Hey Kate, you already know my position on the issue of homosexuality in general but in this case, without any other information to go on, I think it is hurtful to deny a kid a good education because of who claims to be the kids parents. It isn’t the kids fault. Plus, if they applied that rule equally to all for all “sin” … they wouldn’t have any, teachers, students… staff, left.

Again, there is usually more to the story but that’s my initial thought.

I think there is a way to disagree with the ladies without punishing the kid.

I don’t know if they regarded the partner as a parental figure. If they are requiring “at least one parent” to lead a moral, Christian life, and the only “parent” in the picture is the biological mother, wouldn’t that thereby exclude the girl from admission according to the rules?

Don’t get me wrong — this is laying the crimes of the father at the son’s feet when it comes to my views on general philosophy. However, if this is a private, Christian school, then they do have the right to determine whom they admit.

I do have to say that one would think that if they want to go and promote Christian values, then they would WANT girls like this in order to prevent those children from repeating those same “mistakes” (speaking from the view of the school, not my own). You know — that whole conversion/missionary idea.

taking up from Aylanna, what about the father? even if he were a sperm donor, a legal argument could be made that she has at least one parent who is living within the bounds of the rules….(assuming he’s not a gay man or dead)

I mean, wouldn’t that first require the school to recognize gay marriage, something which even the California legislature has not yet done?

Actually, the CA Legislature did do that, albeit unconstitutionally. And our existing, constitutional domestic partner law comes pretty close.

As it is a private Christian school…they can go by the motto…’We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.’

My kids attend this school. Prior to admittance, the parents are interviewed and basiically you agree to the rules they stated. I doubt both parents showed up for that meeting.

It is unfair to the girl, but it is just as unfair to the parents of the rest of the school who are paying a great deal of money to have their kids in a Christian environment. I know it isn’t politically correct, but I do not accept that the homosexual lifestyle is acceptable to God. Niether is co-habitation of hetero-sexual couples who aren’t married. Had the school found out the woman in question was living with a man, the same result would have occurred. You may think us Christians are kooks, but this is a private school. Liberal views are rampant in public schools. When it comes to private schools, I say keep your hands off.

Stikmata,

Are you a sinner? Are we to assume that you live a perfectly sin-free life, thus, your kid is safe from expulsion (at least until they find out you’re not perfect either)?

I wrote about this issue in my own blog, where I question how homosexuality became the ultimate sin when it didn’t even make God’s own top 10.

You guys have all been “hissing” about something you read and took wrong. “Stob wrote that school policy requires that at least one parent may not engage in practices “immoral or inconsistent with a positive Christian life style”. The contract said at least one parent “may not” engage in an immoral lifestyle, not that the kid must have one parent that does in engage in a moral lifestyle. This means that if one parent is engaging in homosexuallity or shacking up with someone before marriage, then the kid would be denied admission. Nevermind the other parent who is living a moral lifestyle, like the dad in question. I just thought I’d let you all know that you read the statment wrong. Besides that, the school had the right to kick her out first of all because her parents signed a contract and obviously lied when they did that. And the school is based on the Bible, which states that homosexuality is wrong and yes, it is a sin and we are all guilty of sin, but to choose to live 22 years of your life in a sin, and not try to repent or change, is absolutey wrong and God is agaisnt that. To go to the school, whoes saying is “growing Christian leaders”, they want your parents to stand by the school in that mission, and the students parents obviously weren’t on board.

First off I’d like to say that Shay Clark, the student, is the victum in this situation. I feel so bad for her and wish her to be able to live a som what normal lifestyle after this all blows over. But it is not the school who she is a victum from but her mother. Her mother has turned her into her own little political toy to throw out to defend the lesbian community. We are all sinners but this mother is unrepentent and living in her sin for the last 22 years. She also lied to get her daughter in OC. The fact is when people think of Christian schools they think of church run schools. This is not a church run school but a parent run school. A church run school would probably open their arms to Shay but in this case being a parent run school the parents must be Christians and have the same basic Christian values. Homosexuality will never be a Christian value and should never be promoted to the students at OC. That is why this unfortunate incident had to occur.

