Love and Intimacy in the Bible

By Theodore Hampton

From the earliest recorded times, organized religious groups have tried to require all adherents to adopt the same creeds and codes of behavior. Those who have had Holy Writings have used those writings as a hammer to help compel adherence to orthodoxy. None have been more rigorous in demanding such compliance than the Christian church. This book offers a perspective on Christian Holy Writings, known as the Bible, that can help the faithful to understand love, intimacy, and marriage as they actually occur in that book. It aims to free one of the cultural distortions of scripture that deny authentic expression of our most intimate relationships.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499081848

Theodore Hampton

Pastor Ted Hampton was born and raised in rural western Pennsylvania. He attended Otterbein University in Ohio, where he received his BA in history, English, and Greek. After college, he attended United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, where he received his M. Div. He has done some postgraduate work in clinical hypnotherapy. Ordained an Elder in the Evangelical United Brethren Church in 1962, Pastor Hampton's first parish assignment was to a three-point charge in Eastern Colorado. He was then called to serve on staff at First UMC in Long Beach, California. Pastor Hampton was senior pastor at the Pioneer Memorial UMC, Monrovia UMC, and Dominguez UMC. In addition to his parish assignments, Pastor Hampton spent several years in Panama, where he taught English to the Guardia National, followed by several years directing a federally funded program for “acting out and drug abusing teens” in Long Beach, California. He retired in 2003. After retirement, he served as interim pastor at numerous churches in the Long Beach District. In 2009, Pastor Hampton joined the Lakewood First United Methodist Church leadership team as pastor of spiritual direction. He retired again in 2012 and now spends his time writing and preaching.

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Copyright © 2014 by Theodore Hampton.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2014918512

ISBN:      Hardcover   978-1-4990-8182-4

                Softcover      978-1-4990-8183-1

                eBook           978-1-4990-8184-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

NIV – New International Version

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

New Revised Standard Version

Scripture taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 10/17/2014

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Divine Love

Adam And Eve

Noah

Abraham And Sarah

Isaac And Rebekah

Esau

Jacob And Wives

Moses

Ruth And Boaz

David And Wives

Marriage In The New Testament

Homosexuality In The Old Testament

Circumcision

Dietary Rules

Economic Policies

Sexuality In The Bible

Homosexuality In The Bible

Genesis 19 – Sodom and Gomorrah

Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13

Romans 1:26 – 27

I Corinthians 6:9 – 10; I Timothy 1:9 – 10

Homosexual Relationships

The Homosexual [Gay] Struggle

Same Gender Marriage

In Conclusion

Bibliography

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Some years ago Hillary Clinton wrote a book titled, It Takes a Village. The theme was that raising children took a village of people who interact with children as they are growing up. I believe her book was centered upon an African Village, but it could just as easily been any village anywhere. Her thinking echoed some of my thoughts about such things as a person who thinks of himself as a self-made man. The latter is a concept that I have challenged in my teaching and preaching. None of us grows up in a vacuum and we are all influenced by those among whom we live. Whether it is family, friends or teachers, we are all indebted to those who have touched us along the way. So it is with this book. The original idea came out of a conversation with my good friend, the late Rev. Dr. Bert All. I am sure he has wondered what was taking me so long, for which I have no good answer. I was also encouraged along the way by my CPA, the late Dale Looper. He too must have wondered if I would ever get it finished. More recently I have been encouraged by my Wednesday breakfast friends, who have kept asking how the project was coming. Although she may not have realized it, I am also grateful to and indebted to my Church Secretary, Kathleen Bybee, whose supportive interest and assistance have helped keep me going. Although he thinks he hasn’t done anything, I am deeply grateful to my friend, Paulino Jimenez, whose expertise with the computer put into tangible form my vision for the cover. Also, a warm thank you to my friend Dr. Susan Holgate for the art graphics in the text. Finally, I am grateful to my patient sounding board, Dr. Mary Walton. So thanks to all of my village, both named and unnamed for helping me be who I am and for finally completing this project.

FOREWORD

This little book has been simmering on the back burner for 30 years. It was first presented in a seminar format when I was Pastoring a church in Monrovia, California. While it has long been something that I wanted to do it involves taking on a topic that creates hostility from some circles. I have allowed that potential for hostility to make me timid about moving forward. It also, involves the implicit sharing of some of my own struggles in dealing with my own sexual orientation and my own molestation in early childhood. The experts tell us that when we have been victimized that we should talk with an adult. While such sharing may be somewhat helpful today, there was no adult in my childhood life with whom I could have safely shared my own experiences and struggles. Sexuality was a taboo topic. Even in college there was no place to go. When in graduate school I finally did share with a staff therapist there was no meaningful help and my struggles became a part of my school records. It was a good lesson on not sharing anything with anyone. There was no place safe. While there may have been some improvement over the years, it continues to be risky to share such struggles. Boys are still expected to be macho sports enthusiasts in a state of perpetual lust for girls and girls are to be demurely submissive. Hopefully this book will help in some small way to break down the stereotypes of how we are supposed to feel.

Of all the places one could