Hair and Prayer

Hair and Prayer

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R
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14 Jul 07

Originally posted by Nemesio
So you pick and choose which parts of Divine Revelation are amenable to
you, right? Your opinion is that St Paul's testimony regarding head-
coverings is not a reflection of God's attitude.

That is, the Holy Spirit failed to intervene on St Paul's false assertion,
that it is unnatural for a woman to have short or uncovered hair when she
prays. ...[text shortened]... y select the portions that
are convenient to you (like you do with St Paul)?

Nemesio
Common sense tells me homosexual behaviour is not natural.
Look, Satan is the master at counterfeit. Everything God calls good, Satan perverts. The covering of the hair, etc. is more symbolic and does not deal with immorality. Homosexuality goes back to the beginning when God said no, Satan says "did he really say no?" He plays with words with the intent of twisting the scriptures and promoting sin. Sin is disobeying God. What is your line of reasoning? What are you trying to say here? That all scripture is irrelevent? That it is only a guide? That God approves of homosexuality? Then He would not care about any kind of sin. Then He ceases to be Holy Himself. I am sorry my friend( if you will permit me the courtesy) but this is not the case. God is indeed Holy, He hates sin. He sent Jesus Christ for a purpose. If sin is permissable, then the sacrafice of His Son was in vain and we are all lost.

Ursulakantor

Pittsburgh, PA

Joined
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14 Jul 07

Originally posted by checkbaiter
Look, Satan is the master at counterfeit. Everything God calls good, Satan perverts. The covering of the hair, etc. is more symbolic and does not deal with immorality. Homosexuality goes back to the beginning when God said no, Satan says "did he really say no?" He plays with words with the intent of twisting the scriptures and promoting sin. Sin is disob ...[text shortened]... purpose. If sin is permissable, then the sacrafice of His Son was in vain and we are all lost.
Well, I guess you just want to pick and choose which parts of Scripture you follow, which parts you
think are 'Divine' and which you think can be dismissed.

I dare say that by ignoring St Paul's admonition regarding hair, it is you who are twisting the words
of Scripture, you who are promoting unnaturalness in God's churches, you who are encouraging people
to disobey God and wear their hair however they like.

Maybe Satan is acting through you, convincing you that hair styles aren't a matter of immorality even
though Divine Scripture clearly says otherwise
.

Or, maybe you're right about it. Maybe Scriptural perspective does evolve. Maybe it's possible to
celebrate in God's love in a homosexual relationship just like a heterosexual one just like it's possible
for a man to worship God with a ponytail or for women to preach and have spiritual authority over men.

Nemesio

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15 Jul 07

Originally posted by Nemesio
Well, I guess you just want to pick and choose which parts of Scripture you follow, which parts you
think are 'Divine' and which you think can be dismissed.

I dare say that by ignoring St Paul's admonition regarding hair, it is you who are twisting the words
of Scripture, you who are promoting unnaturalness in God's churches, you wh ...[text shortened]... ith a ponytail or for women to preach and have spiritual authority over men.

Nemesio
You did not answer my questions either. You seem to be on a quest to ridicule the bible and Christianity. This coversation is headed nowhere and I am done with this thread.....later....

T

Joined
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15 Jul 07

Originally posted by Nemesio
Well, I guess you just want to pick and choose which parts of Scripture you follow, which parts you
think are 'Divine' and which you think can be dismissed.

I dare say that by ignoring St Paul's admonition regarding hair, it is you who are twisting the words
of Scripture, you who are promoting unnaturalness in God's churches, you wh ...[text shortened]... ith a ponytail or for women to preach and have spiritual authority over men.

Nemesio
Nice try.

Ursulakantor

Pittsburgh, PA

Joined
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15 Jul 07

Originally posted by ThinkOfOne
Nice try.
So all of your women cover their heads when they pray?

Ursulakantor

Pittsburgh, PA

Joined
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15 Jul 07
1 edit

Originally posted by checkbaiter
You did not answer my questions either. You seem to be on a quest to ridicule the bible and Christianity. This coversation is headed nowhere and I am done with this thread.....later....
Amazing. You are the one discarding Scripture but I'm the one ridiculing Christianity! You are the one
saying that St Paul was wrong in his insisting that women wear head coverings, but I'm the one
ridiculing the Bible.

This conversation is headed nowhere because you refuse to address your hypocrisy. You want your cake
and eat it, too. You want to ignore those passages that are inconvenient to you, but want to insist that
other people acknowledge the parts you hold as revelation.