Note to Stikmata… Ever since I was transplanted to “Conservative” Indiana, I’ve been on the bandwagon about “your kind of Christians”. With all the threats to our society today, you scare me the most. Why? Because you are already in my backyard! Backass Bible thumpers like you might be running the country right now (and I use the term lightly), but your time is up. We’ve put up with your self-righteous babble long enough…we’re pissed and we’re not gonna take it anymore. It’s time for you to shut the @#ck up! Thank you.

Hey! what has the parents sexual preference got to do with the child. It is them who r lesbians and not the child!!!

I just read about the poor girl in a German newspaper. I am a bit worried that the nation who claim to support democracy and human rights worldwide are loosing the control of its own backyard.

I hope (but do not believe) that the school will suffer under its own medival attitudes, its not christian and its not clever – just plain ignorant and stupid.

Chris: You don’t seem to have read what she actually said.

But you do seem to have, er, “issues” with Christianity.

(And I say this as an atheist, before you get any crazy ideas about “bible thumpers”.)

Cranky: You might want to look over the New Testament again. The epistles, especially, mention “fornication” right up there with all them other sins, too. (And I’m sure that if the parents in this case were openly and proudly committers of another major sin, such as theft or bearing false witness, the school would be just as displeased.) God wasn’t too specifically down on homosexuality, indeed. But he was quite specifically against having sex outside of marriage, and quite specific about marriage only involving a man and a woman. We can debate whether this is good social policy or not, but as a matter of religion, it isn’t really arguable.

Steen: Part of liberty is the liberty to do things that aren’t “nice”. And democracy has nothing to do with this (if it does, perhaps you can enlighten me as to which aspect of participatory government is in question?) . Nor, in fact, does “human rights”, unless there’s a human right to have people like what you do, or let you in to any specific private institution you want. And I don’t think there is such a right.

It’s important, people, to respond to what is actually said and argued (and, if one is to have an argument in a religious context, to deal with more than a caricature of the beliefs in question), if one wishes one’s comments to be more than a chorus.

I am a student that graduated from Ontario Christian School Last Year. I stand firm behind Ontario Christian School and say WELL DONE. To the remark Chris left, you can tell he is clearly uneducated. It was not that long ago in our country when if a person chose to practice homosexuality he had to be careful to hide it. If news of it got out he would be ostracized in one way or another, because our society viewed homosexuality as something extremely shameful.

Gradually, however, homosexuals have become increasingly open about their lifestyle, describing it in more positive terms (“gay”) and defying anyone who would dare to even suggest that it is in any way improper. Such is the societal “progress” which our generation has witnessed.

Regularly, homosexual demonstrations are given the wholesale endorsement of the news media. People who abhor the practice as immoral are dubbed “homophobics” as though they now should be the ones in hiding. So now the evil of homosexuality has been surpassed by the evil of “homophobia.” To be opposed to homosexuality has become the sin rather than the homosexuality itself. It is no longer enough for homosexuality to be legal — it must be given moral approval.

I find all of this both morally wrong and personally offensive. Homosexuality is socially destructive, contrary to nature and, more importantly, contrary to the law of God. It is wrong in every way, and decent people should not have to hide that fact. To pretend that evil has become good does not change the fact or render the evil any less wicked. It is not that we are afraid of homosexuality (“homophobia”), but we do not apologize for being opposed to it.

Now we cannot approve of the personal violence against homosexuals which the media has been reporting. (By the way, what the media will not report is the many more acts of violence by homosexuals against those who have spoken out against their sin — a trend growing by the day.) But neither should we be forced to conform to immoral ideals, “politically correct” though they may be. We resent being frowned upon as unreasonable or unenlightened because we insist on proven standards of decency. Opposition to homosexuality is not shameful — it is homosexuality that is shameful, as are all forms of immorality.

