Translated from the
original by Costas Balomenos
O
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n the subject of lovemaking, in the ecclesiastical place became one more perversion of Christian teaching, which was based on the impression, that the sins -
associated with the love,
but also the various erotic diversions - employing mostly the genuine Christian tradition and by Christ treated with great rigor, which do not apply to any other sin...
In fact, the supporters of this aspect - older and younger - continuing this perversion, they isolate phrases either of the Fathers, either of Christ, to prove the right at their word. But with this practice, as is known, you can do the Bible to tell you what
you want, by distorting completely the truth and the meaning of Christianity.
Based on this logic, was developed the slave trade of African
slaves to the plantations of America during
the 19th century. The - at the other “pious Christians”
- white large landowners
who they needed cheap and abundant working hands
for their plantations, had no problem of conscience for the cruel and inhumane
attitude toward the black slaves, since -
as was supporting - their attitude is
in harmony with the
Bible. Were referring to the narrative of Genesis in which Noah a darn his son Ham (father of
Canaan), who represents the black race, to be
a servant of his brothers Shem and Japheth,
who represent respectively the Semitic and the white race: «“Cursed be Canaan! Becoming worse than a
slave to his brothers”. “After he
said: “Blessed to be the Lord, the God of Shem! The Canaan to be his slave. God to raise people of Japheth! His descendants to inhabit together with the people of Shem, and Canaan to be his slave of Japheth”». Genesis 9:25 -
27.
Christ as presented to us through the Gospels, nor systematically dealt with the lovemaking, neither developed a comprehensive view about him. Since his part there was only an epidermal confrontation, which did not
exceed the 4-5 cases.
Nevertheless, we can perhaps arrive at some
important conclusions. From his attitude seems then, that when he talks about lovemaking and the various erotic diversions, confronts them with a special leniency. Not stand out from the other human sins, neither gives to these any particular weight, nor ranks
them as “large and unforgivable sins” as it call these the subsequent Christian
hypocrisy. It's another “invention” of Christian hypocrisy! It was considered
as a great and unforgivable sin! Like someone he can weigh the sin!
What it means small and big sin? Sin or do or not do. Of course there are smaller
and bigger crimes, but the evil and sin are not assessed by the quantity. When we see a woman
three months pregnant and another woman eight months pregnant, we do not say
“this woman is a little pregnant and the other lot?” Of
course
not!
And
the
one
and
the
other
woman
are
pregnant.
This is why, knowing the real dimension of sin, James the brother of the Lord writes: “Because anyone who
adheres whole the law but to blame for one point, has become guilty of
infringement of all the law. Because, he said, do not commit adultery, he said
not to commit murder. So, if you do not commit adultery, but commit murder you
have become law offenders”. Catholic Epistle of
James 2:10 - 11.
Christ therefore, by facing the various
erotic diversions, as for the other sins, is interested almost exclusively for the inner
mood and the motivation, rather for the external behavior. Thus is justified and the “scandalous” attitude towards the
adulteress, who she ought to be killed. This attitude is a slap in the face for everywhere “devout”
Christians of all time, for it they tried to eliminate this. As inform us newer critic editions of the Bible, in many ancient manuscripts, containing the Gospels, in which is described the scene in which the Pharisees are leading before Christ “woman, who has been arrested in the act of adultery”, the curtailment from the Gospel of John, chapter 8, verses 3-11, has
occasionally been eliminated. According to the Mosaic Law (Leviticus
20:10 and Deuteronomy
22:20 - 23)
the adultery, not only in
married as well as the engaged, were considered one of the greatest sins
of religious and social
Morals. Based on this, Christ - if he was “correct” and “fair” - ought
to consent to the stoning of her. But instead, Christ tells to her accusers the
famous phrase “whoever of you is without sin, let's throw the first
stone”, reminding thereby the universality of the human failure and
sin, which not only is
not counted with the human
hypocritically measures, but it is also a personal failure
for each of us to live his true nature, loving others and
being loved by others. That
is why, those who were ready to stone her is likely were not commit adultery -
although some of them may were and adulterers - but may were liars, thieves,
murderers, avaricious, and so forth. And the climax of the “scandalous” attitude of Christ for the everywhere
“devout” Christians of all time, is completed with the attestation of Christ
(verse 11), that he does not criticize her, although - according to the evangelical
narrative - he not discern to the adulteress no outward manifestation of
repentance!: “Neither do I blame, go and from now on you
do not sinning more”.
For the prostitute who anointed his feet with myrrh, Jesus
said, “the many sins of her are forgiven, because she loved much”, Luke 7:47. In the Samaritan
woman, who was living in sin,
behaved very warmly. Initially, he requested from her some water,
obviously to give her a sense of value,
because then was it improper to talk someone to
women, since they considered
inferior to men and subsequently he has
revealed to her some of his
highest teachings. Not he ignored, nor hushing up her
personal situation, but neither stood in it, nor he was prevented from his
sinful state, to approach to her.
