Abstract:
In this article the author discusses the fact that being sexual is part of being human. The Old Testament quite frankly acknowledges this important aspect of our humanity. It unapologetically depicts men and women as physical and sexual creatures - not only as spiritual, rational and moral beings. Surveying what the Old Testament says about human sexuality can remind us that the more things change (and they certainly have changed a lot!), the more things stay the same. The cultural world and the social structures within which we express our sexuality today are substantially different from those of Old Testament times, and they are continuing to evolve at a rapid pace in our day. Still, all things considered, it is not so much our fundamental differences with our biblical ancestors that strikes us, but rather our common flesh, our common capacity for love with a physical dimension, our common desire to know and be known by another. These sexual aspects of our humanity are as strong as death, as unquenchable as fire.