Portions of Bible often overlooked
There are too many letters to the editors citing Holy Scriptures, insisting there can be no divergence from its requirements, while overlooking issues where there is no adherence by churches today.
St. Paul ordered women be restricted to a seat in the church with no voice, thereby excluding them from offices of elder and deacon. Today, women’s voices are heard not only in their churches but in the proceedings of the Southern Baptist Convention. Nuns joined by sympathizers in the Roman Catholic Church call on the hierarchy for an increased role for women, including ordination. Both Evangelical Lutherans and Episcopalians have women presiding bishops.
Jesus required marriage to be indissoluble, divorce prohibited, and violators who remarry become adulterers. Christians today by and large are not in compliance with this requirement.
While he certainly saw marriage as between one man and woman, he took no stand on homosexuality. Jesus time and again challenged the religious establishment, who insisted on strict adherence to Jewish law, even when enforced to the detriment of its people. Jesus healed on the Sabbath.
Who knows but that he might challenge today’s equivalent of scribes and pharisees. What Christ always saw as paramount was that all should love one another as he loves us.