tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post6309138484068935336..comments2024-03-01T07:35:49.740-08:00Comments on Come Reason's Apologetics Notes: Levitical Laws, Slavery, and Sexual ProhibitionsLenny Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04064209669748618955noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post-16597975501326296632015-03-17T05:43:27.228-07:002015-03-17T05:43:27.228-07:00I have some questions about the larger issue of Le...I have some questions about the larger issue of Levitical laws and how they do/don’t apply, but I’ll limit it to things you’ve brought up in this and the previous post. You mention a distinction between the laws given in Leviticus: "However, designating such practices as ‘abomination,' ‘defilement,' and ‘perversion' distinguish these acts as wrong intrinsically.” How does this weigh against Deuteronomy 14:3? Just before specifying again what is clean and unclean, God says, “You shall not eat any abomination.” I suppose we could quibble about different translations, whether it’s “abomination” or “detestable,” but I believe definitions of both are equivalent.<br /><br />I’d also like to ask your reasoning behind Peter’s vision in Acts 10, in claiming all food to be clean. The literal interpretation might show this to be the case, but that doesn’t seem to be what Peter understood. In verse 17, Peter was "inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean.” Given the plain meaning, God would have been saying, “Peter, break my law.” While he’s still pondering the meaning, three gentiles come to him…our first connection, three men, three repetitions of God speaking to him in the vision.<br /><br />Peter realizes what the vision means, and says as much in verse 28: “...but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.” He says nothing about food here. The vision isn’t about breaking God’s law. It’s about breaking the traditions the Jewish leadership had put in place…the same “traditions of men” that Jesus speaks of to the Pharisees.<br /><br />Peter mentions this vision again in Acts 11, when he returns to Jerusalem and answers the “circumcision party.” These are the believers who hold the view that you must adhere to the Law for salvation. In their accusation, they say, "You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” He answers them by recounting his vision, saying he was to go with the three men without making distinction. After hearing him, the group conclude with this in verse 18: "When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, 'Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.’” There is no mention of food. There is no mention of the Law being done away with. There is only the falling away of tradition, that Gentiles are unclean—something the Law never says.<br /><br />There’s certainly more to be discussed about the Law and what still holds true, but I don’t think it’s best represented by the mainstream message that modern Christianity proclaims. If the Law is abolished, there are too many statements in the Bible that suddenly become false, and then there is contradiction. The Law can’t give us salvation, but I can’t set it aside as abolished and still find a harmony across all scripture. But that is a larger issue for another day.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06157407108317491881noreply@blogger.com