On the first day of my new class — Women, Mary, and Jesus, we looked at pp. 14-15 of William Webb, Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals. We read these verses and I asked the students to “vote” for each verse: A, B, or C. That is, “A” means “universal and transcultural,” and “B” means “Christians don’t agree” and “C” means “Cultural and not for Christians today.” Now it’s your turn.
We voted for each verse and then we got in groups and discussed group “C.” And we discussed “why” we decided the “C” items were not to be practiced today, or why we thought they were “cultural” and not “universal.” Try it yourself. Vote for each, and then ask yourself what leads you to see the “C” verses as no longer the things Christians need to do. The reasons you give are essentially what the “redemptive trend” is all about.
Now I’m curious: What do you think? What are your patterns of thinking when it comes to the verses you assign to “C”?
1. ‘God. . . said to them [Adam and Eve], ‘Be fruitful and increase in number’ ” (Gen 1:28).
2. ‘Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and Nith all your strength” (Deut 6:5).
3. ‘When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce. . . yOU shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow” (Deut 26: 12).
4. “Greet one another with a holy kiss” (l Cor 16:20).
5. “Women should remain silent in the churches” (l Cor 14:34).
6. “Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses” (l Tim 5:23).
7. “Set apart for the LORD. . . every firstborn male of your herds and flocks” (Deut 15:19).
8. “If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives” (Deut 22:28-29).
9. “Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness of her monthly period” (Lev 18: 19).
10. “Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman” (Lev 18:22).
11. “Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it” (Lev 18:23).
12. “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28: 19).
13. “Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture” (1 Tim 4: 13).
14. “Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material” (Lev 19: 19).
15. “Be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure” (2 Pet 1: 10).
16. “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man” (Gen 9:6).
17. “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet” (In 13: 14).
18. “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel” (Mt 10:5-6).
19. “Heal the sick, raise the dead, . . . drive”out demons” (Mt 10:8).
20. “Sell your possessions and give to the poor” (Lk 12:33).
21. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work” (Ex 20:9-10).
22. “A woman. . . should cover her head. A man ought not to cover his head” (1 Cor 11:6- 7).
23. “If a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him” (1 Cor 11: 14).
24. “Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife” (1 Cor 7:27).
25. “Every male among you shall be circumcised” (Gen 17: 10).
26. “Punish him [your child] with the rod and save his soul from death” (Prov 23:14).
27. “Do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you” (Mt 5:42).
28. “Bless those who persecute you. . . . If your enemy is hungry, feed him” (Rom 12:14,20).
29. “Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more” (Pro v 31 :6-7).
30. “Do not. . . put tattoo marks on yourselves” (Lev 19:28).
31. “Praise God with tambourine and dancing. . . praise him with the clash of cymbals” (Ps 150:4-5).
32. “Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly” (Lev 19:32).
33. “You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality” (Acts 15:29).
34. “Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh” (1 Pet 2: 18).
35. “A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing” (Deut 22:5).
36. “If a man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him. . . the priest shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water. . . . He is to have the woman drink the water” (Num 5:12,17,26).
37. “I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer. . . . I also want women to dress modestly. . . not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes” (1 Tim 2:8-9).
38. “Do not take interest of any kind from your countryman” (Lev 25:36).
39. “Is anyone of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord” (J as 5: 14).