What about the eunuchs? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.
Right now I’m reading a novel based on the book of Esther and the theme of being a eunuch shows up often. It’s quite painful to read about when I get to those parts and think about what they went through. Yet in Scripture, there are places where the eunuchs are promised blessing despite their condition.
So then Christopher says in this chapter:
If conservatives today find scriptural warrant for excluding sexual minorities, how much more did religious leaders in Isaiah’s time have warrant to exclude eunuchs? The prophet has no time for those traditions.
Hays, Christopher B; Hays, Richard B. The Widening of God’s Mercy: Sexuality Within the Biblical Story (p. 106). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.
Major differences here.
For one thing, eunuchs for the most part are not eunuchs by choice. They are made that way because of the desire of a king for his harem to be safe and also for no man to be sleeping with the women he has. Meanwhile, those in the LGBTQ camp are participating in a behavior by choice.
Second, if we are talking about sexual minorities, why not “widen God’s mercy” all the way? Imagine what you would think if the sexual minority listed here was not the LGBTQ crowd, but instead pederast. What is to stop the argument from working? Scripture? Psssh. If God changed His mind on LGBTQ relationships, then He could also change His mind on pederasts. (To be clear, a pederast is what I say for what most people call pedophiles. Pedophiles do not really love children. They abuse children.)
Let’s consider this in light of how this chapter and section of the book is ended.
The fresh encounter with a surprising God sets the trajectory for the reimaginings and revisions that take place in the New Testament—and continue into our times. It bears repeating: Scripture reflects that God’s grace and mercy towards the whole world was always broader than one might expect. It also says that God may change his mind and his approaches to the world to broaden it further. So, faithfulness to God means sometimes doing the same.
Hays, Christopher B; Hays, Richard B. The Widening of God’s Mercy: Sexuality Within the Biblical Story (p. 114). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.
Again, then why not pederasts?
So what do we have in the end? We have a book that thus far has decided to take about 2,000 years of Scripture on the nature of God and chuck it in the trash and then make statements that lead to a philosophical nightmare. We also do not have ANY interaction with the major texts used from the Old Testament by conservatives. If one wants to say that God changed His mind and those do not apply, then we have a free-for-all ultimately. God could change His mind on murder or rape or anything else.
It’s not a good position to be in.
Next time, we’ll look at what Richard Hays has to say about the New Testament.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)
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