Proof-Texting Scripture

As expected, some feathers were ruffled by me making my views on marriage equality clear in the recent letter to the editor I signed.

And that's okay.  It happens.   And this time, I made sure that the name of my church wasn't attached to the letter so that it wouldn't look like I was speaking in any official capacity--only in a personal capacity as a cleric.

Plus, as I continually tell both myself and my church, if they already agree with everything I'm saying, then I'm not doing my job, because no teaching is actually happening, and I’m always happy to have a dialogue about wshat I say anyway.  I have congregants who agree with me on it and those who disagree with me on it, and I don’t—I can’t—love one more than the other.

The folks who have come to me to talk about it, they usually either ask, “What does Scripture say,” or they’ll outright say, “This is what Scripture says.”

And Scripture is pretty clear.  Same-sex intercourse is an abomination (Leviticus 18:22) that is punishable by death (Leviticus 20:13).

One of the most common discussions on this point, though, is that when we highlight and super-size these verses, we are picking and choosing from over 600 Levitical laws to make a big ruckus about this particular one.

I agree with the logic behind that belief, but I also think that argument is incomplete, because not all Levitical law violations are treated with the same severity or punished in the same way.

So let’s unpack this a bit—what other crimes (besides murder) aside from same-sex relations does Scripture proscribe death for as punishment?  And, what other actions does Scripture label as abominations?

I did a little digging.  This is what I came up with.

Neither list should be considered exhaustive.

The following are punishable by death according to Scripture:

Striking or cursing a parent (Exodus 21:15, 17, Leviticus 20:9)

Disobeying your parents (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)

Kidnapping (Exodus 21:16)                                                             

Sorcery (Exodus 22:18, 2 Kings 23:24)

Worship of any god other than Yahweh (Exodus 22:20)

Working on the Sabbath (Exodus 35:2)

Adultery (Deuteronomy 22:22-24)

The following are considered abominations according to Scripture:

Consuming meat used for religious sacrifice (Leviticus 7:18, 19:7)

Consuming ostrich, which I am told is actually quite good (Leviticus 11:13)

Unclean animals and birds (Leviticus 20:25)

Defiling a shrine to Yahweh (2 Kings 23:13)

Causing family conflict (Proverbs 6:16, 19)

Lying (Proverbs 6:16-19, 12:22)

Arrogance (Proverbs 16:5)
Incense (Isaiah 1:13)

Adultery (Ezekiel 22:11)

Whatever is prized by humans (Luke 16:15—the only time any Gospel uses this term)

So, like I said, I completely agree that Scripture condemns same-sex intercourse.  It just does.  Multiple times.  I do think it slightly unfair to simply say, “Well, why don’t you follow all the other 600-some laws just as rigorously?” when not all the laws were written equally—some actions were clearly considered more condemnable than others. 

But even when we narrow the scope with that criteria, among those whose condemnation in Scripture is similar, I still think we are picking and choosing.  And I really wish we wouldn’t.

Because honestly, it kind of feels like we are using Scripture to validate views we already hold, as opposed to letting Scripture shape our views.

Yours in Christ,

Eric