In the Bible:If Jacob wasn't attracted to Leah then why....?
963201
In their culture and in those days, it was important to have kids.  If he hadn't had relations with her and fathered her children, it would have brought shame on her (in those days and in that culture).  It was likely to have children more than anything else.\n\nMust have been tough on ole Rachel all those years!
692840
No the Bible does not condone this, but unfortunately, like everything else, it is often twisted around to excuse people's bad behavior.\n\nJesus asked that if a person could not love his brother who he has seen, how can he love God who he has not seen.\n\nOften a person will say, "Oh, well that refers to SPIRITUAL" brothers and sisters". I can treat my physical brother like crap .... and still be a CHRISTIAN.\n\nStrange, these same perverts want their kids to honor their "FLESHLY" parents, don't they? I call them pervert because they pervert Jesus teachings.\n\nTo these folks, it doesn't matter what the bible has ever said ... people make it up as they go along and change the interpretation of the scripture to justify their circumstances.\n\nOften the scripture in Luke, is misused by many. It says, "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. " -- Luke 14:26\n\nHere is a location the Church has perverted the scripture in the interpretation. The Greek for this does not imply HATE. It simply implies to love them less than him.
686988
i'm not Catholic, but yes at that time, the people whose life stories were told were sexist, because that was the time period they were in, but the Bible itself is not sexist, the Bible is perfect, not the people in it. Jesus honestly wasn't interested in a wife, he was here to spread the Good News and he knew he would be leaving and wouldn't leave a wife behind. The Bible has everything that is true in it. They also mentioned women multiple times in hte Bible, even have entire books of the Bible for them only. Ruth, Esther, get hte point there are lots of women in the Bible they wouldn't just paint over the facts of Jesus's life with whatever parts pleased them to tell. The apostles, those who were the dearest of friends with Jesus, wrote the Gospel's. They would not do that to their friend if such a relationship existed. Hence forth: THEY WERE NEVER ROMANTICALLY INVOLVED. Their relationship was of teacher to student, and brother to sister, nothing more. Ayshibaba, did you form this idea from the Davinci Code???
519706
Hmm.  Is groping mentioned in the Bible?
1187616
To have sexual relations with one of the same sex is against what the Bible teaches.None of us like it when we read and find just how much of our lives offend God.But if you really wish to seek God seek as you are not as you think you should be.We all are perfected only in Christ let him decide whether it keeps you from him.He said he did not come for the righteous for they do not need him,only those that are injured or ill need a doctor.
307520
I am suprised at this series of answers, as I am sure that there is a passage int he Bible specifically mentioning angels who have not fallen, yet owe no allegiance to the Lord.\n\n Sounds nuetral to me.
399171
Kudos to the asker.\n\nTo Christians/Catholics/whatevers who cite the Bible: Homosexuality is noted as a sin in the Old Testament. What else was in the old testament? You can't touch a woman when she's on her period. A woman is unclean during her period. In order to become clean again, the woman or the man that touched her must bathe in a river over their head. \n\nYeah, because that totally makes sense...\n\nBesides, a law cannot be made because of a religion. It's called separation of church and state.
1072310
He loves the sinner but rejects the sin.\nIn Leviticus, they didn't have Jesus.\nGod So love the gays that he sent his Son to save them.
675130
Ah, I see you had David in mind as the purest.  I was thinking, Adam, inasmuch as, before he sinned, he was the purest man.  Scriptures indicate that Joseph overcame this temptation for two primary reasons:  he understood the principle which led to the law that came later (the law against adultery/fornication) and he understood and put into action the need to IMMEDIATELY flee from fornication.  David failed in this respect.  Instead, he allowed desire for Bathsheba to grow and take root in his heart.  Jeremiah says the heart is more treacherous than anything else and is desperate.  David's heart became desperate and led to his greed (desire out of control).  [A shame, really.  If David was feeling a little, shall we say, anxious, he already had a few wives who could have satisfied his desire.]  Joseph fled the scene before such a thing could develop in his heart.
