January 9, 2012--God & Sex
When listening in on the Republican debate, sexual and marital issues continue to loom large. So it might be a good idea to go back to the ultimate source of their beliefs and policy positions--the Bible. Both the Old and New Testament.
In his book, God and Sex: What the Bible Really Says, Professor of Religious Studies at Stonehill College and Director of Publications for the Harvard Semitic Museum, Michael Coogan notes that in the Old Testament, a man's sexual history was never an issue (thus there was no such thing as a virginity requirement for men). The only religiously celibate Jews were the Essenes, but this was contrary to mainstream Judaism. Saint Peter was married; Saint Paul thought that Saint Joseph had fathered Jesus; "Joseph 'did not know' Mary 'until she has given birth to a son'" and she did not remain virgin, according to Saint Matthew.
Continuing in no pareicular order, here are a few more of Professor Coogan's biblical readings:
Prophets were both male and female but the priesthood and the rabbinate were for men only. The Bible states that men are superior to women, polygyny was frequent, and abortions were so rare--though they existed--that they were not a problem for the authors of the Bible. There was, though, a ritual meant for making unfaithful women abort.
Ishmael had probably sexually abused Isaac. The Bible does not state if Adam and Eve were married. And though there are Biblical laws regulating polygyny,"concubines," which were common among the Patriarchs, meant "secondary wife" as were multiple wives. Widows, rape victims, and divorced women were "used goods", thus unworthy of a priest. The Bible is inconsistent on divorce and "pervasively patriarchal."
Marriage meant transfer of property, but women were inferior to real estate; adultery was about property rights. In the Hebrew Bible there was no ban on men having sex with unmarried women (including prostitutes). In David's time Jerusalem had only a few thousand inhabitants and perhaps for that reason father-daughter incest was only a devaluation of a daughter's value. The Bible is inconsistent about brother-sister incest. Sodom's sin was being unhospitable to strangers. Saint Jude does not say that Sodom's sin was homosexuality. "Sacred prostitution" nowhere and "never took place" there.
The Old Testament does not say anything about lesbianism, but Saint Paul thought that God made homosexuals. Having sex with prostitutes was seen as a way of losing money and Saint Paul opposed the use of prostitutes, but "Judah's use of a prostitute was normal and acceptable," This also applies to Samson.
Mary Magdalene wasn't a prostitute. God has reproductive organs and had a wife or wives. Jews were originally polytheists. Genesis 1:26-27 says that the elohim were male and female and humans were made in their image. God's sons had sex with women. Yahweh is a sexual being and gods used to have children. "All theology is metaphor" and Yahweh was "a jealous and abusive husband."
During Saturday night's 90 minute GOP debate, with Mitt Romney sailing self-confidentially above the fray, a full third of it was devoted to questions about burning issues such as homosexuality, marriage, and contraception. This in 2012 with the economy still very much struggling; Iran about to literally go nuclear; a transition in leadership in North Korea; crises in Egypt, Pakistan, Syria, and of course Israel. But much of what Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos could think to ask was whether or not it was constitutional for states to ban condoms.
What they were really asking was what the candidates thought God would do about birth control.
In his book, God and Sex: What the Bible Really Says, Professor of Religious Studies at Stonehill College and Director of Publications for the Harvard Semitic Museum, Michael Coogan notes that in the Old Testament, a man's sexual history was never an issue (thus there was no such thing as a virginity requirement for men). The only religiously celibate Jews were the Essenes, but this was contrary to mainstream Judaism. Saint Peter was married; Saint Paul thought that Saint Joseph had fathered Jesus; "Joseph 'did not know' Mary 'until she has given birth to a son'" and she did not remain virgin, according to Saint Matthew.
Continuing in no pareicular order, here are a few more of Professor Coogan's biblical readings:
Prophets were both male and female but the priesthood and the rabbinate were for men only. The Bible states that men are superior to women, polygyny was frequent, and abortions were so rare--though they existed--that they were not a problem for the authors of the Bible. There was, though, a ritual meant for making unfaithful women abort.
Ishmael had probably sexually abused Isaac. The Bible does not state if Adam and Eve were married. And though there are Biblical laws regulating polygyny,"concubines," which were common among the Patriarchs, meant "secondary wife" as were multiple wives. Widows, rape victims, and divorced women were "used goods", thus unworthy of a priest. The Bible is inconsistent on divorce and "pervasively patriarchal."
Marriage meant transfer of property, but women were inferior to real estate; adultery was about property rights. In the Hebrew Bible there was no ban on men having sex with unmarried women (including prostitutes). In David's time Jerusalem had only a few thousand inhabitants and perhaps for that reason father-daughter incest was only a devaluation of a daughter's value. The Bible is inconsistent about brother-sister incest. Sodom's sin was being unhospitable to strangers. Saint Jude does not say that Sodom's sin was homosexuality. "Sacred prostitution" nowhere and "never took place" there.
The Old Testament does not say anything about lesbianism, but Saint Paul thought that God made homosexuals. Having sex with prostitutes was seen as a way of losing money and Saint Paul opposed the use of prostitutes, but "Judah's use of a prostitute was normal and acceptable," This also applies to Samson.
Mary Magdalene wasn't a prostitute. God has reproductive organs and had a wife or wives. Jews were originally polytheists. Genesis 1:26-27 says that the elohim were male and female and humans were made in their image. God's sons had sex with women. Yahweh is a sexual being and gods used to have children. "All theology is metaphor" and Yahweh was "a jealous and abusive husband."
During Saturday night's 90 minute GOP debate, with Mitt Romney sailing self-confidentially above the fray, a full third of it was devoted to questions about burning issues such as homosexuality, marriage, and contraception. This in 2012 with the economy still very much struggling; Iran about to literally go nuclear; a transition in leadership in North Korea; crises in Egypt, Pakistan, Syria, and of course Israel. But much of what Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos could think to ask was whether or not it was constitutional for states to ban condoms.
What they were really asking was what the candidates thought God would do about birth control.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
4:36 AM
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