John T,
If you had read my posts and those of CC, you would know how I can say the things I have said.
I spent more than 20 years just accepting what the church, pastors, and more senior believers said was true and what the Bible meant. Then I opened my eyes and started looking into things myself. Looking into the true meaning and context of words and scripture. Looking into the history of the church and when and by whom certain doctrines were developed and how they were promulgated. Looking into why those doctrines were spread throughout the church, etc. Using more than the easily attainable references, commentaries, and Bible school materials.
One of the things I found was that sexuality was quite a bit more free in the early church, and throughout the OT, than it is in today's church. I found that pagan converts and Gnostic influences changed that and began to make sex a thing of evil rather than a God given thing of beauty and enjoyment. And that once Augustine declared sex to actually be sinful under almost every instance, the church began using that to condemn and hold the masses in bondage, generally for control and for money, basically in the same way that the Catholic Church held salvation hostage for indulgences prior to Luther.
A couple of sources, if you are interested, are Dirt, Sex, & Greed by L. William Countryman and Divine Sex by Philo Thelos. There are many others, though many are from the liberal end of the Christian spectrum and as such are often completely disregarded just for that reason. But even a broken clock can be right twice a day and when other more conservative sources concur or at least come to the same conclusions on the same facts, even the most liberal teachers can be right.
I believe that I have made my case and supplied some reference material for those that are actually interested in searching for the truth about sexual freedom under Christ. The reference material provides the evidence needed to point out errors on this subject.
As far as surrendering my pulpit, since God put me here, I would not bow to any man's call for that. I would preach to the rocks if that was all that was left. At least until God Himself moves me somewhere else. And I know that goes for the hundreds of pastors in evangelical and conservative churches in the US that believe the same thing on this subject.
Thanks for your input though. I do challenge you to check out the reference material cited. It may just spur you to look into it further.
Grace and peace
