A
Alectura
Guest
The biggest problem I have encountered seeking after the Biblical God is the requirement he places upon men to be sexually pure creatures. I refer specifically to the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, where he likens the realm of a person's innermost thoughts and attitude to being equivalent to external behaviour.
Matthew 5:27-30 You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
I find this teaching particularly cruel, not only because it is impossible to obey (for most men), but because the consequences of disobedience are so explicitly highlighted.
Whether one believes in evolution or not, it seems fairly obvious that men share with animals the same desire to find a mate and produce offspring. Whereas some mammals use their sense of smell as the prime way to determine the fitness and fertility of potential mates, it seems that humans partly use their sense of sight.
In response to this, it is likely no accident that females advertise their fitness and fertility through visual displays, like wide hips and abundant reserves of energy placed at key locations on their bodies. The fascination male humans have with female genitals could also be understood as a practical way of determining the presence of disease and sexual readiness.
With the human male's strong instinct to reproduce his genes, it is understandable he should assess potential mates at every opportunity. But this is the very thing that Jesus forbids as lustfully looking at women.
To add an even more troubling layer to this problem, research into human sexuality by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá, seems to reveal that humans simply are not meant to be monogamous. Like Bonobos, sexuality is not only a means for reproduction, but also of social regulation. This helps to explain how even heterosexual men will engage in homosexual sex during times of war, prison, or any other female lacking environment.
If you are still reading, here is the real dilemma:
Although it is difficult, it is not impossible to consciously obey the teachings of Jesus in regard to this matter. There have been times during which I have faithfully practiced such teachings to the utmost of my ability. Even going to the extreme of forbidding myself from watching television or being exposed to any influence of fleshly delight.
But instead enjoying a close bond with God during such times, where I could feel his presence and Spirit's approval, and where it felt like I was reclining in his sweet embrace; during such times God always felt absent. So as a consolation, I would begin to approve of myself. To feel good about how righteous I was. How good I was for being good and having a clear conscience. Then I would take pleasue comparing myself to others who were less successful.
When I obeyed Jesus I became a Pharisee from Hell! With my crystal clear conscience, I would feel it was my God given duty to point out the faults of other sinners.
Yet it was at times of failure, and worthlessness, when I approached God in abject despair and sorrow, that God felt most present with me. At such times God's love seemed to beam down upon me with approval.
So either I obey Jesus and become a Pharisee, or I resign myself to my animal nature and sin openly but can't have fellowship with God, or I play this impossible game where I pretend to be good and repent, knowing fully well I must return to sinning, but I cannot consciously acknowledge this or the game is over.
The only solution I can see (and retain my faith) is to repent once and for all time to God regarding my sinful nature, and to commit suicide, probably by starvation or dehydration, rather than with violence. Maybe drive out into the desert as far as possible, run out of fuel, and then find myself in a situation where I can't avoid death even if I wanted to.
This is the kind of radical solution that I think Jesus fully expects from Matthew 5:27-30. The alternative is that I resign myself to sin, which means I cannot fellowship with God (John 14:21), which means I go to eternal punishment, or I become a pharisee and still go to Hell, only it is a surprise to me at the time (Matthew 7:23).
An alternative solution, the one I am now following, is to assume the Bible is not to be taken literally, and does not have the same authority as my own common sense. And that it is okay to rest my relationship with God at times when he seems distant and disinterested in my existence, and I'm not in any kind of emotional or material crisis.
Any ideas, comments?
Matthew 5:27-30 You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
I find this teaching particularly cruel, not only because it is impossible to obey (for most men), but because the consequences of disobedience are so explicitly highlighted.
Whether one believes in evolution or not, it seems fairly obvious that men share with animals the same desire to find a mate and produce offspring. Whereas some mammals use their sense of smell as the prime way to determine the fitness and fertility of potential mates, it seems that humans partly use their sense of sight.
In response to this, it is likely no accident that females advertise their fitness and fertility through visual displays, like wide hips and abundant reserves of energy placed at key locations on their bodies. The fascination male humans have with female genitals could also be understood as a practical way of determining the presence of disease and sexual readiness.
With the human male's strong instinct to reproduce his genes, it is understandable he should assess potential mates at every opportunity. But this is the very thing that Jesus forbids as lustfully looking at women.
To add an even more troubling layer to this problem, research into human sexuality by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá, seems to reveal that humans simply are not meant to be monogamous. Like Bonobos, sexuality is not only a means for reproduction, but also of social regulation. This helps to explain how even heterosexual men will engage in homosexual sex during times of war, prison, or any other female lacking environment.
If you are still reading, here is the real dilemma:
Although it is difficult, it is not impossible to consciously obey the teachings of Jesus in regard to this matter. There have been times during which I have faithfully practiced such teachings to the utmost of my ability. Even going to the extreme of forbidding myself from watching television or being exposed to any influence of fleshly delight.
But instead enjoying a close bond with God during such times, where I could feel his presence and Spirit's approval, and where it felt like I was reclining in his sweet embrace; during such times God always felt absent. So as a consolation, I would begin to approve of myself. To feel good about how righteous I was. How good I was for being good and having a clear conscience. Then I would take pleasue comparing myself to others who were less successful.
When I obeyed Jesus I became a Pharisee from Hell! With my crystal clear conscience, I would feel it was my God given duty to point out the faults of other sinners.
Yet it was at times of failure, and worthlessness, when I approached God in abject despair and sorrow, that God felt most present with me. At such times God's love seemed to beam down upon me with approval.
So either I obey Jesus and become a Pharisee, or I resign myself to my animal nature and sin openly but can't have fellowship with God, or I play this impossible game where I pretend to be good and repent, knowing fully well I must return to sinning, but I cannot consciously acknowledge this or the game is over.
The only solution I can see (and retain my faith) is to repent once and for all time to God regarding my sinful nature, and to commit suicide, probably by starvation or dehydration, rather than with violence. Maybe drive out into the desert as far as possible, run out of fuel, and then find myself in a situation where I can't avoid death even if I wanted to.
This is the kind of radical solution that I think Jesus fully expects from Matthew 5:27-30. The alternative is that I resign myself to sin, which means I cannot fellowship with God (John 14:21), which means I go to eternal punishment, or I become a pharisee and still go to Hell, only it is a surprise to me at the time (Matthew 7:23).
An alternative solution, the one I am now following, is to assume the Bible is not to be taken literally, and does not have the same authority as my own common sense. And that it is okay to rest my relationship with God at times when he seems distant and disinterested in my existence, and I'm not in any kind of emotional or material crisis.
Any ideas, comments?
Yes the Book of Romans. 
