![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I've been randomly surfing lj land this evening, mostly through the religious lj communites, and what, among several things, has caught my attention is a common issue in regards to the old testament that people seem to have. Well, it's not just the OT, it's the whole Bible really. It's how the New Testament at times changes the way we should handle things from the way they were done when all people had was the law. I read in several places where people asked about something, like touching pork for an example. There was a lot of other things too, like strict laws God set up about killing people for various sins. What immediately strikes me is that if people would actually read their bibles, especially the New Testament, they would realize that some things changed, and some things didn't. Like how crazy it is for any christian to not pork because it may be "unclean." I mean, did no one read when Peter was given a vision by God explicitely telling him that no animal was unclean to eat, just as it was okay to associate with gentiles in teaching them of the Christ.
Another problem people seem to have is almost in the opposite direction, reading only the NT without remembering that some things were explained in the OT that weren't discounted by the change in covenant. Like what things are sin. Just because Jesus came to forgive us if we repent, it doesn't make any of the sins mentioned in the OT (only back before Jesus, one had to kill the sinner to remove the sin so it would not spread) any less sinful. Only the way in which we deal should have changed, not our "acceptance" of sin. One topic I saw popping up in a good number of religious community ljs was that of homosexuality. The Old Testament (and even the New if one looks) clearly states that it is a sin to engage in such acts, as they are sexual immorality, just as prostitution and sleeping around are. We should treat it as any other sin, treat the person as we treat everyone else. Not hating them, but neither condoning their actions as being okay in God's eyes. Just as one would see a glutton and disaprove of their gluttony while still loving the person, and trying to get them to stop. I mean, the whole gay minister thing is clearly wrong because these ministers are condoning a type of sin. It's like having a guy up on the pulpit who openly cheats on his wife, saying that it's a perfectly natural and non-sinful thing. Just doesn't click.
It's funny how many questions people seem to have out there that could so easily be answered if they'd just read their Bible a little bit more. I must admit, I do not read the Old Testament as much as I should, and at times I lack important answers as well as questions. On the plus side, of course, I read the New Testament daily. I love nothing more than taking time out from wherever I'm reading and just reading a few paragraphs of something Jesus was talking about. But that is neither here nor there.
Another problem people seem to have is almost in the opposite direction, reading only the NT without remembering that some things were explained in the OT that weren't discounted by the change in covenant. Like what things are sin. Just because Jesus came to forgive us if we repent, it doesn't make any of the sins mentioned in the OT (only back before Jesus, one had to kill the sinner to remove the sin so it would not spread) any less sinful. Only the way in which we deal should have changed, not our "acceptance" of sin. One topic I saw popping up in a good number of religious community ljs was that of homosexuality. The Old Testament (and even the New if one looks) clearly states that it is a sin to engage in such acts, as they are sexual immorality, just as prostitution and sleeping around are. We should treat it as any other sin, treat the person as we treat everyone else. Not hating them, but neither condoning their actions as being okay in God's eyes. Just as one would see a glutton and disaprove of their gluttony while still loving the person, and trying to get them to stop. I mean, the whole gay minister thing is clearly wrong because these ministers are condoning a type of sin. It's like having a guy up on the pulpit who openly cheats on his wife, saying that it's a perfectly natural and non-sinful thing. Just doesn't click.
It's funny how many questions people seem to have out there that could so easily be answered if they'd just read their Bible a little bit more. I must admit, I do not read the Old Testament as much as I should, and at times I lack important answers as well as questions. On the plus side, of course, I read the New Testament daily. I love nothing more than taking time out from wherever I'm reading and just reading a few paragraphs of something Jesus was talking about. But that is neither here nor there.