What questions did I ignore? My line of reasoning? My line of reasoning is, if St Paul gives a command
to avoid praying with an uncovered head and to avoid homosexual acts, one should only feel compelled
to follow one if he follows the other.

You are the one rendering parts of Scripture irrelevant! You are the one who says that St Paul wasn't
inspired when he gave the admonition! You are the one saying that 'it's only a guide,' because you
are choosing not to follow it.

You are a fraud, like every other Pharisee on this site.

Nemesio

T

Joined
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15 Jul 07

Originally posted by Nemesio
So all of your women cover their heads when they pray?
Sorry, perhaps I should have been more explicit with all the grief that you've taken on this thread. I wasn't being sarcastic. I applaud your efforts to try to soften the hearts of those who have such an unloving position on homosexuality.

Pimp!

Gangster Land

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15 Jul 07

Originally posted by Nemesio
Amazing. You are the one discarding Scripture but I'm the one ridiculing Christianity! You are the one
saying that St Paul was wrong in his insisting that women wear head coverings, but I'm the one
ridiculing the Bible.

This conversation is headed nowhere because you refuse to address your hypocrisy. You want your cake
and eat it, too. You ...[text shortened]... g not to follow it.

You are a fraud, like every other Pharisee on this site.

Nemesio
Wow, this may be the first time in RHP history that we can actually declare a winner...and you are it. You have revealed some of the Christians to be the hypocrites they are, and they have no defense. Well done!

w

Joined
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15 Jul 07
5 edits

Originally posted by TheSkipper
Does this mean you no longer consider homosexual sex a sin? Or are you just changing the subject to avoid having to think about it?
Your question reminds me of a question asked to Jesus. A man walked up to him and asked him what he must do to be saved in Matthew 19. Jesus promptly responded, "You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultry, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honour your father and mother, you shall love your neighbor as yourself." The young man looked at him and said that he had kept these sayings his entire life. Jesus then says, "If you will be perfect, go and sell that what you have, and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow me." However, the young man was very rich and this saddened him greatly and he seems to have thought better of serving this Jesus character and walked away for good. Jesus then turned to his disciples and said, "Verily, verily, I say to you, that a rich man shall hardly enter the kingdom of heaven. For it is easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." The disciples heard this and were amazed and asked him who then could be saved? Jesus turned to them and said, "WIth man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Now in terms of interpreting this scripture via people like Nemesio, one would have to sell all they had and give it to the poor to have eternal life. However, this is not my take on this scripture. What Christ did was look at this man's heart. What he saw was his trust and love for his riches that exceeded that for his God. After all, the number one commandment is to love your God above all else and that is what Christ was eluding to and not to the fact that one must not have riches. The young man in quesiton had perfected loving his neighbor but not his God. In fact, if man needed to live in poverty, what of his servants such as Job who was wealthy? He was not only rich, God blessed him with 7 fold after his trial with Satan when everything was taken from him. I dare say that Job's heart was one geared towards his God above all else in comparison to the young man that Jesus encountered as was later proven as Job did not forsake his God even though his wealth forsook him but the young man whom Jesus encountered walked away when confronted with possible loosing his stash. Notice also that Christ says that with God ALL things are possible. One may be rich and enter heaven. The money is not the issue, rather, the issue is if the money has you.

Now what does this have to do with homosexuality you may ask? This topic is nothing more than a long litany of topics in which people ask, "Am I going to have to give up X,Y, or Z to serve my God?" What if the answer is yes? What if he asks you to give it up? Will you walk away?

If I honesly thought that God wanted me to wear my hair a certain way or dress a certain way then I would do it. I care little as to the apperal I wear. In fact, my wife can attest to this fact with great frustration. However, my cloths/hair don't have me, so to speak. God comes before my cloths/hair. Now in terms of social convention, this may have been an issue back in Pual's day and indeed, it seems to have been. I can only assume this because he is the only one who talks about it briefly. Paul was the type to avoid disputes such as hair/clothing in favor of simply proclaiming the good news without further hinderance that we see Nemesio bring up. However, to say that homosexuality is a social convention, I think this hardly the case. I mean, no matter the society in which you live you either are or are not inclined toward that behavoir.

Now this bring us to teachings in the Bible about sex. What are they? In the chaper in question Jesus tod his disciples that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven, Jesus outlines what God had originally intended for sexual relations. "Have you not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female. And said, for this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and will cleave to his wife; and they twain will be one flesh?" Granted, Jesus does not mention the issue of homosexuality but at the same time is deferring to the Mosaic law on the issue in terms of what is proper sexual conduct. So what does the Mosaic law say in regards to homosexual conduct? I think we all know the answer to this question. In fact, in more than one place in the OT and NT such behavoir is condemned. It seems to transcend every society in which it is adressed in the Bible going back hundreds and hundreds of years.

