> These examples bring up a question in my mind. Most of us would
> agree that many of the laws in Lev. 19 are passe, whereas most of
> the laws in Lev. 20 would still be considered valid for today.
> What criteria may we use to establish whether or not a given OT
> law should be retained or thrown out?
No one in their right mind would suggest that it's OK to murder because
"You shalt not murder" is an Old Testament law (Exodus 20:13) and therefore
no longer applicable today!
The way I try to look at it is to distinguish between the ceremonial
laws (which caused one to become unclean) and the moral laws (which
usually carried a death penalty).
The ceremonial laws are no longer necessary since we're under a new
covenant with Jesus (e.g. Mark 7:14-16; Hebrews 10:8-18). The moral laws,
however, still apply (e.g. Matthew 5:27-28; Mark 7:20).
And, if something's described as sinful in BOTH the Old and New
Testaments, as homosexual behavior is (revisionist exegesis aside),
then it's pretty clear (at least to me) what a Christian's response to
this issue should be.
- Steve.
-- Steven H. Schimmrich KB9LCG s-schim@uiuc.edu Department of Geology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 245 Natural History Building, Urbana, IL 61801 (217) 244-1246 http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/s-schim Fides quaerens intellectum