By Jim on
Society & Culture
#MeToo

Throughout my childhood, I heard grown men speak of the physical attractiveness of women, and then couch their naked lust in a disclaimer that acknowledging physical beauty isn’t lust. They believed that it only crossed into lust if you continued to look after the initial acknowledgment. I even heard that preached from the pulpit. Over the course of my life, I have heard Christian men speak approvingly of the bodies of both teen and adult females. How often, when describing a woman, do we start with physical beauty? And by doing so, what are we communicating to women who don’t match our standards of physical beauty? Shamefully, I too have participated in the objectification of women.

Discussion

Sat, 06/23/18

The problem I have is this …

speak of the physical attractiveness of women, and then couch their naked lust in a disclaimer that acknowledging physical beauty isn’t lust.

Proof that acknowledging physical beauty isn’t lust:

  • “Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.” Gen 29:17
  • “and you see among the captives a beautiful woman” Deut 21:11
  • “The woman was discerning and beautiful” 1 Sam 25:3
  • “The young woman had a beautifulfigure and was lovely to look at,” Esther 2:7
  • “in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters” Job 42:15

And more

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Jim's Doctrinal Statement

Sun, 06/24/18

….between “beautiful” and “sexy”, really. David is also spoken of as “yaffe”, or beautiful, in Scripture. It’s not a female-specific word. It’s also worth noting that when Scripture discusses the “erogenous” zones, it’s either in Song of Songs or the Prophets, where the reference is either to marriage or idolatry. We ought to take a hint; there is not Scriptural precedent for blessing a man who comments that a girl is “built”.

Maybe we ought to define more carefully what lust is. If I’m remembering a word study I did a while back correctly, a lot of it has to do with an inordinate desire—a desire for something that we will sin to fulfill. That would seem to parallel the difference between marriage and fornication, no?

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.