The prophet Isaiah and the apostle Paul both warned of the days to come in which evil would be paraded as good and good as evil. That day has come: the ethical ideals of our society have become so warped that moral vice is openly defended against virtue.

Moreover, decent people must refuse to be pressured by it all. We must not allow an immoral minority or even a majority to dictate to us what our standards will be. Our standards come from a higher authority. Holiness before God is our goal — not acceptance by sinners.

Moreover, God’s law has been proven best and safest. We dare anyone to deny that the present AIDS epidemic would be unheard of today if men and women had simply obeyed the law of God. The social diseases and social breakdown which our generation has witnessed have not come as a result of moral decency but as a result of immoral indecency. That fact remains unanswerable.

Shame and sin can only be defined by God. A degenerate society may seek to call good evil and evil good, but still it is they who bear the shame; we do not.

The Bible on Sexuality

Most people seem to think that the Bible was written in an old dusty monastery somewhere where any ideas about sexuality were always presumed sinful. The Bible, they seem to think, only condemns sexuality outright.

Quite the opposite is true. This old monastic view of sex did not come from the Bible at all. In fact, the Bible affirms that human sexuality is a part of humanity as God created it. It is God, not the devil, who put this appetite within us. Sexuality is not basically evil but basically good.

The rest of the story, of course, is this: just as God created us with the appetite, so also He placed upon us the stipulations and guidelines for the use of it. This is the fact that is overlooked by our society today.

When we look to the Scriptures to see what God has said about the matter we find that He has told us to enjoy the gift within this single limit: within marriage (marriage, of course, being that of a man and a woman — the things you have to clarify these days!). “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4). Surprisingly (to many), this is the only regulation.

But with this as our only regulation many other practices are ruled out. This stipulation alone militates against most all of what our society would have us believe.

The sins of our society are not unique to our generation. With this one guideline as its basic assumption, the Scriptures make specific prohibitions of certain activities which are as pertinent to our day as to its own. By very definition, “fornication” or “immorality” is any sexual activity outside the marriage union.

Homosexuality: What Does God Say About It?

The first reference to homosexuality in Scripture is in the infamous account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. The wickedness of the men of that city is obvious and is of such a severe nature that it brought divine destruction upon the entire city. Both Peter and Jude make reference to it and describe the sin of homosexuality as ” ungodly, lawless, unnatural and extreme immorality” (see 2 Peter 2:6, 8; Jude 7).

In Leviticus 18:22 and 24 homosexuality is described as an “abomination” and “defiling.” It is reprehensible and unclean.

In Leviticus 20:13 it is again described as an “abomination” but here as one worthy of the death penalty!

Deuteronomy 23:17 forbade the presence of a “sodomite” in the land of Israel.

An incident similar to that of Sodom and Gomorrah is seen again in Judges 19. Again the sin of homosexuality is described as “wickedness.”

In 1 Kings 14, 15, and 22 the removal of male prostitutes from the land of Israel is viewed as a sign of much-needed spiritual reformation.

The prohibition in Deuteronomy 22:5 of women wearing men’s clothing appears to be a specific condemnation of transvestism.

In Romans 1:18-32 the apostle Paul condemns the practice in the severest terms. Homosexuality is “unclean,” “impure,” “dishonoring to the body,” “vile,” “degrading / disgraceful,” “contrary to nature,” “unseemly/ obscene,” “improper activity of a depraved mind,” “unrighteous,” “wicked,” etc. Of particular importance to the apostle in this passage is the fact that homosexuality is “unnatural”–contrary to nature. In other words, nature itself teaches that the practice is wrong; we all know it intuitively. Homosexuality is, then, a particularly rebellious sin.

In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 the apostle Paul speaks of homosexuals as “effeminate” and “abusers of themselves with mankind” who “shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” The terms he uses here seem to be specific references to both active and the passive participants in a homosexual relationship. Such people are “unrighteous,” he says, and if they remain in that practice they will be condemned.

