Post by Rev. Jim Cunningham on Dec 6, 2012 23:17:59 GMT -5
Mr. Tebow,
I'm a conservative Christian minister, and after years of reading the Bible cover to cover I have found:
1) Sodom & Gommorrah: attempted gang rape and ill-treatment of strangers is evil.
2) Leviticus 18 & 20 and Romans 1: forbids perverted married HETEROSEXUAL men from fornicating with the same gender.
I still have never discovered anything in the Bible which states that two people of the same gender cannot enter into marriage.
The argument of many people, such as yourself and even non-religious people, has been that Adam & Eve are God's model for marriage - but that is clearly false since God approved a variety of marriage models in the Scriptures. For example:
Polygynous Marriage Model (one man with multiple wives): While the Bible explicitly condemns polyandrous marriages (one woman with several husbands), the Bible has never forbidden men from having multiple wives, with the exception of a specific prohibition to the high priest in the Old Testament and the Bishops and Deacons in the New Testament. God, in the Bible, in fact SANCTIONED polygyny by establishing Biblical Laws dealing with inheritance issues for children born to multiple wives (Deuteronomy 21:15-17)! Many holy men of Scripture had multiple spouses, including Esau, Lamech, Gideon, David, Solomon, and Israel himself – the father of the 12 tribes. This is not the "Adam & Eve marriage model" yet biblically sanctioned.
Levirate Marriage Model: A biblical marriage custom dictating that if a married man dies without children, his brother must marry his widow and produce offspring for his dead brother. Demonstrating biblical approval of this marriage model, God struck Onan dead for refusing to impregnate his dead brother's widow. The Bible graphically states that Onan pulled out of his brother's widow and ejaculated on to the ground to prevent the widow from having an heir. This is not the "Adam & Eve marriage model" yet it is biblically sanctioned.
Incestuous Marriage Model: At certain times incestuous marriages were lawful in Scripture. For example, Adam & Eve's own children, and the children of Noah’s three sons after the flood, would have been required to marry one another to populate & repopulate the earth. And, astoundingly, Abraham and Sarah – the very couple chosen by God Himself to bring forth His holy People – were brother and sister, having the same father. And their son Isaac married Rebekah – the daughter of Sarah’s brother. So once again we have a biblically sanctioned marriage model which is not the "Adam & Eve marriage model".
Arranged Marriage Model: This happened both in the Bible and throughout world history - not just in the East and Middle East, but throughout Europe and even early America. Love had nothing to do with these marriages (and by the way, Adam & Eve didn’t even know one another when they married). Arranged marriages bound Houses and families together for political and financial and societal reasons. David’s second marriage to Saul’s daughter Michal was an arranged marriage. And how could we forget Abraham’s marriage to Hagar – arranged by his own wife Sarah. Another sanctioned marriage model different from the "Adam & Eve marriage model".
Concubinage Marriage Model: The Bible is loaded with these marriages. A concubine is a legal spouse who, due to some cultural reasons, is not equal to a wife. For example, Jacob had four spouses. The first two were Leah and Rachel who were also sisters to one another; Jacob had to work as a servant to their father for FOURTEEN YEARS in order to marry them. They were classified as his wives. The other two were Zilpah and Bilhah; these were the handmaids of Leah and Rachel. They were classified as his concubines. From these two wives and two concubines came the 12 Patriarchs. This is clearly not the “Adam & Eve marriage model” – yet again it is sanctioned by Scripture.
Rapist Marriage Model: Yes indeed, you read that correctly. According to the Law of God, a rapist is required to marry his victim. Ok, I know that sounds insane when looked at through the lens of our modern society which would never allow such a thing, but in fact this was actually very beneficial to the victim. The rapist was required to literally treat the victim like a queen for the rest of her life, he was forbidden to divorce her or have other wives, and the community was required to watch his every move to make sure of his compliance; one slip-up on his part and it was severe punishment. Can you honestly compare this biblically sanctioned marriage model to the Adam & Eve model?
Interracial Marriage Model: After the death of the wife of Moses, he remarried. The Bible tells us that his second wife was a Cushite – that is, an African (Black) woman. When the sister of Moses protested this interracial marriage, God struck her with leprosy for a week. The entire caravan of 2 million Hebrews journeying from Egypt to the Promise Land had to stop in the desert to wait for her healing. Interracial marriage doesn’t fit the Adam & Eve model – yet it is unmistakably sanctioned by God.
Then there’s God’s command for the prophet Hosea to marry a whore (Hosea 1:2); and there were forced marriages such as with prisoners of war and slaves; and there were penal marriages. The point being, the idea that the only biblically legitimate marriage model is the “Adam & Eve marriage model” is an argument invented in hell, not the Bible.
When God created Adam, the Biblical record states, "It is not good that the man SHOULD BE ALONE." It doesn’t say, “It is not good that the man has no woman to set the exclusive universal model of one man/one woman marriage.” It doesn’t say, “It is not good that the man has no children.” So long as the spouse is human, regardless of who the spouse is, regardless of how many spouses, regardless of the genitals of the spouses, regardless of the racial color of the spouses – THE BIBLICAL PURPOSE OF MARRIAGE IS COMPANIONSHIP AND THE PREVENTION OF LONELINESS
-Rev. Jim Cunningham
King James Bible Ministries Int.
