Re: reading your own prejiduces into the bible and the sin of bearing false witness

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: : "Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar." -Proverbs 30:5-6, NIV : : "...What we are warned against here is a more fundamental, more serious sin: failing to distinguish between what God says and what we’d like Him to say, passing out our own opinions and traditions as if they were the very Word of God. Whether we do this by blatantly appending our own writings to the Bible and proclaiming it as God’s Word or by more insidiously making our own interpretations into a new standard of orthodoxy, it is equally wrong." ~ Ken Collins : : Ken has an excellent essay on Bible inspiration at http://www.kencollins.com/bible-i10.htm : : "People ... assume that they, as individuals, can make final, infallible interpretations of scripture, free from the : : contexts, biases, prejudices, and ignorance to which they are subject." : : Ken is absolutely correct. : : To say homosexuality is a sin is reading into the bible what is not there. To say it is a sin ignores context, culture, history, and personal agendas and prejiduces. : : "How could all those churches be wrong?", you ask. Well three facts answer this: : : (1) Nearly all Greek and Hebrew scholars and biblical historians are in agreement that the bible does not condemn homosexuality. Preachers know nothing about the original Hebrew and Greek scriptures and they go by ignorant translations by men who re-interpret the meanings of words (NIV) or make up their own ideas and put them in the text (Living Bible, disgusting translation). : : : : (2) There are literally hundreds of churches who not only accept, but also support homosexuality. : : from http://www.libchrist.com/other/homosexual/awake.html: : : Many Christian denominations that have ministries and organizations specifically for gay men and women, like: : : American Baptist Churches (American Baptist Concerned); Christian Church/Disciples of Christ (Affirming Disciples Alliance); : : Church of Christian Science (United Lesbian & Gay Christian Scientists); Church of Latter Day Saints (Affirmation); Church of : : the Brethren (Mennonite Council for Lesbian and Gay Concerns); Episcopal Church (Integrity); Evangelical Lutheran Church : : (Lutherans Concerned; Reconciled In Christ); Evangelicals (Evangelicals Concerned); Jehovah's Witnesses (Jehovah's Witness : : Gay Support Group); Pentecostal (National Gay Pentecostal Alliance); Presbyterian Church (Presbyterians for Lesbian/Gay : : Concerns; More Light Churches); Roman Catholic Church (Dignity); Seventh Day Adventist (Seventh Day Adventist Kinship : : International); Society of Friends (Friends for Lesbian and Gay Concerns); United Church of Christ (United Church of Christ : : Coalition for Lesbian/Gay Concerns); United Methodist Church (Affirmation; Reconciling Congregation Program). : : Not to mention Unitarian Universalist Association and Metropolitan : Community Church (and the many Jewish and OTHER : : religious : congregations/organizations). : : An outstanding publication incorporating 4 denominational programs "Reconciling Congregation" (United Methodist Church) : : "More Light Network" (Presbyterian Church USA) "Open and Affirming" (United Church of Christ) "Reconciled in Christ" : : (Lutheran) is "Open Hands - Resource for Ministries Affirming the Diversity of Human Sexuality" which has a huge list of : : resources of CHRISTIAN materials affirming homosexuals in the Church. : : I suggest anyone serious about the issue can contact Open Hands, 3801 N. Keeler Avenue, Chicago, Ill 60641 (312) : : 736-5526. : : Here is yet another of the many Christian denominations seeing the truth of Gods word not the perverted false English : : translations of Hebrew/Greek that falsely leads sincere believers astray from what God really says in Scripture. : : Over 500 Lutheran Church Leaders Support Gay/Lesbian Issues During the biennial assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran : : Church in America (ELCA), more than 500 church leaders broke silence and made public their support for the ecclesiastical : : recognition of loving committed relationships among lesbian and gay people, and for the ordination of qualified women and men : : as pastors and church professionals, regardless of sexual orientation. These church leaders, known as the Network (to end : : sexual discrimination in the ELCA), publicly released their names to an official representative of the ELCA. The group includes : : seminary professors, bishops, pastors, lay leaders and others. Bishop Emeritus Stanley E. Olson, a leader of the Network, is : : among those who publicly came out with his support. Bishop Olson said, I have witnessed the unscriptural burdens the ELCA : : has placed on all of its many gay and lesbian members, whether lay or ordained. As one who has held the office of bishop in the : : church, I cannot remain passive or silent. : : : : (3) The church has previously held doctrines which have been proven to be biblically *false*. : : During the sivil war churches taught that slavery was okay (by misunderstanding Leviticus 25:44-45, Ephesians 6:5-9, 1 Timothy 6:1-2, and 1Peter 2:18, and Colossians 3:2). : : Centuries prior, the church taught that the Earth was flat. : : So the church has held doctrines which were later proven to be false. : : The best thing to do is go by early church records. The early church did not condemn homosexulity, but instead BLESSED it! : : Yet... today, the church speaks AGAINST homosexuality, even though neither the early church nor the bible spoke against it. : : So the church most certianly can be wrong; and again, bible scholars and historians (who are the ones qualified to speak on these matters, not preachers) are generally in agreement about all of this. : : : : Contrary to popular opinion, the bible does not teach a sexual ethic. There are of course sexual sins. Such sins include : : (1) Adultery : : (2) Rape (including child molestation since it is obviously not mutual) : : (3) incest : : (4) bestiality : : (5) temple prostitution (regular prostitution almost seems to be condoned in Genesis 38 with Tamar, but I could be wrong) : : : : The anti-gay movement doesn't realise how absurd it is to try to change gays.... that's like trying to change brown eyes to blue eyes.. it just isnt gonna happen! I plan on writing an updated more detailed science paper soon. : : When I firt started my study on homosexuality I actually thought it was wrong; after awhile I was in a neutral state and undecided- from there I believe I conducted an unbiased study. I have termendous respect for Yahweh and I would not dare think of changing what he has said to fit my belief system. I would not dare to read into the text what I want to see. However I do believe most members of the anti-gay movement are reading into the text what they want to see and are not taking into account culture, history, history of translation, history of interpretation, and time to pray to God and ask for guidance on this matter. : : This is serious. If the anti-gay movement is wrong (as I believe and have, I feel, defended my stance without correction) then they are commiting the sin of bearing false witness. : : It may not be the unforgivable sin, but it is still a sin to bear false witness. : : I once again call upon the anti-gay members of this board to either refute me, or retract their blasphemous stance. : : Its up to you, : : X

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