Ask Father Paul ...110508

Answers to your questions about life, religion and the Bible

Pastors get some of the most interesting questions from people they meet and people in their congregations. Here are a few that I’ve gotten during my years of ministry and via email for this column.

Dear Father Paul: What are the seven deadly sins? — Lew.

Dear Lew: The list is Pride, Anger, Envy, Greed, Laziness, Lust and Gluttony. These sins appear nowhere in the Bible as a “list,” but they are consistent with Biblical teaching. Many believe that the list originated with Pope Gregory the Great (540 AD to 604 AD) but that is not certain. These, like all sins, are to be avoided.

Dear Father Paul: Is masturbation a sin? — No Name

Dear Writer: I believe that it is almost always a sin, although the word “masturbation” is not used any where in the Bible. Many will refer to the story of Onan in the 38th Chapter of Genesis in answering this question. The Bible says that Onan “spilled his seed (semen) on the ground” during the sex act with the wife of his dead brother, rather than impregnate her as custom and the law required. They will argue that God means for men not to “waste” their seed as is done in masturbation. However, this passage being about masturbation is a stretch. Most scholars believe the passage is not about masturbation but rather about Onan disobeying the law (God) by practicing a simple form of birth control rather than father an unwanted child. In any case, the Lord killed Onan for his disobedience.

The Roman Catholic Church has deemed masturbation a sin for centuries.

Much more can be said, however, about the fact that masturbation usually involves simple lust and not the kind of normal, loving and healthy sexual relationship that should exist between a husband and wife. Most often it involves fantasizing about a man or woman to whom the person is not married. In Matthew 5 Jesus calls this looking on a person (not your spouse) with lust the same as actually committing adultery with him/her because you have already done it in your heart. So in the sense that Jesus describes these lustful desires, masturbation is indeed a sin.

Dear Father Paul: What is the oldest existing copy of the New Testament? — Mark

Dear Mark: The oldest existing copy of the New Testament was written around 350 AD. It is called the Codex Sinaiticus. There is just one problem. Over the centuries it has been fragmented so that today part of it resides in Britain, part in Germany and part in an Egyptian monastery in the Sinai Desert. The good news is that the British National Library is working on bringing the various parts together ... online. Officials at the library say that the entire Codex Sinaiticus will be ready for viewing on their website in July of 2009.

Dear Father Paul: What does the passage “ ... many are called, but few are chosen ...” from Matthew 22 mean? — Constance

Dear Constance: The line you refer to is found in Matthew 22, verse 14. Jesus had just driven the money changers out of the Temple and he was seen as a huge threat by the religious leaders who decided to either defame him or kill him. They ask him several questions to try and trap him publicly into looking like a false prophet in front of the people. But Jesus sees the blackness of their hearts and reveals this to the people through several parables he tells. The parable just before the verse 14 passage you ask about is about a king (God) inviting many people to the wedding banquet (to salvation) for his son (Jesus). In the story, most who are called (invited) refuse to come to the banquet when the time for the banquet arrives. In other words, they refuse salvation. So the king sends out another invitation to others who do accept his invitation and come to the banquet ... who accept his offer of salvation. These the King calls “chosen ones.” They became chosen simply by saying “yes” to the King’s invitation. Every man, woman, boy and girl on planet earth is invited (called) to the kings banquet, but only a few will be wise enough to say “yes” and thus be numbered among the “chosen.”

Do you have a question for the column? Email me at paulmassey@earthlink.net or call me at 678-457-3050 with your question.

Do you need prayer for an issue that you are dealing with and have no one to pray for you? Email me and I will pray for your need. I do not need to know your identity.

Paul Massey is pastor of Church of the Holy Cross in Fayetteville, Georgia. Information on the church, worship times and directions are available at www.holycrosschurch.wordpress.com

masterbation loopholes?

Submitted by jevank on Tue, 11/04/2008 - 5:52pm.

"Dear Father Paul: Is masturbation a sin? — No Name

Dear Writer: I believe that it is almost always a sin..."

Hmmm..."almost always."

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"Holy" men don't touch themselves

Submitted by Main Stream on Tue, 11/04/2008 - 4:03pm.

"Dear Father Paul: Is masturbation a sin? — No Name
Dear Writer: I believe that it is almost always a sin..."

It's a shame that y'all really think that masturbation is a sin. All those pedophile priests and pastor's could have defiled themselves instead of innocent children.

Stop dictating people's lives and genitalia!

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Speaking of Pedophiles

Submitted by boo boo on Wed, 11/05/2008 - 3:32am.

Last week on Showtime or might have been HBO, there was a movie called "OUR FATHERS". After watching that true story of the Pedophile Priests in and around Boston, I don't ever think I would walk into a Catholic Church again. These children now adults were absolutely tortured by these sickos. There is no bigger crime than to molest a child, may those Priests all rot in hell and those who covered up the crimes were and are just as guilty. This was a very well made movie with good actors.

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Imaginary Lover

Submitted by muddle on Tue, 11/04/2008 - 8:31pm.

I always hated that tune by ARS. What a stupid concept. This one is so much better.

Now, consider this bit of what Father Massey wrote:

"... masturbation usually involves simple lust and not the kind of normal, loving and healthy sexual relationship that should exist between a husband and wife. Most often it involves fantasizing about a man or woman to whom the person is not married. In Matthew 5 Jesus calls this looking on a person (not your spouse) with lust the same as actually committing adultery with him/her because you have already done it in your heart. So in the sense that Jesus describes these lustful desires, masturbation is indeed a sin.

Don't blame the pastor. He is drawing out implications from Jesus' own words in the Sermon on the Mount.

He is saying that insofar as it involves lustful fantasies about someone to whom one is not married then, for that reason, it is immoral.

And, far from being prudish, this is just a corollary of a robust and healthy view of sex as an expression of committed love.

And if it sounded odd for him to offer a "loophole" as someone else said, I suppose he has in mind the married guy's fond memories of the time in the garden with his wife under the full moon and between the R. Macrophylum and the Mertensia virginica.

Makes sense to me.

____________________

"Puddleglum" by Weatherwax (one of the Muddlings).

Jeeves to the Rescue

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Maybe if some "Holy Men" touched themselves they wouldn't

Submitted by MYTMITE on Tue, 11/04/2008 - 6:46pm.

be touching and doing more to poor defenseless children. Sad to say, but maybe too true.

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