RIGHT BACK ON THE HOOK

Dear Professor Theophilus:

In answer to a recent question ("Which Hook Do You Mean?" in "Departments of Irreligious Studies"), you stated that "Exodus 22:13 does not apply to our society because it was a Hebrew civil regulation, not a universal moral law." My question is this: How does one distinguish between ancient "civil regulations" and laws that still apply today? Also, why are so many regulations that don't apply to us included in the Bible? What is the purpose of their inclusion?

Reply:

That's an excellent question. The short answer is that all of the moral principles underlying Torah, or Old Testament law, still apply to us, including, for example, all of the Ten Commandments. But not everything in Torah applies to us. The regulations which don't apply to us include all of the following:

1. The ceremonial regulations, for example, how the priest must dress.

2. The dietary regulations, for example, the prohibition on eating pork.

3. The regulations for ritual purity, for example, the special rules for women during their menstrual periods.

4. The sacrificial regulations, for example, when to sacrifice a lamb and when to sacrifice a goat.

5. The civil regulations, which establish penalties: telling how particular misdeeds are to be punished.

Exodus 22:13 falls into the fifth category; it's a civil regulation, which establishes a penalty for a particular kind of wrongdoing. One reason it doesn't apply to us is that what kind of civil arrangements people need to have varies according to circumstances in a way that moral truths don't; it's true everywhere that striking one's neighbor is wrong, but it isn't necessary everywhere that striking one's neighbor be punished in just such-and-such a way.

Another reason Hebrew civil regulations don't apply to us is that they were part of a system which no longer exists — a government directly established by God. Only once in history has God ruled a people directly. He did this with the Chosen People because He had set them apart as a "light to the nations"; they were to be the people among whom Messiah would be born.

Then why is this regulation in the Bible at all? Because the Bible is a record of God's dealings with His people through the ages, first the Hebrews, then the Church. We can learn a great deal even from regulations which don't apply directly to us today. Notice, for example, that I extracted the underlying moral idea from Exodus 22:13 — telling the young man who wrote to me that he was still on that hook (for having sex with his girlfriend). As I wrote to him, "You may not be obligated by Old Testament law to marry the girl, but you have taken something from her which you can never give back, and I think you need to repent of your legalistic attitude and give serious and prayerful thought to how you can make that up to her. In the meantime, because both of you have committed a serious sin, both of you must also repent. You say you want to do what God wants, but you don't mention being sorry that you didn't."

God had special purposes for the Hebrews in each category of regulation, both the regulations that apply to us today and the ones that don't. In some cases we have a pretty good idea what they were, in other cases we don't. For example, the sacrificial regulations anticipated and symbolized the future sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross. Because of what He did, we no longer need a sacrament of atonement yet to come; instead we need a sacrament of the atonement already accomplished. That's why Christ commanded us to celebrate Holy Communion.

The bottom line is that all of the moral principles of Torah still apply to us — as well as all of the underlying moral content of the other regulations. Indeed, much of the underlying moral contentg has been clarified and strengthened; consider the "you have heard ... but I say to you" passages in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:17-48).

Grace and peace,
PROFESSOR THEOPHILUS

MOST PEOPLE SEEM TO BE CONFUSED

Dear Professor Theophilus:

The other day a friend of mine told me she was a lesbian. The thing about it is she is a Christian, and thinks it is OK with God. Being a Christian, I told her that I couldn't agree because the word of God is against it. At first we were still friends, but now she says that we can't be. I have to talk to her about this, but I have no idea what to say. I've talked to a lot of people about the topic and most seem to be very confused. If you could please address this sometime, that would be great.

Reply:

Actually I've written quite a bit about the subject for Boundless, because readers ask about it so often. If you use the Boundless "search" feature, in two shakes of a lamb's tail you can find everything we've got in the archives about it. If you click over to the Pure Intimacy Web site, you can read a brief article I've written about God's plan for human sexuality.

In the meantime, let me offer some advice for talking with your friend. Here are the three most important points to bear in mind:

1. Homosexual behavior is against the design of human nature. Men and women are indispensable to each other; they aren't interchangeable blocks.

2. The tree of homosexuality bears bad fruits. Sodomitical acts have not only external consequences like death, disease, and childlessness, but internal ones. Some of the internal consequences are psychological, like loneliness and compulsive behavior. Others are moral, for we cannot violate the human design yet expect things to go on as they were; "that road leads down and down."