So going back to the question of whether or not a homosexual can enter the kingdom of heaven I will say that with God ALL things are possible. That is, if you defer to him in regards to the issue and do not raise it above your love for him than you can be saved. However, if you come to Christ and tell him how it's going to be or I'm not following you then I guess you will walk away just as the young rich man who encountered Jesus. Is it hard? Yes. Is it painful? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ursulakantor

Pittsburgh, PA

Joined
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15 Jul 07

Originally posted by whodey
If I honesly thought that God wanted me to wear my hair a certain way or dress a certain way then I would do it.
I'll respond in full later, but I want you to watch what I can do with this sentence your wrote:

'If I honestly thought that God cared about the expression of my sexual identity, then I would do it.'

You want to ignore St Paul's clear writing about hair styles and how women ought to pray.

But you don't want other people to ignore St Paul's writing about homoeroticism.

How can you seriously chide someone for doing the latter while you do the former with absolute confidence
in your decision?

Nemesio

Ursulakantor

Pittsburgh, PA

Joined
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15 Jul 07

Originally posted by whodey
Now in terms of interpreting this scripture via people like Nemesio, one would have to sell all they had and give it to the poor to have eternal life.

Straw man. I don't interpret this Scripture this way. Even a literalist realizes that Jesus was addressing
this specific man's case and not making a general commandment about possessions.

That having been said, a person who wants to be a good Christian ought to be very wary about
excessive wealth for the many reasons advised in Scripture. Jesus never said it was impossible for
a rich man to enter heaven, but that it was extraordinarily difficult because of the temptation that
riches offers. Largely, I agree with your exegesis of the Scripture passage, though I think we could
flesh it out some more than you have.

This is very different than St Paul's statement which is a universal one, that the churches of God
will never have such a custom.


Now what does this have to do with homosexuality you may ask? This topic is nothing more than a long litany of topics in which people ask, "Am I going to have to give up X,Y, or Z to serve my God?" What if the answer is yes? What if he asks you to give it up? Will you walk away?

Precisely. St Paul makes clear that his proclamation against short-haired women or long-haired men
is a profession of faith. Do you and your colleagues give up your worldly perspectives about hair and
submit to the will of God as proclaimed in Divine Scripture by St Paul?

If I honesly thought that God wanted me to wear my hair a certain way or dress a certain way then I would do it. I care little as to the apperal I wear. In fact, my wife can attest to this fact with great frustration. However, my cloths/hair don't have me, so to speak. God comes before my cloths/hair. Now in terms of social convention, this may have been an issue back in Pual's day and indeed, it seems to have been. I can only assume this because he is the only one who talks about it briefly.

And yet you don't proclaim against Christian churches which blatantly tolerate 'so-called Christians'
which allow these deviant and unnatural hairstyles. It is your ambivalence towards a person's 'tonsural
status' that makes your stance on homosexuality hypocritical.

Paul was the type to avoid disputes such as hair/clothing in favor of simply proclaiming the good news without further hinderance that we see Nemesio bring up. However, to say that homosexuality is a social convention, I think this hardly the case.

So? Like I said earlier, the issue of woman's hair is a cultural one stemming far back and wider than
the Jews. View on homoerotic expression vary by culture, and the way in which it is viewed today is
very different than the way it was viewed in 1st-century Palestine. Homoeroticism was accepted as
normative behavior in some cultures, frowned upon in others, just like views on hair.

I mean, no matter the society in which you live you either are or are not inclined toward that behavoir.

You'll notice that this statement says absolutely nothing. Either you do or you do not like pizza. Either
you do or do not regard hairstyles as important. This is a vacuous tautology.

Now this bring us to teachings in the Bible about sex. What are they? In the chaper in question Jesus tod his disciples that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven, Jesus outlines what God had originally intended for sexual relations. "Have you not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female. And said, for this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and will cleave to his wife; and they twain will be one flesh?"

So, you protest against Christian communities which permit the remarriage of divorced individuals?
That's all Jesus is talking about here. He is not making a comment whatsoever on homoeroticism;
it is irrelevant to the discussion.

Good question, Whodey: Do you protest against those heterosexual individuals who are living in
sin by committing adultery against their first spouses?