495212
Tom Nelson from Denton Bible Church in Denton, Tx has a wonderful series on Song of Solomon.\n\nBasically Song. is a love poem.  Most English translations do not do it justice (besides, we don't understand the cultural references).\n\nBasically, the passage about her hair being "like a flock of goats" describes a very intimate scene.  Women didn't let their hair down for just anyone.  The American cultural equivalent is "lyiing in bed, smoking a cigarette."\n\n\nGod invented sex.\nLet me say it again: \n\nGod invented sex.  He created it.  Remember, male and female existed before sin.  God called it good.  Genesis 1:28 says that reproduction existed before sin.\n\nSex is a spiritual act.  It is the most intimate form of union with another person.  That's why God restricted it to marriage.\nWould you share your toothbrush with a stranger?\n\nSome overzealous people decided that sex was bad, but that's not what the Bible says.  Sex is not bad, it is not dirty.  \nSex must be enjoyed in the proper context.  It is like fire.  Fire is good in a fireplace.  It is not good in your attic.  Used properly, fire can help.  Abused, it will hurt.\n\n\n\n\nThings to avoid:\nLust (including fantasies about other people)\nAdultery (extra-marital sex)\nPremarital sex (called fornication in the KJV)\nAnything else that is forbidden in the Bible\n\nGod forbade these things for a reason.  They will hurt your marriage.  \n\nEven within these boundaries, discuss what you want.  Communicate.  It's essential to a marriage.  If something makes you uncomfortable, don't do it.\n\n\nAlso consider 1 Corinthians 7:\n 3The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. 5Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control\n\nIf that doesn't say that sex within marriage is not sinful, then I don't know what is says.\n\nAnyone who thinks that sex is "a necessary evil" never had good sex.  I say this as a happily married Christian man.\n\nUnfortunately, some men (and some women) believe that sex is about taking pleasure, not giving it.  If both spouses were committed to meeting each others needs, more marriages would be better.  \n\nRemember 1 Corinthians 7:4 \nYour body does not belong to you, it belongs to your spouse.\n\nSong of Solomon 2:16 "My lover is mine and I am his..."\nThat says it all.
932759
Interesting but contrary to Scripture. I understand the problem you're considering and offer this as a possible solution...\n\nAdam and Eve were perfect and it took several generations before the degenerating gene pool became severe enough to forbid incest.
737468
What happened was this:   Rebekah helped Jacob to steal Esau's birthright by killing a tame goat, preparing it in Isaac's favorite way, and using the fur from the goat to simulate Esau's hairy skin (remember, Isaac was blind by this time).  She then got some clothing of Esau's and put it on Jacob so that Isaac's sense of smell would be deceived as well.\n\nIt was because of Rebekah's deceptions at this time that she suffered later in her life by being deprived of her beloved son, who had to flee for his life immediately after Esau's birthright was stolen.  She never saw Jacob again.
427939
"Was not Esau Jacob's brother? says the LORD: yet I loved Jacob, but hated Esau; I made his mountains a waste, his heritage a desert for jackals." (Mal 1:3 NAB) The thought passes from the person Esau to his descendants, Edom, and from the person Jacob to his descendants, Israel. Loved: preferred; hated: rejected.\n\nSt. Paul uses this passage as an example of God's freedom of choice in calling the Gentiles to the faith: "As it is written: I loved Jacob but hated Esau." (Rom 9:13 NAB)\n\nThe literal rendering, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated," suggests an attitude of divine hostility that is not implied in St. Paul's statement. In Semitic usage "hate" means to love less. Israel's unbelief reflects the mystery of the divine election that is always operative within it. Mere natural descent from Abraham does not ensure the full possession of the divine gifts; it is God's sovereign prerogative to bestow this fullness upon, or to withhold it from, whomsoever he wishes. The choice of Jacob over Esau is a case in point.
403028
That Bible does teach that, it can be a bummer if you aren't married whether you do or don't.  If you do, you feel guilty (at least I do) and if you don't then you are frustrated.  I would rather be frustrated (but, not always).  I am still working on it and as long as I am not seeing someone I am in the clear.
456332
I'm not judging anyone but the bible says it's wrong that's why he gave man woman to be his companion don't forget he didn't give Adam another man he gave him a woman for his company.
890046
The God of the Old Testament certainly exhibits a violent nature. He is truly not a God of love or compassion. I notice his personality makes drastic changes from time to time. The more I study the Bible, the more I am coming to think that it is no more than myth.
973691
Romans 9:13-16\nJust as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."\n What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, \n   "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, \n      and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.\n\nEph 1:11\nIn him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,\n\nMatt 24:31\nAnd he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his ELECT from the four winds, from one end of the \nheavens to the other.\n\nFree will is never mention in the Bible.  Election and predestination are though.