3. To refuse limits on sexual desire is to make an idol of lust. In our day the most popular false gods aren't cats and crocodiles, but youth, beauty, money, fame, and sex. When a person pursues sexual desire even against the design of human nature — even at the risk of protracted and agonizing death; even when to do so she must overcome shame and disgust over her own acts — then it's a pretty safe bet that sexual desire has become her idol.

Now let me prepare you for the objections your friend is most likely to make:

1. "You shouldn't impose your morality on other people." Who is imposing what on whom? These days you can't even see a Calvin Klein commercial without being bombarded with homosexual imagery. Pedophile organizations regularly march in Gay Pride parades. If you tell your dormitory authorities that you don't want a roommate who digs your body, you may be required to attend pro-homosexuality re-education sessions.

2. "Gays aren't hurting anybody." It may make an impression on your friend that they are hurting each other. Does your friend know that the rate of syphilis among women who practice lesbianism is 19 times what it is among other women?

3. "God made them that way." If God made them that way, how is it that thousands have been able to escape the homosexual life?

4. "What if it's a loving, committed relationship?" The idea behind this objection is that same-sex mating is just like marriage — except that it's with the same sex. It isn't. Research by Alan R. Bell and Martin S. Weinberg shows that "close-coupled" homosexuals don't stop cruising, they just cruise less. Homosexual activist Andrew Sullivan say that heterosexuals should learn from the homosexual example to get over their hang-up about marital faithfulness. The committed homosexual relationship is a myth.

5. "You hate people like me." Your friend should already know that you love her. If loving enough to tell the truth gently sounds like hatred to those who don't want to hear it, you have done all you can; the Lord will understand.

I hope this helps.

Grace and peace,
PROFESSOR THEOPHILUS

PERSONAL TO THE INTERNET PRAYER WARRIOR:

Every now and then I receive a letter which deserves a response in "Ask Theophilus," but which contains too far much identifying information to be published itself. Following is my reply to one such letter. After the reader's conversion to Christian faith, God changed his sexual desires profoundly, and he wanted the same healing grace for an Internet friend who struggled with the same desires. Unfortunately, some of his ideas for helping his friend were inappropriate, and endangered even the progress that he had made himself. From the following reply, I think you can figure out the rest.

Reply:

You have been unusually blessed by Jesus Christ. Rejoice, but don't assume that everyone who is delivered from pornographic and homosexual desires is delivered just as simply and directly as you were. For the majority of people, the process takes a lot more time, with a lot more help from other Christians through whom Christ chooses to act. It's possible that your friend is one of this majority. If so, then telling him "If you just give up your desires to God and hold Christ in your heart, then He will take the desires away from you" may seem to him like a cruel deception — a "trick" that he tried but that didn't work.

So allow Christ to work through His followers, if that is how Christ chooses to work; and allow Christ to work through other followers than just yourself. Your friend may need counseling, or a support group. Besides continuing to pray for him, perhaps the best thing you can do right now is to tell him about Exodus International, an umbrella organization for Christian ministries of "exit" from homosexuality. I've mentioned Exodus in this column before; he can find out if there is a chapter in his area by visiting the Web site at http://www.exodus.to. If he is open to practical advice about escape from enslavement to online sex, you might also direct him to the Pure Intimacy Web site.

It's also possible that your friend doesn't really want to change yet. Jesus asked one sick man who came to Him, "Do you want to be healed?" Give your friend some room; you can't force him to give up slavery.

One last word. You must stop checking up on your friend in Internet chat rooms. Spying on him won't do him any good, but it could do a great deal of harm to the relationship. It's bad for you, too: We're saved, but our sanctification is not complete. How can we be sure of our real motives in following people into such places? I think perhaps your parents appreciate this danger more keenly than you do. Besides, spying is unbiblical. Read what Paul says about "busybodies" in 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12, and 1 Timothy 5:13.

God bless you and your friend. I'll join my prayers for him to yours this evening.

Grace and peace,
PROFESSOR THEOPHILUS

POSTSCRIPT: HIS LIPS WERE SEALED

Editor:

I have a candidate in mind, but the article just cast doubt. I had him as a professor during the campaign, and never even thought to ask.

Reply:

I'm afraid I can't answer for my friend Budziszewski, but I can tell you how I voted myself. Let's put it this way. There are a lot of things that matter to me when I go to the polls, but only a few of them are nonnegotiable. One of them is the sanctity of God-given life, and another is the candidate's moral character. I would never vote for a candidate who promoted abortion. And I would never vote for a candidate who lied about it.

It's good to hear from you! I'll tell Budziszewski that you wrote.

Grace and peace,
PROFESSOR THEOPHILUS