Adultery

I made a comment on a YouTube video about this one pastor that says that basically masturbation is okay. And, of course, there are religious nut-jobs all over the comments telling people he's a heretic and that masturbation equals "adultery of the heart" and bringing up the usual scriptures used to condemn "sexual immorality." Anyway, I made a couple of comments and I got an e-mail from the uploader of the video.
I won't post it because honestly...I don't know what the hell he was talking about. He must have been from a foreign country because nearly everything in his message was incoherent. Of course, he had his dozen or so Bible verses to "back-up" what he was saying. I e-mailed him and said, "Okay. I have absolutely NO IDEA what you are trying to tell me. Are you agreeing with me or what? Other than the cliched use of the Bible verses, nothing was coherent. Sorry, but I didn't get any of that."

This is the e-mail I got a day later:

ok i will make it simple lusting over a woman in your mind is an act of adultery and when you masturbate you think of a woman unless your homosexaul then it is even worst

but the key is commiting the crime in your mind first in sort it is premeditation?

pre·med·i·ta·tion (pr-md-tshn)
n.
1. The act of speculating, arranging, or plotting in advance.

2. Law The contemplation of a crime well enough in advance to show deliberate intent to commit the crime; forethough

1. (Law) Law prior resolve to do some act or to commit a crime

2. the act of premeditating

Matthew 5:27-28

New King James Version (NKJV)


Adultery in the Heart

 27 "You have heard that it was said to those of old,[a] 'You shall not commit adultery.'[b] 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

It was still a little hard to read, but at least this message was readable. This was my response:

I disagree with you on your interpretation of Mt 5:27 (the common view among Evangelicals). I used to think exactly like you do. But I've come across some information that's forced me to change my perspective. I refer you to my blog at http://lustingisnotasin.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-purity-culture.html?zx=14c131575d32c01.

I wrote, "The scripture that they (the religious conservatives) point to most often is Matthew 5:27-28, which reads: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'[e] 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (NIV). The term in Greek for woman (γυνή) can actually be translated as "wife," they are interchangeable. I've heard in those times, you did not say, "This is my wife," you would say, "This is my woman." Why is that important? Because the scripture can now be saying that you shouldn't look on someone else's wife with lust. Furthermore, the term "lust" in Mt 5:27 is the same word for the word "covet" in the Septuagint (LXX). The term denotes more than simply looking and fantasizing. It means to plan, to scheme, to want at all costs. So now, Mt 5:27-28 looks like this: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery (unlawful intercourse with another man's wife). But I tell you that anyone who looks at a wife (a woman who belongs to another man) lustfully (planning or trying to take her from said man) has already committed adultery with her in his heart." When you look upon a woman and you have feelings of wanting her, you are not sinning -- unless you, fully knowing she's married to someone else, try and take her for yourself. Otherwise, no one would be able to get married without sinning."

You can't just read the KJV and take that as infallible. It's not. It's a TRANSLATION. In the original Greek it means to unlawfully desire to take another man's wife (that's the Biblical meaning of adultery) and even that has an action component to it. You have to plan to take her as your own, regardless of the fact that she's married. Staring at a woman's breasts is not "adultery" by any means. Planning to sleep with her fully knowing that she's married is. I've never wanted to find out where a woman was staying at with her husband or fiance to try to steal her in some way. In a way, Jesus was paraphrasing the 7th and 10th commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not covet (desire) your NEIGHBOR'S wife, house, donkey, maidservant, other property. Jesus wasn't "intensifying" the Law, he was only reminding them of it's true intent. It's not enough for the Jews to keep the Law outwardly, but they also must keep it inwardly, as well. He was saying when someone plans to steal someone or something away from someone else, then sin manifests itself in the heart of a person. If I go up to a woman, and I see a wedding band on her, and start hitting on her in an attempt to get her into bed with me or into leaving her fiance or spouse, I have already committed adultery. It doesn't matter if she slaps me across the face and tells me to go away before she calls the cops - I'm already guilty of adultery.

I really encourage you to watch the three vids on the link that I provided earlier. If you can't bring yourself to do that, then at the very least watch the attached video. If you show me just a little respect by doing that, I'll give you respect. If you don't, I see no reason to respect your viewpoint and I'll see you as a religious bigot spouting the same crap that "those of old" have been spouting for generations - not knowing the real meaning of Scripture. By the way, it's entirely possible to masturbate without "lusting" over a person, if it really bothers you that much. I've masturbated before not thinking anything sexual before. I was actually thinking about numbers and algebra. Was that sinning? I don't think so.

I sent that message out on September 21st, 2013. I have yet to receive a reply.

Let me clarify something. Adultery needs to involve a married woman for it to be called adultery. And she has to be personally involved (i.e., she needs to be contacted, approached, or lured into sleeping with someone else that's she's not married to) in order for it to be considered adultery. Adultery as defined in the Bible as unlawful intercourse with another man's wife (refer to this article). It is not what we consider it to be today. Under the rules of the Old Testament, it would be impossible for a single woman to commit adultery, because she is not married to anyone. Simply seeing or thinking about a woman - even a naked woman performing sex acts - is not adultery. Masturbating while thinking of something like this is not adultery. Adultery requires planning and scheming in order to pull someone away from their spouse or fiancé.