Can eunuchs marry?

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crgfstr1
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Can eunuchs marry?

Post by crgfstr1 » Wed Mar 21, 2018 10:39 am

In the news there have been reoccurring events where Christians will either not bake a cake or not take photos for a gay wedding. I have been trying to figure out if this is a correct response or an incorrect one and what I would say on the subject if it arose.

So far I am very much leaning towards it isn't a good Christian response. I guess their fear is that it condones the act, but does it? Jesus dined with sinners and was he there by accused of condoning their actions? While thinking I pondered how much sin someone would be willing to commit or have added to help prevent another persons sin? Sense not baking the cake or taking the photos is very unlikely to prevent the couple from marrying, I see no positive outcome. I don't know how I could in a loving way tell someone that I wont do something for them because they are a sinner, but have nothing to tell them that will stop the sin. Even if someone correctly stated everything they could on the subject, and it didn't stop the couple from marrying what good did it do? Might it just cause the couple to also become unjustly angry at the person doing the correcting and unjustly angry even at God? So now it sounds like more sin is taking place rather then less.

As I pondered this and pondered it further, I also thought about people expressing concerns or opinions on how many sexes there are as this may somehow be related to who can marry whom. I believe some have even incorrectly argued that there are only 2 sexes in the bible. While that was what was created, once sin entered the world, we ended up with 2 sexes and people who aren't either of those two or eunuchs. Some have starting saying that there are some 50 sexes in the world. This number could potentially be arguably way to low. It could be considered there are 2 plus however many eunuchs there are because often eunuchs physical traits are unique to them and no one else.

I would like to ask the declining cake baker what they would do if approached by two eunuchs who wished to marry? What would their response be to a eunuch marrying a man or a woman. I have come to only two thoughts on my own on the subject. One is Mathew 19 where I think it basically says this passage doesn't really apply to eunuchs, but what part of it? The given into marriage, the divorce (unlikely) or that they would marry in the way described here as man and woman. I could see how one could argue this passage means they shouldn't marry. Then we have 1 Timothy 4. This sounds very much like what is going on now. People are being forbidden to marry in later times. It doesn't say what people are forbidden to marry. Could this be the very thing?

Might most homosexuals actually be eunuchs? One common trait of men is that they are attracted to women and women to men. So if one doesn't exhibit this trait might they be a eunuch?

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steve
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Re: Can eunuchs marry?

Post by steve » Wed Mar 21, 2018 5:18 pm

Discussions about there being multiple sexes (beyond the two everyone recognizes) generally are not discussions about physical anatomy. They are about people in regular male or female bodies who have a dysphoria of the mind. In other words, they are uncomfortable with reality, and choose to affirm an imaginary "reality" more to their preference. Such mental delusions ought to be treated compassionately, but not reinforced.

For years we have heard of "a boy born in a girl's body," or "a girl born in a boy's body." A rational person would think: Okay, the body is that of a normal male or female. The gender confusion is in the mind. Thus, many people think their little boys were born with a female's mind. But what does this do to the arguments that feminists have been forcing upon us for decades that insist there is no difference between the brains of men and of women? Is there a distinctively female brain? If so, then feminism has got to go back to the drawing board. If there is not, then there is no such thing as a "female brain" in a boy's body. We just have a confused boy.

All this is to say that no scientific case can be made from biology for the existence of three or more "sexes." It is a concept that has only been allowed to emerge in a society that has for decades embraced "abnormal psychology" as if it were scientific and capable of telling of something about acceptable norms. In this domain, psychology stands as a rival to biblical truth, which also dictates acceptable norms—but different ones.

As for your hypothetical case of eunuchs wanting to marry:

A eunuch is a man without testicles.

Jesus identified three kinds of eunuchs. Some are born in that condition, some have it forced upon them, and some choose it for themselves for the sake of the kingdom of God.

A man without testicles cannot have sex, but he is still a man (he has the requisite "Y" chromosome). Children may be born missing fingers, toes, even arms and legs. This does not make them a distinct new species. Likewise, they can be born without normal genitalia. This does not mean they are a third sex. A few people are born hermaphrodites, and they may have genitalia from both sexes. It is hard to know how ancient societies determined what sex these people were, but today we have access to genetic testing.

Since a man born a eunuch, or made a eunuch by men, cannot have sex, he also cannot have a normal marriage—nor does he want one, since a man without testicles is unlikely to have sexual drive toward either sex. A eunuch may form life-long attachment to one or more close friends, but it will not be a sexual attachment, and therefore will not be biblical "marriage." The two cannot become "one flesh."

Therefore, eunuchs do not comprise a third sex, and the idea of eunuchs getting married seems like a category error.

I would be among those who would not serve a wedding that I could not celebrate because of its sinfulness. This would apply not only to same-sex couples, but also couples where one or both parties are still married to previous spouses, or marriages where one party is a Christian and the other is not. It is true that this may become an occasion of offense to outsiders, but many convictions of Christians are predictably offensive to non-Christians—like the Christian belief in denying self, taking up a cross, and following Jesus. What of that? If a Christian bears a faithful witness in love, and others are offended by that witness, whose fault is that?

crgfstr1
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Re: Can eunuchs marry?

Post by crgfstr1 » Thu Mar 22, 2018 9:24 am

Thank you Steve for your thoughtful reply. I agree the most common topic in today's discussions regarding sexes is because of a dysphoria of the mind that we need to help people with compassionately. I feel very sorry for these people as they have been brainwashed by a culture that is in some ways near insanity. There may also be other factors beyond the brainwashing taking place that are physical. I have been told there are many chemicals in our environment that can act as hormones in the human body. So while a persons genetic make up may be of one sex, the hormones racing around in their body may closer to the other sex.

I struggle with the balance of having a correct conversation on the topic of Jesus. Most people are not ready for any kind of solid food yet seem to want to focus on it first before moving forward. I want to make sure my actions are not causing people to choke on the solid food they are not ready for and only provide them the love that they are ready for. Otherwise they will reject Jesus before they get to know him.

I am a little confused how a man w/o testicles cannot have sex. While it is true they cannot reproduce life, they could have sex enough to produce sexual immorality. So from this perspective they couldn't have a marriage that matches exactly the biblical definition. Are you saying they cannot marry?

What if a married man looses his testicles, is he no longer permitted to have any kid of sexual relationship with his wife?

Are people who are born with genetic properties that makes them neither male or female doomed to never be allowed to have sex? Wouldn't it be better for them to remain virgins until they could at least come as close as they can to a biblical definition of marriage if they wanted to? If not how could one deliver a message to someone in a culture that has brainwashed them on the importance of sex such that they then wouldn't be suicidal?

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