Mona West: Textual Analysis

Mona West’s article addresses one of the most controversial issues in the Christian religion, sexuality. In most of the Bible, homosexuality is viewed in a negative light. Verses explicitly same that people cannot lay down with those of the same gender. Mona argues that Paul’s letter, 1st Corinthians, has chapters that support the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) community. The church is supposed to embrace diversity. This challenges the idea of “heteronormality” in the church. Mona says the notion of heterosexuality being the only acceptable relationship is a big problem in today’s church. It is to be expected, however. It is understandable to try to justify the LGBT community in Church, but the church has been established for

The culture associated with its text does not hold up to today’s ideals. That is to be expected. The social classes, government rulings, and even countries have changed as time has progressed. Then, can the Bible become outdated? That is what Luis Menendez implies. He suggest that Paul did not fully grasp the different types of sexuality that exist. Menendez says that Paul’s cultural ideas are out dated. What does this mean for the rest of Paul’s teachings? It is easy to see that Paul did not care about marriage, but to call the text outdated is a bold statement. Can all of Paul’s teachings be out dated? It is hard to single out just one section to support a claim. Many of Paul’s teaching are held to be universal standards for all Christians. That would mean the Churches would have to completely re-evaluate their life styles. It is hard to say if Menendez is correct, but if what he says is true, then Christianity would be outdated in its

It covered more controversial topics. I enjoyed that. The articles didn’t follow what the texts were “supposed” to mean. The authors chose to view them in different lights. They developed their own interpretations and presented their cases in a very educated manor. That is what made this chapter stand out. It is important for important text, like the Bible, to be read, interpreted, and challenged by new ideas. Mona West and Luis Menendez challenged the culture of the Church. The LGBT community would like the support of the Christian Church, but the culture just does not allow it. West and Menendez decide to challenge the customs set by the Church. The same can be said about Alice Yafeh-Deigh’s article. She challenges the set custom of condemning polygamy. These were all great articles. However, they were not my favorite. That honor goes to Nicolette Emanuelle’s article over love. His article is very different from the rest of the book. He uses scientific reasoning to challenge and confirm what Paul is saying. I am not a Christian, so this article really spoke to me. It shows that a difference of spiritual beliefs does not mean we share a difference in morals. I really enjoyed an article that was not written by a religious leader. It made it a very different