Protective sex

The relationship of the Old Testament Law to Christian ethics is complex: all aspects can be instructive, however indirectly, but some elements are explicitly superseded, some applied to a particular context only, no longer functioning as a national legal system, and some are reiterated in the New Testament.

The prohibition of homo- sexual sex is in the last category.

The system of “slavery” in the Old Testament is nothing remotely like our usual concept of kidnap and forced labour, but was a voluntary arrangement to facilitate the repayment of debts through labour.

Mr Bremner need not speculate about Jesus’s reaction to the harsh punishments in the Old Testament law: he should read the story of Jesus rescuing the woman caught in adultery from stoning with the immortal words: “I do not condemn you. Go and sin no more.”

Biblical teaching on sexual morality serves to protect children, adults and wider society from harm. Mr Bremner may  not appreciate that, but that is understandable in a society that is blind to the full implications of the ethos of sexual “liberation”, where many believe, despite the evidence and the logic, that sexual licence “doesn’t do anyone any harm”.

Richard Lucas

Broomyknowe

Edinburgh