Is That Really in the Good Book?

I added a link in the right column of this blog. It's for a website called Biblical Sex. Maybe you don't consider the Bible an authority on matter of sex, but you probably interact with people who do. Some people try to base laws on it. We often hear people appeal to what they think the Bible says about sex, erotic media, erotic fantasies, and looking at the bodies of other people.

The Biblical Sex website tries to clear up what the Bible actually commands and doesn't command, in doing so, the website often disagrees with that is taught in certain conservative religious organizations and movements. I'm not saying I agree with everything the website says, just that it is worth reading the articles there.

Continue to read this entry if you have any interest.

In recent years, I've noticed things about the Bible I didn't notice before, like the fact that there is no step-by-step checklist for what makes two people married to each other as opposed to not married; there certainly is no command to get a marriage license from a secular state or buy an expensive diamond ring. Indeed, there isn't a command for Christians to marry at all. There is also no prohibition on polygamy. I've also wondered if looking at erotic media is actually the same thing as "looking at a woman with lust" or actually coveting someone else's wife. Honest informed preachers/teachers/ministries will admit demands to legally marry, avoiding "looking" at a woman or depiction thereof who isn't your wife, reserving all physical affection (or all physical affection other than kissing) with a romantic/sexual partner until marriage, and certain other "morals" taught from some today are not clear Biblical commands, but rather from other claimed Scriptures, leadership in the organization, attempted extrapolation from the Bible, or what certain people might have considered "best practices" at the time and place they were. For example, if someone is trying to avoid pregnancy outside of marriage, refraining from intercourse should have sufficed. But under the principle of "If you need to stay out of Santa Monica, don't even go into California," churches have taught anything "more than" hand holding and kissing is wrong. Indeed, some don't even allow for kissing and Orthodox Jews might not physically touch at all until after a wedding.

If one cares what the Bible says, it must be taken in context. What the words, in the original languages, were intended to convey to their original readers, is what matters most.

From the Biblical Sex "About" page:

Welcome to BiblicalSex.org. Our hope is to help give a clear understanding of Biblical terms, as well as essential issues relating to sex, and the context of what God says (or doesn't say) about them. We publish articles that break with certain cultural and sexual mores, but which are also congruent with sound Biblical doctrine. Some articles you may read are long-form content in nature, but most are shorter in length and meant to be reader-friendly.

We love Jesus and believe he changes lives. We also love his church and want to see people, both Christian believers as well as unbelievers, live free from the bondage of moralistic sexual purity and shame. You will likely find that some ideas on this site are hard to accept at first, and you may feel offended by them at some point. But likewise, you may also find that other ideas will transform the way you think and understand your own freedoms in Christ.

In this article, Biblical Sex addresses Matthew 5:28:

Contrary to popular belief, this verse does not equate ogling with adultery, nor is it saying sexual lust (desire) is a sin. Those who misinterpret the verse typically try to apply it across the board to everyone, but even that’s simply not possible. For two single people obviously cannot commit adultery since neither are even married, and adultery, by definition, requires marriage. What Jesus really warns against in this verse is the sin of coveting, looking with the intent to possess what we can't have.

That article pretty much lines up with what Dennis Prager, a practicing Jew who reveres the Torah and the Ten Commandments (like Jesus!) has said about the passage (although I understand many Christians would dismiss Prager's comments because he doesn't believe in the Divinity of Jesus or that Jesus can save him from his sin.)

They have other interesting articles, including this one on porn, this one on "sexual immorality," and this one on lust.