From all this we can draw at least the following three conclusions:

1) Homosexuality is contrary to Scripture. There is no way to speak of any kind of acceptable or “Christian” homosexuality. There is never any allowance for it. It is never anything but sinful.

2) Homosexuality is contrary to nature. It is a particularly rebellious sin, a violation even of one’s own conscience.

3) Homosexuality is worthy of severe judgment. The Mosaic law prescribed the death penalty for this sin. The apostle Paul specified that such people have excluded themselves from the salvation that is in Christ Jesus and are headed toward condemnation.

Homosexuality and Society

Also of interest is what the apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 1 about that society which approves of homosexuality. He says that God will “give them over to their reprobate minds.”

Now some have attempted to take this as a kind of Divine permission, but it is more than abundantly clear that Paul is not saying that! Rather, he is speaking in terms of judgment. He is saying that if men stubbornly persist in such activity God will simply leave them to themselves–and that is precisely the worst thing that can ever happen to a man! What every man needs, what every society needs, is for God to interrupt the downward spiral of sin and turn us back to Himself! Apart from this we would all be condemned!

Significantly, then, a society’s approval of homosexuality is itself both worthy of Divine judgment and a sign that judgment has already begun to fall! It is the ultimate sign of its final step downward in decadence.

What this implies about our own society is frightening.

Cultural Norms?

Many today object that the Bible’s prohibition of homosexuality reflects not a Divine mandate but a narrow bias dictated by an ancient and unenlightened culture. But this ignores the fact that the Bible is not merely the opinions of men but the very Word of God.

Further, when Paul condemned the practice in his letters to Rome and Corinth, he was not writing to his Jewish brethren who condemned the practice but to Gentiles who lived in a pagan environment which condoned it.

Moreover, the sinfulness of homosexuality is not established only by specific Biblical prohibitions but also by the fact that it is all sexuality activity outside of marriage that is condemned.

Finally, as Paul points out, it is not a specific denomination of the Christian religion that con demns homosexuality as wrong but nature itself. Every man and woman knows intuitively that this practice is wrong.

Causes of Homosexuality

It seems that there are some factors that work as contributing causes of homosexuality. Researchers have found that faulty family roles have contributed to the practice. For example, many homo sexuals come from homes with “smothering mothers,” over-dominant mothers, or often-absent and/or disinterested fathers. Others come from homes with physical and/or sexual abuse.

But judging from what Paul says about it in Romans 1, homosexuality is rooted in rebellion against God and against conscience. Nothing can change the fact that every man is in the image of God and as such has an intuitive awareness of the basic principles of right and wrong. Homosexuality is one particular vice that is obviously wrong to everyone.

The most recent explanation is that people are just “born that way.” Let’s think about that. Let’s say a man is born a kleptomaniac. Should society give him the freedom to steal? What if a man has a natural tendency toward adultery? Should it be approved? You see, the question is not that of psychological predisposition. The question is one of morality — and one of obedience. To practice homosexuality is a choice of the will. Whatever affinity anyone may or may not have for it, to practice it he must choose to do so. Scripture describes it as always wrong, and so to choose to practice it is always sin.

But think about this claim of “natural tendency” a bit further. It is a denial of the fact that according to what God says no one is born that way. There is no such thing as a homosexual child. Homosexuality is “unnatural” and contrary to conscience. It is practiced only and always out of rebellion.

Unrealistic Expectations?

This points up another related issue. The claim that “they come by it naturally” implies that homosexuals have no control over their appetites and are driven by irresistible passions that no rational person could expect to be suppressed.

The famous counsellor Dr. Ruth recently spoke to an audience of high school students and openly stated that their natural sexual drives were too great to be suppressed until marriage. Reasonable people know that expectations of chastity until marriage are unrealistic.

But all this ignores one basic fact. Men and women are not animals! They bear God’s image and as such have the capacity to choose if and how and when their sexual appetites will be satisfied. The popular excuse to the contrary degrades humanity to the level of a beast and denies its dignity as the crown of creation.

