What was Warren Jeffs Sin?
In August 2011 Warren Jeffs was convicted of polygamy and paedophilia. But what was his sin? According to scripture it seems that neither hebephilia, sex with a sexually mature minor - which is actually what Mister Jeffs is “guilty” of, nor polygamy are sins. When this was pointed out to a wised old saint this author knows the saint pointed out that the church has their values screwed up, we are gracious towards divorce, which scripture condemns, and condemning towards polygamy, which scripture seems to allow.
Mister Jeffs conviction coincided with Genesis 28 in an exercise this author’s Bible study group is doing. An exercise that began with Genesis 1 and that forbids us from citing or discussing any scripture found after where we had previously read; in other words we are studying scripture as if we are being exposed to the Bible for the very first time. In light of this, what was Warren Jeffs’ sin?
Among the patriarchs we have Abraham, the dirty old man who married a much younger woman, Keturah, and fathered more children. We also have Isaac who was 40 when he married Rebekah, who was in all likelihood 20 years or more his junior. She was a young maiden when they married and it seems that Jacob and Esau’s conception 20 years later was only a miracle because she had been unable to conceive to that point, unlike Sarah who conceived well past menopause. Finally we have Esau, who although not technically not a patriarch is from the same line. It does not seem that his polygamy is condemned in any way, just mentioned as a fact, like his excessive red hair.
So the question remains what exactly is Warren Jeff’s sin? He did nothing that Abraham, Isaac or Esau did not do; we esteem these men as forerunners of our faith but condemn Warren Jeffs for the same behaviour? How is polygamy a sin? How is hebephilia a sin? God/the Bible says nothing derogatory about these men’s behaviour and yet thousands of years later we consider these men’s behaviour such a grave sin that those who follow in their footsteps deserve to die in prison.
This is not a defence of either hebephilia or polygamy, but rather a question poised; “Why does modern Christian thought consider behaviours God seem indifferent to, polygamy and hebephilia, to be grave sins while being gracious to to a sin God says he hates, divorce?”
Mister Jeffs conviction coincided with Genesis 28 in an exercise this author’s Bible study group is doing. An exercise that began with Genesis 1 and that forbids us from citing or discussing any scripture found after where we had previously read; in other words we are studying scripture as if we are being exposed to the Bible for the very first time. In light of this, what was Warren Jeffs’ sin?
Among the patriarchs we have Abraham, the dirty old man who married a much younger woman, Keturah, and fathered more children. We also have Isaac who was 40 when he married Rebekah, who was in all likelihood 20 years or more his junior. She was a young maiden when they married and it seems that Jacob and Esau’s conception 20 years later was only a miracle because she had been unable to conceive to that point, unlike Sarah who conceived well past menopause. Finally we have Esau, who although not technically not a patriarch is from the same line. It does not seem that his polygamy is condemned in any way, just mentioned as a fact, like his excessive red hair.
So the question remains what exactly is Warren Jeff’s sin? He did nothing that Abraham, Isaac or Esau did not do; we esteem these men as forerunners of our faith but condemn Warren Jeffs for the same behaviour? How is polygamy a sin? How is hebephilia a sin? God/the Bible says nothing derogatory about these men’s behaviour and yet thousands of years later we consider these men’s behaviour such a grave sin that those who follow in their footsteps deserve to die in prison.
This is not a defence of either hebephilia or polygamy, but rather a question poised; “Why does modern Christian thought consider behaviours God seem indifferent to, polygamy and hebephilia, to be grave sins while being gracious to to a sin God says he hates, divorce?”
posted by rene the rugrat at 6:39 AM
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