Hi Cat,

I don't believe "common sense" is a good guide in these matters. Simply because much of what we call "common" sense is in fact "cultural" sense. It makes sense because its familiar, because its commonly held belief, or because everyone else (read the majority) is doing it.

You are quite right. I agree. "Common sense" was a poor choice of words. I did not mean to imply "the common, prevailing view of society". I meant, "the view that one arrives at after a thoughtful, logical, reasoned, Spirit-lead examination of the clearly-discernible facts." I'm willing to bet no one on this board would have come up with the latter definition from "common sense", but I'm pretty sure that's what I meant :-)

I'm sure you'd agree that all such sense must be subjected to the authority of Scripture and where in disagreement, Scripture wins.

I completely agree! I realize I may get slammed for my argument that relies on "sense" rather than scripture. It is a pretty shaky argument in some ways, and it doesn't stand on its own as complete "proof" of anything. But different people think of things in different ways. The homosexuality debate can be considered from many different angles -- Scripture and biology being two -- but since I don't feel comfortable arguing using those two approaches (as there are many people out there, and on this board, who know way more than I ever will on the subjects), I feel the approach that I relate to best -- and the one with which I can best contribute to the discussion -- is the "sense" argument.

Just to clarify, I did make reference to Biblical support when I said:

What I mean is that heterosexuality is simple and elegant because "it makes sense" ... it's "good design" ... it has clear Biblical support ... it has a clear (reproductive) purpose.

To me, the Bible is a crucial resource in evaluating what makes "sense". I'm not talking about sucking happy feelings out of thin air, I'm talking about carefully considering the facts (under the leading of the Spirit) ... but at the same time NOT getting so mired in the details that, pretty soon, just about anything can be argued into existence. Without keeping the big picture in mind at all times, the details can get overwhelming and lead us further away from the truth. [Some might argue there is a link between genius and madness...]

Secondly, our bibles are translations from Greek and Hebrew languages. They are also historical documents from Greek and Hebrew cultures. It is actually essential that some members of our community must be examining those linguistic and historical details and informing us about how they effect our understanding of the texts. Fortunately there are plenty of people out there doing that and we get to read their writings and learn from them. Of course at the end of the day we have to come to our own understanding of the Scriptures with the conviction of the Holy Spirit, but we cannot discount the need for scholarly helps to understanding. This is especially true when trying to formulate theology on issues such as sexuality as we are doing here.

Again, you are right. My take on this, though, is that thousands of diligent Bible translators have spent their lives working out the best way to translate the essence of Scripture. Any person who has the Spirit and is willing to humbly consider His Word, possibly referring to some basic commentary about the culture and context of the time, should be able to arrive at a decent interpretation. If some point (used in an argument about homosexuality, for example) is so obscure and difficult to understand that it requires a knowledge of Greek and Hebrew, and if this point is not clearly supported by the rest of Scripture (or even seems to contradict an aspect of Scripture that IS clear), I'd venture to say that point should probably be discarded.

I hope that helps to clarify.

Blessings,
Rainboy