Moreover, even those who promote this “can’t help it” philosophy often acknowledge the contrary. If a man wants to have premarital relations with his fiance, for example, and she wants to wait, he is told he must wait also. The point is clear: we have power over our passions — and we know it.

The same can be said about the excuse, “But it is such a fulfilling relationship! We love each other!” In such a position we are responsible to sort out priorities and make choices accordingly. Our love for God and our obedience to Him must supersede all other loves and loyalties.

We are capable of and responsible to choose what is right. To do anything else is always wrong.

Is Holiness Harmful?

So the real menace of society is not those who oppose immorality but those who promote it. Clearly, things have gone too far. We must not take the law into our own hands, but we can and will refuse to allow immorality to become acceptable. This is not “gay bashing.” This is commitment to a higher authority. This is but one responsibility of holiness.

I have just finished reading the letter written by Joshua and have one thing to say. Well done. Finally someone willing to say what needed to be said. Homosexuality is not accepted by Christ. I have heard the argument that we are not to judge but the fact is that we are not the one’s making the judgement. God made the judgement in His word. I go to Ontario Christian and I had to hear today the protestors declaring us evil and against Christ. I have read many write ups on the internet about how we are not displaying the love of Christ. I question how many of those who write these notes of hate even know Christ. Do they go to church? Do they read the Bible? Do they pray to God? That is how we know Christ. I am proud of my school for this. I am proud to be offensive to the world because CHRIST called me to be. He said, “If they hated me they will hate you also.” Why should we expect understanding here. I rejoice in their haterd. Tomorrow will be a good day because it is a new day to serve Christ and to show the world that even American Christians are not afraid to be offensive for the truth.

Joshua says

I find all of this both morally wrong and personally offensive.

That pretty much sums up his sermon for me.

I was going to be silent about my “status” as an “ex-gay” because I didn’t really feel it was necessary. My life is lived in many arenas and this one issue doesn’t have to be the single approach I take in life.

However, Joshua and KnightWriter miss the boat and the above one sentence shows me how.

Who cares if you are offended? Who cares if your offensive? The gospel will offend but if you are looking for ways to fight back to vindicate being offended…you missed the selfless sacrifice of love that underlies the gospel completely.

Jesus was the most offensive to the religious hypocrites who placed stumbling blocks in front of people so that they were led to believe that they weren’t good enough to come to God freely. I don’t think He would have kicked an innocent kid out of receiving instruction from Himself or His servants. Now this child will go through life being told a lie that *they* aren’t good enough for the Christians because of the circumstances they were raised in.

I was not raised in the church and the first place I felt accepted, identity and community was within the gay identified community. I care for those ladies who would identify as Lesbian and that this latest flare up in the culture war will lead to furthering closed hearts to the liberating call of Christ.

Joshua and KnightWriter, I would have scoffed, mocked and verbally let you two have it back in the day. Now that I know Christ and am exhorted by scripture to recognize you as brothers in Christ I call you to repent for your hard hearts toward the gay identified community. What you say about sin and scripture and all of that may have some grains of truth, but like the Pharisees, it becomes something other than the truth when you exhibit no mercy and choose to hold on to offense rather than sacrifice for the gay community.

Compelling talking points that preach to the choir is nothing but a wall of sound that reaches the ears of the scoffing and closes the door to true love that makes a real difference.

The Great Commission is not the great gay mission. Don’t let a social issue supercede the eternal gospel.

Now remember, I am an “ex-gay”, it’s not like I am considered a great friend of the “gay” community. Most have heard only a caricature of what “ex-gay” means. Even so, I find your words worthy of a sharpening retort.

In Him,
Randy
PS. I put gay and ex-gay in quotes because I see folks as more than that and I personally hate labels. If that is offensive to you I apologize but see it as a matter of being honest with how I view those terms.

