the basic message of Christianity with the family and 'traditional family values' that it is currently in a state of idolatry... The religious term for for identifying anything but God at the center of the Christian faith is idolatry. And the idolatry of contemporary American Christianity is the familiar idolatry of the church's current focus on the family
He discusses how Paul steered away from traditional interpretation methods of the day using very liberal interpretation of the Old Testament to include people (gentiles) in the church where they had previously been marginalized.
About LGBT peple and the church: "We gay and lesbian Christians have repeatedly born wittness to our own inclusion in the family of God and our experience of the Spirit and the grace of God. Our experiences have confirmed, at least to our satisfaction and to the satisfaction of millions of other Christians, that we are full members of the body of Christ as gay and lesbian people. This is not to ignore or reject scriptrure. It is to follow the exapmles of Paul, Peter and James in interpreting Scripture by the leading of the Spirit from slavery to freedom."
What are the Biblical teaching on divorce and remarriage? Is it wrong?
He is of the "Postmodern" school of thougt. I generally have some trouble with this philosophy because so much of it seems to discard Scripture altogether. This book I found different.
Tu Amigo, Pablo