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It is good for a man not to touch a woman (1 Cor 7-10)

Episode 282: It is good for a man not to touch a woman

1 Corinthians 7-10

On marriage (it's better than burning)

7 1 Now concerning the things that you wrote me: It's good for a man not to touch a woman.

2 Yes, but to avoid fornication, let every man have a wife and let every woman have a husband.

3 Husbands and wives should be kind to each other.

4 The husband has power over his wife's body, and the wife has power over her husband's.

5 To avoid being tempted by Satan, don't deprive your spouse of sex.

7 I'd prefer that everyone be like me and not marry.

8 If you are a widow or are unmarried, don't get married.

Unless you can't control yourself, that is.

9 Because it's better to marry than to burn.

On divorcing an unbelieving spouse

10 But if you're married, stay married.

12-13 I'm speaking for myself, not for the Lord.

If you have an unbelieving spouse, who is willing to stay with you, don't divorce.

14 The unbelieving spouse is made holy by the believing one.

Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but now they're holy.

15 But if an unbelieving spouse leaves, let them leave.

It's okay to divorce them.

On circumcision (don't get uncircumcised)

17 Stay the way you were when you became a Christian.

18 If you were circumcised, don't get uncircumcised.

If you were uncircumcised, don't get circumcised.

19 Circumcision is nothing. It just doesn't matter.

On slavery (If you are a slave, stay a slave)

21 If you were you a slave when you became a Christian, stay a slave.

24 Whatever you were when you became a Christian, that's what you should be.

On virgins, marriage, and the end of the world (The end is coming. There's no time for sex)

25 I have no commandment from God about virgins, but here's what I think about them.

26 It's good for a man to be a virgin.

27 If you're married, stay married. If you're unmarried, don't get married.

28 It's not a sin to get married. If a virgin gets married, she hasn't sinned.

You'll have trouble in the flesh. But I'll spare you the details.

29 But the end is near, so there's no time for sex.

So if you have a wife, don't have sex with her.

32 An unmarried man cares about God and God's things.

33 A married man cares for the things of this world, and for his wife.

34 The same is true for women.

38 So it's okay to get married, but it's better not to.

8 1 Knowledge makes people proud. Love inspires people.

2 Those who think they know something, know nothing.

4 As for eating meat that has been sacrificed to idols:

8 Well, either eat the meat or don't eat it. It doesn't matter.

9 But if you eat it, try not to upset any weaklings that see you eating it.

I've seen Jesus

9 1 I'm an apostle. I've seen Jesus. I made you believers.

God doesn't care about oxen

9 It's written in the law of Moses, “Don't muzzle an ox that treads the grain.”

10 Does God care about oxen or about us? About us, obviously.

I am a Jew or a Gentile (depending on who I'm with)

20 When I am with Jews, I pretend to be a Jew.

21 When I am with gentiles, I ignore the law of Moses.

22 I'm all things to all people, so I can save some of them.

Some of God's greatest killings

10 7 Don't be idolaters, as were some of our ancestors, who sat down to eat and drink, and then rose up to play.

8 Don't fornicate, like some of them did, when God killed 23,000 of them in one day.

9 Don't tempt Christ, as some of them did, and were killed by serpents.

10 Don't murmur, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.

11 All these things happened as examples to us, who are living when the world ends.

The body and blood of Jesus (He that sups with the devil must have a long spoon)

16 Isn't the cup that we bless, the blood of Christ?

Isn't the bread that we break, the body of Christ?

20 But the Gentiles sacrifice to devils, not to God.

Don't associate with devils.

21 You can't drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils.

You can't eat at the Lord's table, and at the devil's.

Don't ask, don't tell (when it comes to food)

23 Everything is lawful to me, but not everything is expedient.

24 Try to make everyone else wealthy, but not yourself.

25 Eat whatever is sold in stores, asking no questions for your conscience's sake.

27 Whenever you go to a believer's house, eat whatever is put in front of you.

Don't ask any questions for your conscience's sake.

28 But if someone says to you, “This was sacrificed to idols.”

Don't eat it for his or your conscience's sake.

32 Don't offend anyone - not the Jews, Gentiles, or the church.

33 I please everyone in all things.

A few more words about this episode

Now concerning the things that you wrote me (7:1)
Apparently Paul and members of the church in Corinth corresponded by letters. None of the letters from the Corinthians to Paul have survived. All that remains of their correspondence are in 1 and 2 Corinthians.
If an unbelieving spouse leaves, let them leave. It's okay to divorce them. (7:15)
This is the basis of the "Pauline privilege" in Roman Catholic canon law, which deals with a marriage between two unbaptized persons, in which one party subsequently converts and is baptized. (The "Petrine privilege" is similar, but refers to a marriage between baptized and non-baptized marriage partners.)
Don't muzzle an ox that treads the grain (9:9)
Deuteronomy 25:4
Our ancestors sat down to eat and drink, and then rose up to play (10:7)
Paul is referring to Exodus 32:6 here, where God and Moses tell the people to kill their family and friends for worshiping Aaron's golden calf. (Episode 39)

DWB: Who is on the Lord's side: Forcing friends and family to kill each other

God killed 23,000 of them in one day (10:8)
This refers to the plague that God sent on the Israelites for having sex with the daughters of Moab. God stopped killing people after Phinehas impaled a couple while they were having sex. According to the story in Numbers 25, God killed 24,000 people in the plague, but Paul corrects the number by saying it was only 23,000. (DWB: Phinehas's double murder: A killing to end God's killing, Episode 66)
Don't tempt Christ, as some of them did, and were killed by serpents. (10:9)
If you tempt Christ (How could you tempt Christ?), then he'll send fiery serpents to bite and kill you. (Like he did in Numbers 21:6-9, Episode 63)
DWB: God sent fiery serpents to bite the people for complaining about the lack of food and water
Don't murmur, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. (10:10)
During the Exodus, the people complained about the lack of food and water, so God burned them to death. (Numbers 11:1-3, Episode 57)
DWB: When the people complained, God burned them to death
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