Dr Paul Allen

The essential argument of GodHatesShrimp.com is that we should not condemn homosexuality as a sin based on the Old Testament because the Old Testament also refers to eating certain kinds of seafood (including shrimp) as an abomination, yet Christians do not have any problem with eating shrimp or any of the other forbidden foods. Does the “God hate shrimp” argument have any validity? Yes and no. The argument:  If God prohibits homosexuality, based on the Old Testament Law, then God equally hates those who eat shrimp. The Bible nowhere says that God hates homosexuals, however. There are lists of things that God hates in the Old Testament (Proverbs 6:16–19), and homosexuality does not make the list. Yes, homosexuality is a sin, and yes, God hates sin . But again, the Bible nowhere says that God hates homosexuals, or that homosexuality is any more difficult for God to forgive. Back to the “God hates shrimp” argument—is it valid? Yes and no.  First, a Christian s...

You’ve been there. You start the new year with the lofty goal of reading through the entire Bible before the next new year and…you run into Leviticus. Then your wonderful plans get derailed because…well because reading chapter after chapter of the Old Testament Law seems—if you’re being honest—boring and irrelevant. Yet these laws are in our Bibles. That means they are God’s holy, inspired words. So what do we do with the Old Testament Law? On top of this question, there’s another complication. It seems to be fairly common these days for people to point to the laws God gave Israel in order to discredit Christianity. Here is one such accusation: Murray McCoy I am pretty confident every Christian pick and chooses which scriptures they choose to follow and ignore. The same Leviticus that condemns homosexuals also says Christians can't eat prawns nor can they touch or eat pork. Pretty sure I've had hot dogs at every church fundraiser with pork, as a kid. The difference...