SeekingKnowledge

I was watching one of the many televangelists the other day.. He was giving a sermon about how sampson met his ultimate defeat at the hands of a woman because he didn't heed Gods ultimate (unspoken) suggestion that you shouldn't lay with a woman before marriage.. Wish I could cite the sermon, but I wouldn't be sure how to find it on the web. the basic doctrine was that Delilah was a tool of the devil, and Sampson's propensity to lay with women such as these was his ultimate downfall.

I didn't necessarily want to debate the finer points on how HE gets to that conclusion (though I personally don't mind if that alternate discourse takes place here) but rather I would like to address the overall point he made with this quoted statement:

"Better it be that there be no physical contact until there is a contract"

Or to rephrase (as he did numerous times) just a bit:

It is better to never lay with a woman than to have the wrong one pull you farther away from God.

What argument would you give to uphold or refute this statement/Idea?

premjan

It isn't that bad an idea - you sure you want to refute it?

Toto

How does this pastor deal with King David and Bathsheba? What lesson is there?

Roger Pearse

Bigamy is one wife too many. Monogamy is the same.

A man is only allowed one wife. This is called Monotony -- anon. schoolboy.

semiopen

The story of Samson is relatively straightforward.

My prejudice that a TV evangelist cannot possibly say anything that is true is reinforced by this interpretation however.

The length of Samson's judgeship is given as 20 years in Judges 15:20. Radak says this is written here because it is the peak of his career (before his decline).

His decline is chronicled starting with 16. In 16:1 he has sex with a harlot (isha zona) and still destroys the gates of Gaza. Kil Yahar says he went to the harlot's home mostly to advertize his presence to the Gazaites. Most commentators say he married Delilah but did not convert her to Judaism. I think they claim that they were married because she is not described as a harlot.

Verse 16:20 states .."but he did not know that God had departed from him."

This story appears to be a folk tale, but maybe there is some significance to the number 7 appearing twice in his lies to Delilah, etc.

The televangelist's interpretation seems absurd to me.

Toto

I thought it was recognized that Sampson represents the sun (his name in Hebrew is derived from Shemesh), his hair represents the rays of the sun, and the whole story was just a riff on the sun waxing and waning through the seasons. Samson and astrology.

SeekingKnowledge

No, I am not. I can tell you that I am guilty of it with both my wives (current and past).. As are allot of Americans, eh? I was simply making an observation about a sermon I saw while flipping through channels. I assume that you agree with his overall stance of virginity until marriage? I am curious as to why? Not being rude, just talking...

I dunno.. Only caught the one sermon... It one of those many little things that you catch while floating through the river of life, and it makes you stop and wonder/worry... What do you think? Virginity until marriage?

premjan

Contact only if contract is mainly to tie up the loose ends which occur when contraception fails and a child is born. Then responsibility needs to be assigned and the presence of a contract makes it more of a given. There is also the issue of sexual jealousy and "I gave you the best years of my life" which is why marriage in the absence of detailed property sharing agreements, is by default contractual communism. The liberal ways of dealing with this lead to more potential heartache and require more wisdom and forbearance etc.

semiopen

I don't think that most people are virgins when they marry, personally I don't think being a virgin when you marry is especially good. What would you be worrying about? Going to hell or STD?

I hoped my previous post would cast some doubt on the preacher's interpretation. His interpretation makes no sense unless 16-1 (sex with the harlot) is considered something he is punished for. There is no indication of that in the story. Delilah is not a harlot and they were married.

SeekingKnowledge

Well I know I have personally been more worried about contracting an STD or getting a girl pregnant than I was about "going to hell for my sexual sin"...

Thank you for the interesting answer.. I didn't realize there was evidence that they were married..