That is the basic premis of Christianity these days; Ignore what Jesus taught and only obey parts of the old testament that you agree with and then do what Bush says is right.

In response to toad734:
Since when did Jesus ever say that the sin of homosexuality was no longer a sin? Sure, God did away with all the Jewish rules and regulations like what to eat (which happened in Acts 10:9, when God gave Peter “impure” animals to eat and God told him “do not call anything impure that I hav made pure”) God also did away with other guidelines in the Old Testament, such as circumcision at the Jerusalem Council, which narrowed the list down to not eating meat offered to idols, meat from a strangled animal and avoiding blood, and the only other non food rule he included was “abstaining from sexual immorality” (Acts 15:20) Galatians 5:19 says “the acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery,….” and the list goes on. Homosexuality is sexual immorality as listed in Leviticus 18:22, among many other sexual sins. Christians nowadays, at least the ones at my school, do not just pick and chose what old testament laws we like, we base our lives on the Bible and what God says.

OC -er, since when did Jesus say ANYTHING about Homosexuality at all? The problem that most fundamentalist Christians have is that they can’t accept the fact that Jesus said NOTHING about the subject. There is not one passage in scripture where Jesus says ANYTHING about homosexuality. The word didn’t even EXIST when the Bible was written. Also, everything you quote, (Acts, Galatians) was written by the Apostle Paul, not by Jesus. There is a MAJOR difference here, whether you wish to agree with it or not, and whether or not you want to admit it or not.

My main concern is with people taking the Bible as being the be-all and end-all to everything: The Bible, as it is, was written by man. God did not put stylus to papyrus or scroll and write the Old Testament OR the New Testament.

Being that the most oft used translation of the Bible (the KJV) is less than, oh 600 years old, how do you account for all the rest of the time?

Has God had nothing of substance to say since the time of the original Disciples deaths? Why were no further miracles, prophets, or decrees from God written after the original Disciples died? You would think, after all, that God is still speaking, and therefore the “Bible” as it were would be a continually growing document. The world is far different today than it was 2000 years ago. I’m sure God would have something to say about that as well.

After all, God is God, but the God of the Old Testament (God of War and of Vengeance) is a far cry from the God of the New Testament (God of Love and Forgiveness). Times change, people change, God may remain the same, but God also changes — as is evidenced by His change in “scripture.”

Yes, I’m a Christian. Yes, I worship the Lord. But I also know better than to try to judge man myself; for I’m not sure I’d want the most Holy to judge me as harshly as some of you are judging your fellow man.

I would like to know John what God you serve. If you see the Bible simply as a man written book then where do you get the basis of your religion. If you have no respect for the Bible then it must be you who decides what is right and wrong. You are your own god apperently. Then you are not following Christ so you should not call yourself a Christian but more properly a Johnian. For you are following the teachings of yourself and not God’s word. God gave us His word in the Bible and all of His instructions are valuable, even those of Paul. Homosexuality is condemdned by God’s word and so is condemned by God and Jesus. Without the Bible there is no Christianity. Even the athiest a few paragraphs up agrees with that.

John you are not a Christian. You are an Angel of Light. Before you talk you should know your facts.
Perhaps part of the reason the Bible is so neglected is the many doubts people have about this unique book. If the Bible came from the mouth of God, then the scriptures are believable when they speak of Jesus Christ and accurate when they touch the realm of science.

All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work . (2 Timothy 3:16,17)

The word “inspired” (theopneustos) in the original Greek language literally means “God-breathed”. When the Bible claims to be inspired, we understand therefore, that it came from the mouth of God. It is God-breathed, inspired.

But a skeptic will say, “Everyone knows the Bible was written by men! The book of 1 Corinthians, for example, was written by a man named Paul. After all, the very first verse bears his name as the author.” In reply to this we answer: “Yes, 1 Corinthians was written by Paul. Notice however, what Paul said in chapter 14, verse 37: “the things I write to you are the Lord’s commandment.” Paul knew the source of his writings and understood that he was like a pen in the hand of Almighty God. We must not view the Bible as the word of Paul, Peter, or Jeremiah, but rather, as the message God revealed through these men just as it is written in Jeremiah 1:9,

Then the Lord stretched out his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, “behold, I have put my words in your mouth”.

