This website was recently brought to my attention: http://www.godhatesshrimp.com/
Basically the site argues that Christians are cherry-picking which verses from the Old Testament to use. Aside from the fact that there are verses against homosexual behavior in the New Testament, let’s take a look at why Christians still apply Old Testament verses today.
As someone who studies theology, it saddens me that folks don’t take the time to study the beliefs of first-century Christians (specifically those found in the New Testament) on what the Old Testament says (this goes both ways against liberals and conservatives, mind you).
This issue between the two covenants was quickly tackled at the Council of Jerusalem which can be read about in Acts 15: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+15
The distinction that Christians have for centuries made is that between (1) ceremonial, sacrificial laws (2) civil, judicial laws and (3) moral laws. Here is a basic explanation of this proper division: http://crossexamined.org/cherry-picking-the-bible-are…/
In a nutshell, what we find in the new covenant that God has made with us is that #1 & #2 have been fulfilled/completed (Matthew 5:17). #3 remains and we see this through the mentioning of what behaviors are moral and immoral in the New Testament. That is, certain moral codes carry over from the Old Testament and into the New Testament church.
After all, nobody is objecting to the fact that Christians believe that we should not murder (Exodus 20:13 / 1 John 3:15) or that we should love our neighbor (Leviticus 19:18 / Mark 12:31).
Comments