Granted, Jesus does not mention the issue of homosexuality but at the same time is deferring to the Mosaic law on the issue in terms of what is proper sexual conduct. So what does the Mosaic law say in regards to homosexual conduct? I think we all know the answer to this question. In fact, in more than one place in the OT and NT such behavoir is condemned. It seems to transcend every society in which it is adressed in the Bible going back hundreds and hundreds of years.

That's right. But Jesus also dismissed the Mosaic law, so appeals to it hardly merit any attention,
unless you are also going to assert that eating abominable animals is also a grievous sin.

So going back to the question of whether or not a homosexual can enter the kingdom of heaven I will say that with God ALL things are possible. That is, if you defer to him in regards to the issue and do not raise it above your love for him than you can be saved. However, if you come to Christ and tell him how it's going to be or I'm not following you then I guess you will walk away just as the young rich man who encountered Jesus. Is it hard? Yes. Is it painful? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I understand you correctly, you're admitting that God can be present in a homosexual partnership,
that as long as their love of God is greater than their love of each other, as long as they confess Jesus
Christ as Lord and so forth, they should be a-okay.

If you aren't saying that, then you need to address:
1) Ignoring a patent command by St Paul regarding hairstyles;
2) Ignoring divorced 'adulterers' who sin by virtue of remarriage.

Nemesio

w

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16 Jul 07

Originally posted by Nemesio
Originally posted by whodey
[b]Now in terms of interpreting this scripture via people like Nemesio, one would have to sell all they had and give it to the poor to have eternal life.


Straw man. I don't interpret this Scripture this way. Even a literalist realizes that Jesus was addressing
this specific man's case and not making a general commandment about possessions.
Nope. I could care less how you "interpret" the Bible. After all, I thought you were into Biblical literalism.

So if Christ was only talking to a specific person or persons and adressing their personal situation, why can't Paul be doing the same? Christ made the statement that one must sell all that they have and give to the poor did he not?

w

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16 Jul 07
1 edit

Originally posted by Nemesio
That's right. But Jesus also dismissed the Mosaic law, so appeals to it hardly merit any attention,
unless you are also going to assert that eating abominable animals is also a grievous sin.
WRONG!!!!!!!!

Christ said that he had come to FULFILL the law, not to throw it away. For example, the woman caught in adultery, she was to be stoned via Mosaic law. Did he turn to them and say they had no right? Did he turn to them and say that adultery was now OK? No, in fact, he did not! Actually, at the end of the story and the accusers of the woman left due to be convicted of their own sin, Chirst turned to her and told her to go and SIN NO MORE. So I can only assume that Christ is telling her not to comit adultery any more and not that the Mosaic law is of no effect any more.

Ursulakantor

Pittsburgh, PA

Joined
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Moves
34824
16 Jul 07

Originally posted by whodey
After all, I thought you were into Biblical literalism.

I am utterly opposed to Biblical literalism for it turns the Bible into an idol.

So if Christ was only talking to a specific person or persons and adressing their personal situation, why can't Paul be doing the same?

Because St Paul was testifying to the nature of things; that is, he was speaking as to the
natures of men and women, not specific individuals. Note he says that people with the inappropriate
hairstyles would not be found in the 'churches of God.'

So, after pages of dodging, you still haven't confessed whether you find this part of Scripture to be
God-breathed or not.

Christ made the statement that one must sell all that they have and give to the poor did he not?

Jesus' statement about richness in general was one to be applied generally, naturally. Jesus' statement
for this one individual is one to be applied specifically to the one individual. This exegesis is supported
by the text.

Nemesio

Ursulakantor

Pittsburgh, PA

Joined
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16 Jul 07

Originally posted by whodey
WRONG!!!!!!!!

Christ said that he had come to FULFILL the law, not to throw it away. For example, the woman caught in adultery, she was to be stoned via Mosaic law. Did he turn to them and say they had no right? Did he turn to them and say that adultery was now OK? No, in fact, he did not! Actually, at the end of the story and the accusers of the woma ...[text shortened]... telling her not to comit adultery any more and not that the Mosaic law is of no effect any more.
In fulfilling the Law, does that mean that you are or are not beholden to cleansing rites? Do you or
do you not have to keep kosher? Will you or will you not stone a person caught in adultery?

Since I assume that you answer in the negative for all of these and the thousand other things I can
list from the Law, why do you feel that holding on to one teeny tiny section of Leviticus that has to
do with homosexuality?

Nemesio

P.S., Do you find I Corinthians 11:1-7 to be God-breathed or not?