Page 903 … Undefiling the Marriage Bed
You then also reference Hebrews 13:4, which reads – “Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers.” … While this verse which does indeed clearly prohibit those who fornicate outside the bounds of marriage, and yet this too has no ethical bearing on the case at hand.
Please consider the following important facts:
*Fact: First of all, the Bible upholds many types of marriage unions, many of which we today view to be unacceptable or even immoral – including the Levirate marriage (where a brother-in-law was expected to marry his dead brother’s wife and produce children with her – see Deuteronomy 25:5-10), the keeping of marital concubines (a popular practice with many of the Old Testament’s main players, including Abraham, Jacob, Caleb, Saul, David, and Solomon – see Genesis 21:10 et al), the marital union of a rapist with his victim (see Deuteronomy 22:28-29), the marital union of man and his slave(s) (see Genesis 16 & Exodus 21:4), the marital union of a soldier and his prisoner(s) of war (see Numbers 31:1-18 & Deuteronomy 21:11-14), and even outright polygamy (see Genesis 4:19, Genesis 26:34, Genesis 29:28, Judges 8:30 & 2 Chronicles 13:21 et al).
* Fact: Unmarried straight pastors are targeted by this verse just as much as unmarried gay ones are, meaning that using this verse to condemn the latter and not the former is a flagrant expression of prejudicial bigotry!
* Fact: Perhaps most important of all, Oliver & Rashad are married, which means that neither of them is “defiling the marriage bed” at all, at least as long as they are remaining faithful to one another.
* Fact: And finally, please remember that “mental adultery” (i.e. merely fantasizing about having sexual relations with someone other than one’s spouse) is given equal condemnation by Jesus himself (see Matthew 5:27-28), which makes you using this particular verse to condemn homosexuals extremely problematic – seeing as how 99% of all pastors are, at least according to Jesus Christ, “defiling the marriage bed” with their extra-marital fantasies …
Ah, the raw & unadulterated hypocrisy of it all!
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