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Originally Posted by asaris
There are many arguments for the traditional Christian position that homosexual activity is sinful, the best of which don't rely on Levitical passages. This passage, from the Roman Catholic office "Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith", gives a pretty good argument against state sponsorship of gay marriage. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/co...unions_en.html. It's worth checking out for your topic.
Lebell is right; the concept of the afterlife among ancient Hebrews seems to have been comparable to the Greek conception of Hades -- a sort of half-life of shadows. By the time of Christ, there seems to have been some argument regarding the resurrection of the dead, but I don't know when this concept enters the Jewish mythos. |
The 12th chapter of Daniel is a good point to look...there is a mention of the worthy awakening to reward, and the faithless to punishment. During the reign of Antichus Epihianes (Antichus, the Manifestation of God) the Jews were persecuted quite severely. Read 1 Maccabees 1-5 for a quick overview. Daniel is written in that time period, 168-164 BCE. Due to people constantly being marytred, there needed to be a response.
"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, O*Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defence to you in this matter. If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O*king, let him deliver us.* But if not, be it known to you, O*king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up. "
Dan 3:16-18
The response is to claim that God's justice can often be outside of visible history, including belief in a paridise reward for the ones who are faithful to the end, even in persecution.