Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: The Bible and Sex

I have found that people are constantly misrepresenting what God says about our sexuality. Part of that is the Church's fault making people ashamed of the gifts that God has given us to be expressed in the context of marriage. I really enjoyed this post by Dr. Mariottini. In a very short amount of space he takes three arguments made by Jennifer Wright Knust in her book Unprotected Texts: The Bible’s Surprising Contradictions About Sex and Desire (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2011). He pointed out that:

Knust, who is an ordained American Baptist minister and Assistant Professor of Religion at Boston University has written the most radical, revisionist book on what the Bible says and teaches about sex.

Mariottini explained in really good detail why she is mistaken in the conclusion she draws that premarital sex, prostitution, and homosexuality were all okay in certain contexts in the Bible. What I really liked about how Dr. Mariottini answered this was his total honesty and concreteness. Many times Christians beat around the bush and try not to be very direct. Mariottin as really direct and clear!

Jennifer Knust offers a radical revisionist interpretation of the biblical texts dealing with the matters of sex and sexuality. Her interpretation departs, not only from the traditional ways those texts are interpreted, but also from the true meaning of what the texts actually say.

In her interview with Prothero, Knust concluded: “Some biblical passages can support my point of view. Others do not. So, as firmly as I believe that ‘love your neighbor’ can capture God’s point of view, I cannot be certain that I am right.”

Ms. Knust, I can help you: you are not right.

AMEN!!


Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: The Bible and Sex