Christians
have been arguing since the beginning that Jesus, Peter and Paul were right –
that we can’t use a literal interpretation and application of all Old-Testament
law. That theory is called supersessionism, the belief that when Jesus arrived
and gave his laws to us, he not only fulfilled Old-Testament law but also
nullified that law. Most Christian schools of thought agree that at least some
Mosaic law is no longer valid. The church that Jesus’ disciples built – the
Catholic Church – took that stance, as did some of its key philosophers, Saint
Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. The Calvinists followed suit and so did the
Church of England (the Anglicans and Episcopalians); likewise the Lutherans,
and supporters of dispensationalism and New Covenant Theology.
Over
the centuries Christian leaders have asserted that even Christ’s words
shouldn’t always be obeyed literally. Some argue that Jesus was just
exaggerating in some of his admonitions, or that his suggestions were only
general guidelines, or that it was okay to modify his actual words, or that the
New Testament contradicts itself on some points, or that Jesus made those rules
only because he thought the world was going to end very soon, or that it was
sufficient merely to emulate Jesus’ attitude, or to obey Jesus only if you
wanted to go beyond mere salvation to attain perfection, or to apply his
precepts only on spiritual matters (that according to Martin Luther, the
founder of Protestantism). Some argue that Jesus knew his rules were impossible
to follow, which would lead to sin, repentance, and stronger faith; others say
that keeping Jesus’ rules perfectly is impossible in an imperfect world, but
adhering to that standard would be possible in a better future.
Paul
himself, founder of Christianity, not only said we could ignore ancient Jewish
law: he also indicated that Jesus' words were not sacrosanct. In First
Corinthians 7 he contrasts his own views on divorce, from those of Jesus. So
there you have Paul and Luther, the founder of Christianity and the founder of
Protestantism, saying that even Jesus’ own words cannot be taken literally.
Jesus himself taught many of his lessons in non-literal parables, and gave
advice which in literal terms would be insane or suicidal: if you see something
tempting, pluck out your eye, let your attackers hit you twice in the face,
etc; Jesus clearly never intended his words to be followed literally, as
law.
So
no one should be surprised that the Presbyterians, Lutherans,
Congregationalists, Episcopalians and Methodists are all ignoring the language
in Leviticus on homosexuality, and helping fight for LGBT equality.
The
point being that nobody, not the Old Testament Jews, not the New Testament
Christians, not Jesus himself, and not the disciples who set up the Christian
church, upheld Torah law literally and to the last letter. So anyone insisting
that the Torah forbids 21st-century gays and lesbians from marrying, is adhering
to the law more minutely than the original practitioners ever did, and defying
the will of the founders of Christianity. And the Church. And the current pope.
The Christians of today who insist that their faith and their Bible force them
to reject abortion and homosexuality as immoral are contradicting the very
people who founded their religion. The founders said “don’t follow the Bible”.
Or rather, don’t cling bitterly to it. That’s the stance which the founders
chose for their new faith, that’s what they told the keepers of the old faith,
and that’s what they told the Roman world.
