Minimalist

I don't think you are a "stirrer." I think you are a "sniper, firing one very specific bullet at your target. Well, done.

You'll find a lot of "special pleading" among bible defenders.

Chris Weimer

They weren't married yet.

JoeWallack

JW:
This reminds me of the Riddle:

A man who has just been crucified is brought by the Paracletics
into the Emergency Room. The Deity says, "I can not Save this
man because he's my Son". The Deity is not the Son's Father.
How can this be?



Joseph

http://www.errancywiki.com/index.php/Main_Page

Tuffa Nuff

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn." When Joseph and Mary started out for Bethlehem, Mary was still called his "espoused wife;" his "engaged" or "betrothed" wife. Which tells us that it was on the way, or while they were there, that Joseph struggled with these decisions; the angel of the Lord appeared to him; and he obeyed and married her. The marriage was definitely before the birth of Jesus, because it clearly states in Matthew 1:24, 25, "Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS."

The above comes from...
http://www.libertygospeltracts.com/q...st/joemary.htm

My point is that the morality is a far cry from what's expected of us mortals. Isn't sex outside marriage a no-no? Oh I get it there was no sex, just magic.

So, Joe married the pregnant surrogate mother-to-be of Jesus.

P.S. I'm not getting at viewing the supposed conception and birth of Christ by today's legal standards. Rather I am appalled by the apparent double standards applied in morals when it's the morals of God as opposed to those of people.

Chili

The Annunciation came across to Joseph as a dream. You know how dreamers have a divided mind, don't you? . . . wherefore "it is an evil age when old men have dreams."

Chili

Hi Joan, penetration has nothing to do with pregancy which should be obvious by the number of fertility clinics we have around these days. Conception is what counts and the womb is where that takes place. A dick is only needed to give you a blast so you can count yourself as father and do the dirty work.

Joan of Bark

This is what I mean by a linguistic argument, Chili. Satan might claim that in order to make Mary pregnant, God had to "penetrate" her ... in a manner of speaking. There was no dick involved, yet something went into her from the outside, penetrating her womb.

Lugubert

I don't remember having read of a case when anything, sexual or other, is regarded differently for a married and a betrothed woman. Please enlighten me.

Chris Weimer

I was responding to Tara Nuff. She asked about adultery, but Mary and Joseph weren't married.

Chris Weimer

Tara: Surrogate mothers are mentioned in the OT?