To the bishops and other religious leaders of his time, that are supposed they were not guilty of any erotic sin, Christ was repeating constantly: “I say to you the truth, that the publicans and the
prostitutes go before
you into the kingdom of God” Matthew
21:31. In the parable of visceral Father,
known as the parable of the Prodigal Son, the oldest son - reminding the Puritans,
who they have preached “holy war” against love
- says with
“sacred” indignation to his father: “Here, I work
to you so many years and never I disobeyed your
command, and never
you gave me a baby goat to enjoy
it with my friends. When your son, the one who squandered
your fortune with the prostitutes, returned, you sacrificed for him the calf
fattened”. Luke 15:29-30
But what about the mention of
Christ for adultery in the Sermon on the Mount? It does not appear there, that
condemns adultery? Let us see first what Christ says at the specified point and
after we comment: “You have heard that the ancients were told,
to do not commit adultery. But I say, that every man who sees a woman and he
wishes her, already she committed adultery with her in his heart”. Matthew 5:27 - 28. Here Christ uses an example because he wants to show it that about him, what is
important is not the external
behavior of man - which often leads to
erroneous conclusions - but his inner disposition. This is also evident in the other
examples that he uses for the same reason: “You have heard that they were told to
the ancients, not commit
murder, he which will
kill, should be prosecuted. But I say to you that everyone
who acts up against his
brother without reason should
be prosecuted. Yon who would tell to
his brother "raka" should
be referred to the Court. Yon again who will say "moron",
should be delivered in an igneous geena”. Matthew 5:21- 22. The human law judges the man based on the external phenomena and regards as murder, the act of that kills the body. But for Christ, murder
is the internal mood of rejection of the other that can kill his soul. However it is worth noting and pointed out that in the
example, where Christ refers
to the sexual diversion,
he does not mention any
punishment for the
sinner, while on the contrary he says that anyone who will call “moron” his brother is guilty and should
be delivered in igneous geena.
From the above references of Christ to the lovemaking we
see that not only seems not some hostility towards him (lovemaking), but the
addressing is natural, and furthermore the addressing of the erotic excesses is very mild.
And while
Christ is facing mildly the erotic sins, for
other sins that
they have nothing to do with the love,
shows an unrelenting rigor.
As for example, the sin of the rich man, from the parable of poor Lazarus, for
which the rich man had found at a situation of intolerable torment after death,
so that to plead Abraham, in the bay of which were Lazarus: “Father Abraham, have
mercy on me and send Lazarus to dive
into water the tip of his finger and cool my
tongue, because I suffer through in this flame”. Luke 16:24. What terrible had made the rich and ultimately what was
his terrible sin so that he suffer such a horrible martyrdom? Because reading
the narrative of the Gospel, we find that the rich man each other despite was a
sinner. He was a proper man, an honorable businessman, he was not
stealing, he was not killed a man, he was a faithful husband and still does not
refused when someone it asked something from him. In a few words he was a devout Christian today, who all obviously we wanted to be in his position in order to found ourselves in Paradise. Lazarus wanted the crumbs that were falling from his table and the rich man
left him to take them. We have no reason to believe - such as St. Chrysostom
notes - that if Lazarus had asked for anything more, he would had not given it.
Well, what did that was so terrible, so that he incur the tougher punishment
mentioned in the Gospel for any sin?
The sin was that he devoted itself exclusively with
himself. Was not interested in anyone else, nor was observing anyone else. The others namely about him was invisible, nonexistent. For the Gospel, this seems to be the greatest sin, since
for this refers the most heavily punishment. But this sin - unfortunately for
all of us-is a sin that constantly we repeat.
In the Gospel - in the narratives of parables - referred heavy punishments not for those who commit erotic aberrations, but for those who were self-centered. In the parable of the talants, Christ described a heavy
punishment equally for the man who had not exploited his capabilities, placing
them at the service of others: “The miserable
slave throw out
in the dark, there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth”, Matthew 25:30. In the corresponding parable, with the ruthless slave, who refused to donate
the little fellow servant's debt,
while he was exempted from an incomparable large
debt, the Lord delivers
him to the torturers. Matthew 18:34.
Finally, in the parable of the final judgment, who read in church every Sunday of Carnival – it is a hymn in philanthropy, as he said and the blessed professor Nicholas Matsoukas - Christ describing his Second Coming, says to those who they did not showed love to their fellow man: “Go away from me,
damned, into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his
angels, because I was hungry and you not gave me to eat, I was thirsty and you
do not give me some water, I was a stranger and you do not got me at home, I
was naked and you do not give me clothes, I was patient and prisoner and you
did not visited me”. Matthew 25:41 - 43.
Even in the most cursory reading of the gospel becomes clear that Christ, nor believed that the greatest human sin is associated with the lovemaking, nor considered him as sinful, but -
basically for him - sin is lack of love for
God and man, who is the image of God, and
that any human manifestation
or action is sinful when it is not an expression of love.
All the above expresses very beautifully Raul Follero, a French missionary
and humanist of the 20th century, in a aversion from his book “Love and
Practice”:
«I saw this dream: A
human was presented to the criterion of the Lord: “Look, my God”, he was
telling “I kept your law, I did not
do anything disgraceful, bad or anti-religious. Sir, my hands are clean”. – “Certainly, certainly”,
responded the good God ... “but they are leave”! »
Bibliography
F.
Faros: Of Eros Nature
F.
Faros: The Church as a scandal and as salvation
Chr.
Giannaras: The freedom of the ethos.
Writer
Christos Pal
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