Questions from a Bizarro World

I remember when I was talking to my grandparents about things happening in society, and my dear, godly Grandma used the word "condom." It just didn't seem right.

In our society, lots of things don't seem right. When it comes to sexuality, we live in the age of the bizarre. I'm old enough to remember when divorce was highly uncommon in the church. But that seems tame compared to dealing with, and ministering to, gays and transvestites and transgenders.

I want to raise some questions. Just by raising them, people will think I've gone liberal or heretical. I don't think I need to defend my conservative evangelical credentials. But I think there are questions which, at the least, are interesting to ponder. I'll start with some dealing with the Bible itself.

  • Was polygamy ever something God approved of? Many of our Old Testament heroes had multiple wives. But did God ever sanction it? If not, then these heroes of the faith were living in sin, even though God used them to accomplish important purposes. What's with that?
  • The only way for Adam and Eve to become grandparents was for incest to occur--siblings having sex with each other, or parents having sex with children. This was part of being obedient to God's "be fruitful and multiply" directive. At what point did sexual relations with siblings become "sin"? Or is it, indeed, sin? Can I be idiotic enough to ask that question without people considering me demented?
  • What about hermaphrodites? How does God view a person who has characteristics of both sexes? Or what about the hermaphrodite who is raised as a girl, and later develops male sexual organs? Would it be okay for this person to begin living as a guy? This actually happens, so there must be a view that God holds on this. What is it? Would it be sinful for this person to begin living as a guy? Or would it be a sin to NOT begin living as a guy?
  • If a transgender person becomes a Christian, should the church force that person to revert to his/her previous sex (if, indeed, it's possible to undo it)? Or is that something we say occurred during their "nonChristian" days, and therefore can be written off (like we write-off divorces)? Would it be okay for a guy to undergo surgery to become a woman, later experience a life-changing salvation experience, and then continue living and serving Christ as a woman?
  • A professor at a Christian college in Michigan underwent surgery to become a woman, yet continued living with his wife, who was fully supportive of the transgendering. Now there is the appearance of two women living in a marriage relationship. Is that now a lesbian relationship? Or, since God made him a him, is it technically still a male-female relationship? (Or, instead of trying to figure this out, should we just sum it all up as, "God disapproves of this situation"?)
  • All my life I've heard Christians muse about the true identity of Paul's infamous "thorn in the flesh," which he kept asking God to remove. It was most likely not an addiction to internet porn. But could it have been something else of a sexual nature? The Bible never mentions that the Apostle Paul was married, and despite much church tradition, Paul never said he was part of the Sanhedrin (which I understand was for married men only). What if Paul was gay? He says in 1 Corinthians 7 that he was celibate. But what if, in his sexual orientation, he was gay and celibate? I mean...isn't it possible? Please don't crucify me for heresy for raising the question.

Posted on November 13, 2007 12:49 PM|

Comments

I appreciate your courage in raising these kind of issues.

Posted by: Erinn | December 6, 2007 11:47 AM

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