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NOTE: The "Kitz" cited several times by Randy Soto, above, is probably Anne Marie Kitz. Her recent scholarly tome is titled: Cursed are you! : the phenomenology of cursing in cuneiform and Hebrew texts (2014). Nearest copy to me is in Montana, a 548-mile drive if I wished to glance though...

Hi voiceofwood. I have to agree with Marcialou and wil, on this: Fundamentalists (whether fundamentalist Monotheist or fundamentalist atheist) use faith or logic more like a weapon . . . rather than like a tool to understand the nature of reality. More like a hyper-focused battering-ram...

Jayhawker Soule, Much of the above information you can get from rereading two remarkable essays by Frank Moore Cross collected in his 1998 book, From Epic to Canon: History and Literature in Ancient Israel. --Chapter One: "Kinship and Covenant in Ancient Israel." --Chapter Two: "Traditional...

Hi Jayhawker Soule. "Covenant" is just a fancy name for a "contract." The ancient world operated, based upon contracts. Look at any ancient Law Code (e.g. Code of Hammurabi). All laws (even criminal laws) are framed in terms of contracts. Jurisprudence by rulers involved settling disputes...

Hi Thomas. I actually agree with most of what you say in post # 128. :eek: Like you, I was born in a post-Augustine age. I struggle like Augustine struggled. It would not occur to the truly virtuous man to possess his neighbor's wife. But I am also a modern person: I have flirted with many a...

I had to laugh when I came across these two paragraphs in a book I am currently reading . . . :D (These paragraphs refer to a scientific study focusing on individuals with religious upbringing, and their reaction time in answering certain questions about God's omniscience . . . in order to show...

Hi Thomas. Thanks for your carefully considered response (post # 115). Your two amber quotes which, by the way, I have already responded to - twice each - in post # 103 . . . they do deal with "sin." But, as I pointed out, both quotes make a clear distinction between seed (intention) and fruit...

Hi Jayhawker Soule. I have read both books you reference, plus one other by each of the authors. And each author's ideas are a major basis for my understanding of the Hebrew Bible in its historical and linguistic context. I see nothing inconsistent in their analysis from what I have said...

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering - fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain...

Thinking about the risqué in comedy (film, TV, theater, or whatever): Is it harmless satire? Pernicious humiliation? What? I grew up watching those TV sitcoms which my parents watched - All in the Family and Mary Tyler Moore. Sex crept into these stories occasionally. (Unlike American sitcoms...

Hi again, Frrostedman. Hi Jan. Gee, I just replied to Marcia. So I guess the my next reply will be to Cindy? Sorry. Was never part of the Brady Bunch. But Augustine is part of my intellectual/theological family. His Confessions is the first deep exploration of the Inner World of the self which...

Hi Frrostedman. I argue that calling it a sin to look at a woman lustfully with adultery in mind is consistent with OT Law because it is nothing less than the act of Coveting which is forbidden. Yes. On the surface, coveting ("thou shalt not covet" - 10th Commandment) does sound like...

Hi Frrostedman. Your lost post finally appeared. I have to say, you have an interesting way of arguing. Frankly, I enjoy arguing - as a kind of sport. (Never outgrew college bull-sessions, I guess.) But beneath that, I really am after "the truth" . . . I don't care what the truth is, I...

Hi A Cup Of Tea. I know Thomas is something of an institution here at Interfaith.org . . . But that does not mean he should be given a pass for "padding his argument with phony supporting references." And sure, I could be wrong in what I'm arguing - regarding "sinning in one's heart." I...

I once knew a guy who - when he argued - only quoted single verses from the Bible, never a short-passage of verses. Lifting one verse out of its original context, as if it stood alone like it was sacred Law. (Like the anti-risqué quote which initiated this thread.) This is the giveaway . . ...

Thomas, Listen to what you are saying . . . You have heard it said, "You shall not commit adultery." But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. --Matthew 5:27-28. Except that Matthew is not quoting Jesus . . ...

Hi A Cup Of Tea. I'm sorry. I am having trouble understanding why looking at Matthew 5:28 from an historical perspective is off-topic, from a theological perspective is off-topic, from an anthropological and neuropsychological perspective is off-topic. I am having trouble understanding why...

Or . . . to put it another way . . . When God made us . . . He gave us "improper thoughts" (sinning in our heart) for a good reason: In order to reactively repress these thoughts . . . ? (As a test of faith?) Or . . . In order to proactively sublimate these thoughts . . . ? (Into...

Hi Gordian Knot. But there is another But. As Thomas rightly points out it can be an issue of cause and effect. Thoughts can become malicious when taken to an extreme. Thoughts are energy and thoughts do move out away from the body in waves of energy . . . Thoughts that become fixated and...

Hi Marcialou. There are other Christian interpretations of Matthew that I have found on the internet. Actually, I think Matthew meant what he meant. It's crystal clear. Except that Matthew is not quoting Jesus . . . Matthew is quoting Matthew. A little theological history, here: Under the...