SWM018: Judaism had it right all along

Christianity is not the perfect religion we like to make it out to be, at least not in the way we imperfect humans have played it out. One area we have made a real mess of over the centuries is sexuality, and in this one Judaism seems to have got it right. Check out the show notes here for more details and links. The Bible is clear enough: our bodies are good, our spirits are of God, and together they make a soul. Separated, we do not exist. What crept in instead was Greek and Roman thinking, that the body is sinful and the spirit is good, and therefore sex, being a bodily function, is unspiritual. The church ran with it. Sex was outlawed on all but 44 days of the year, forbidden on Sundays, permitted only for procreation, and treated as a necessary evil. Some taught that the original sin in Eden was sex itself. Judaism went the other way, making laws that promoted healthy sexuality, teaching that sex within marriage is a blessing and a good deed on the Sabbath, and that it should be pleasurable for the wife as much as the husband. They occasionally overshot, but the intent was right. What we can do now: stop teaching that sex is inherently sinful and start teaching that context defines it, stop calling it dirty, be willing to pray about it, and be willing to discuss it with other Christians.