The Bible writers were not like news reporters giving their personal interpretation of events they eye-witnessed, but were divinely guided as 2 Peter 1:20-21 says,

“Above all, you must understand that no prophesy of scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

God and man worked together in writing the scriptures. However, in this work, God is the author who dictated the message, and man is the writing instrument. Men were guided or inspired to write the exact message God wanted recorded in the Bible.
“We constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
John you should of known this since your a “Christian”…its in the Bible.

John before you speak you should of read my hiss. Homosexuality is a sin and is talked about in the bible. Go up and read all the scriptures. Point out to me where it says it is ok. You want to know why the bible is still not growing. Well, first Read the Bible! It says not to add. Read the last verse in the Bible. More ever the Bible is current still today. The bible holds the past, present and future.
This why we do not believe that another testament is acceptable or verifiable today. The book of revelation is the closing book for God’s revelation through his prophets to the Church.
We are told several times throughout the Bible not to make additions to God’s word that is called Scripture. Deut. 4:2 “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take anything from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
Deuteronomy 12:32 “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.”

Proverbs 30:5-6 “Every word of God is pure; he is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.”
Again if we look at the context it says “Every word of God”, do not add to His words.
The Bible refers to its writings as Scripture 1 Cor. 4:6 “that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other.”
Paul was reiterating what has been said in Deuteronomy and Proverbs. To go beyond what Scripture says means one is motivated by pride, the same character trait that made the Devil fall into sin.
Jesus and the apostles all concurred, “The entirety of Your word is truth” (Psalms 119: 160).
The importance of God’s word held in this respect is clear by saying in Psalm 138:2 “You have magnified Your word above all Your name” As Christians we do not add to the Bible new chapters because it is considered the word of God. If we do, it is no longer Gods word but mans word.
John, There are also still miracles and prophets that are sent from God. Just because you have not seen them that does not make them not exists. I have seen them first hand. Done to me and others I know. Open your Eyes. I guess 1 Corinthians 2:14 sums it up the most. “For the natural man is not able to take in the things of the Spirit of God: for they seem foolish to him, and he is not able to have knowledge of them, because such knowledge comes only through the Spirit.”

Back your supports with scripture. I would like to see them.

RE: OCR

So are you a Christian or a Jew? Who do you follow?
You know what else it says in Leviticus:
“Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.” Leviticus 19:27

18And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.
9For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him. (Leviticus 20:9)

27: Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard. Leviticus 19:27

More hits from the Old Testament:
“If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of the town. They shall say to the elders, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death…” (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)

“Remember the Sabbath(Saturday)day, to keep it holy” Exodus 20:8

1 Samuel 18:3: Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.
18:4: And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.

1 Samuel 18:21: Saul thought, “Let me give her to him, that she may be a snare for him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, “You shall now be my son-in-law.”

2 Samuel 1:26: I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathon: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.

So do you have a beard? Have you ever had sex with someone during a menstrual cycle, do you stone your children when they are rebellious or when they curse at you?

If not then you need to get over the lie with man as he lie with woman verse.

As I said, people pick and chose what they agree with out of the New Testament and then somehow attribute that to Christianity when in fact the rules in Leviticus were written for Moses and the Jews, not Christians; Jesus brought the law for the Christians as seen here:

15: Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; Ephesians 2:15

3: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. II Corinthians 3:3

4: For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Romans 10:4

Why is the child is being punished for no fault of hers????

My, how strange to have not one but two – two! — EV readers who are somehow associated with this school. What are the odds?

/sarcasm

At any rate, I suppose we should all be grateful that Jesus wasn’t troubled by contracts and legal agreements when He chose to mingle with lepers, prostitutes and other unsavory types as part of his ministry.