GayChristianSurvivors.com
I'm a conservative Christian minister, and after years of reading the Bible cover to cover I have found:
1) Sodom & Gommorrah: attempted gang rape and ill-treatment of strangers is evil.
2) Leviticus 18 & 20 and Romans 1: forbids perverted married HETEROSEXUAL men from fornicating with the same gender.
I still have never discovered anything in the Bible which states that two people of the same gender cannot enter into marriage.
The argument of many people, such as yourself and even non-religious people, has been that Adam & Eve are God's model for marriage - but that is clearly false since God approved a variety of marriage models in the Scriptures. For example:
Polygynous Marriage Model (one man with multiple wives): While the Bible explicitly condemns polyandrous marriages (one woman with several husbands), the Bible has never forbidden men from having multiple wives, with the exception of a specific prohibition to the high priest in the Old Testament and the Bishops and Deacons in the New Testament. God, in the Bible, in fact SANCTIONED polygyny by establishing Biblical Laws dealing with inheritance issues for children born to multiple wives (Deuteronomy 21:15-17)! Many holy men of Scripture had multiple spouses, including Esau, Lamech, Gideon, David, Solomon, and Israel himself – the father of the 12 tribes. This is not the "Adam & Eve marriage model" yet biblically sanctioned.
Levirate Marriage Model: A biblical marriage custom dictating that if a married man dies without children, his brother must marry his widow and produce offspring for his dead brother. Demonstrating biblical approval of this marriage model, God struck Onan dead for refusing to impregnate his dead brother's widow. The Bible graphically states that Onan pulled out of his brother's widow and ejaculated on to the ground to prevent the widow from having an heir. This is not the "Adam & Eve marriage model" yet it is biblically sanctioned.
Incestuous Marriage Model: At certain times incestuous marriages were lawful in Scripture. For example, Adam & Eve's own children, and the children of Noah’s three sons after the flood, would have been required to marry one another to populate & repopulate the earth. And, astoundingly, Abraham and Sarah – the very couple chosen by God Himself to bring forth His holy People – were brother and sister, having the same father. And their son Isaac married Rebekah – the daughter of Sarah’s brother. So once again we have a biblically sanctioned marriage model which is not the "Adam & Eve marriage model".
Arranged Marriage Model: This happened both in the Bible and throughout world history - not just in the East and Middle East, but throughout Europe and even early America. Love had nothing to do with these marriages (and by the way, Adam & Eve didn’t even know one another when they married). Arranged marriages bound Houses and families together for political and financial and societal reasons. David’s second marriage to Saul’s daughter Michal was an arranged marriage. And how could we forget Abraham’s marriage to Hagar – arranged by his own wife Sarah. Another sanctioned marriage model different from the "Adam & Eve marriage model".
Concubinage Marriage Model: The Bible is loaded with these marriages. A concubine is a legal spouse who, due to some cultural reasons, is not equal to a wife. For example, Jacob had four spouses. The first two were Leah and Rachel who were also sisters to one another; Jacob had to work as a servant to their father for FOURTEEN YEARS in order to marry them. They were classified as his wives. The other two were Zilpah and Bilhah; these were the handmaids of Leah and Rachel. They were classified as his concubines. From these two wives and two concubines came the 12 Patriarchs. This is clearly not the “Adam & Eve marriage model” – yet again it is sanctioned by Scripture.
Rapist Marriage Model: Yes indeed, you read that correctly. According to the Law of God, a rapist is required to marry his victim. Ok, I know that sounds insane when looked at through the lens of our modern society which would never allow such a thing, but in fact this was actually very beneficial to the victim. The rapist was required to literally treat the victim like a queen for the rest of her life, he was forbidden to divorce her or have other wives, and the community was required to watch his every move to make sure of his compliance; one slip-up on his part and it was severe punishment. Can you honestly compare this biblically sanctioned marriage model to the Adam & Eve model?
Interracial Marriage Model: After the death of the wife of Moses, he remarried. The Bible tells us that his second wife was a Cushite – that is, an African (Black) woman. When the sister of Moses protested this interracial marriage, God struck her with leprosy for a week. The entire caravan of 2 million Hebrews journeying from Egypt to the Promise Land had to stop in the desert to wait for her healing. Interracial marriage doesn’t fit the Adam & Eve model – yet it is unmistakably sanctioned by God.
Then there’s God’s command for the prophet Hosea to marry a whore (Hosea 1:2); and there were forced marriages such as with prisoners of war and slaves; and there were penal marriages. The point being, the idea that the only biblically legitimate marriage model is the “Adam & Eve marriage model” is an argument invented in hell, not the Bible.
When God created Adam, the Biblical record states, "It is not good that the man SHOULD BE ALONE." It doesn’t say, “It is not good that the man has no woman to set the exclusive universal model of one man/one woman marriage.” It doesn’t say, “It is not good that the man has no children.” So long as the spouse is human, regardless of who the spouse is, regardless of how many spouses, regardless of the genitals of the spouses, regardless of the racial color of the spouses – THE BIBLICAL PURPOSE OF MARRIAGE IS COMPANIONSHIP AND THE PREVENTION OF LONELINESS
-Rev. Jim Cunningham
King James Bible Ministries Int.
GayChristianSurvivors.com