| TOPIC | LOCATION | TEXT | INTERPRETATION |
|---|---|---|---|
| NUDITY | Genesis 2:24-3:24 | And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed. . . . Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. . . . He said "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" . . . therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. | Adam and Eve are punished for wearing clothes. Hiding oneself insults the Creator. Only nudity is honest. |
| GENDER GAP | Genesis 39:14-15 | . . . she called to the men of her household and said to them, "See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice; and when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment with me, and fled and got out of the house. | This verse concerns a male fear of female sexuality. How much misunderstanding, divorce, and abuse has this caused? |
| ART | Exodus 20:4 | You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth . . . | Some fundamentalists interpret this commandment as allowing only non-representational art, such as geometric patterns. Those made of colored glass are called mosaic, after Moses. This verse appears to be the basis for opposition to funding the National Endowment for the Arts. However, churches have sponsored many artistic projects. Is the key phrase "make for yourself"--the artist should not keep the work, nor profit from it? |
| THEOLOGY | Exodus 15:11 | Who is like You among the gods, O LORD? Who is like You, majestic in Holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders? | There are numerous gods. |
| ECONOMICS | Exodus 21:20-21 | When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be punished; for the slave is his money. | Some people seem to be slaves to money. However, this verse stands in contradiction, equating money and slaves. So be the master of your fortune. |
| GLEANER'S RIGHTS | Leviticus 19:10 | Any you shall not strip your vineyard bared, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner. | Poor people and migrants have the right to enter your land for food. |
| JUSTICE | Leviticus 19:34, 24:22; Numbers 15:16 | The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. . . . You shall have one law for the sojourner and for the native. . . . One law and one ordinance shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you. | Aliens deserve treatment equal to citizens. |
| Numbers 9:14 | |||
| Numbers 15:29 | |||
| INTER-SPECIES COMMUNICATION | Numbers 22:28-33 | Then the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said to Balaam, What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?" And Balaam said to the ass, "Because you have made sport of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you." And the ass said to Balaam, "Am I not your ass, upon which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Was I ever accustomed to do so to you?" And he said, "No." The the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face. And the angel of the Lord said to him, "Why have you struck your ass these three times? Behold, I have come forth to withstand you, because your way is perverse before me; and the ass turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have slain you and let her live. | Gandhi said a society could be judged by the way it treats its animals. In this story, worthy of Dr. Doolittle, a mistreated animal questions her tormentor. |
| Deuteronomy 1:16 | |||
| Deuteronomy 24:17 | |||
| GLEANER'S RIGHTS | Deuteronomy 24:19-21 | When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow; that the Lord you God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward; it shll be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. | |
| Deuteronomy 27:19 | Cursed be he who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. | ||
| ECONOMICS | Ecclesiastes 5:11 | When goods increase, they increase who eat them; and what gain has their owner but to see them with his eyes? | Economic development does not improve the lot of humanity. In the long run, it only increases the population. The people are no better off. |
| FAMILY | Song of Solomon 8:8 | We have a little sister, and she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister, on the day when she is spoken for? | The easiest interpretation of this verse would appear to involve betrothal of a flat-chested sibling. What will keep her wedding gown up? (Bridesmaids normally only carry the train, not the bodice.) I would disagree with a surgeon's interpretation, that the family should chip in to buy Sis (or Tits, as Ma Kettle called her daughter) a breast enlargement. Maybe she's happy as she is. (The Bible is frequently misinterpreted. Maybe very little has ever been interpreted properly.) Lawyers speak for people, hence the nickname "mouthpiece". This could concern a malpractice suit. The details are subject to speculation. |
| PRAYER | Matthew 6:6 | But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. | One should not pray in public places, such as schools. |
| SEX | Matthew 15:11 | . . . not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man. | Acts of oral sex are not to be stigmatized. |
| MARRIAGE | I Corinthians 7:4 | For the wife does not rule over her own body, but the husband does; likewise the husband does not rule over his own body, but the wife does. | This philosophy stands in opposition to that of the Marquis de Sade, who held that people's bodies are all common property. Note that there is no power given to God or the state. |
| MARRIAGE | I Corinthians 7:8 | To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain single as I do. | Who can argue with that? I'm single. My parents divorced. Most of my friends are single. I don't hear any complaints from any of them. On the other hand, I've seen many bad marriages. |
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