May 20, 2002

Dear Sophie,

You asked me if I thought oral sex is a sin and are there any Bible references forbidding it.

No where can I find that the Bible actually forbids or discusses oral sex. There is no biblical evidence that it is a sin against God for a husband and wife to express love for each other in this way. Even the book of Leviticus, which mentions many Old Testament sex-related prohibitions and rules for the Israelites, never mentions it.

From a legal point of view, however, oral sex is often considered sodomy, thereby permitting prosecution of the "male-to-male thing" in public places (per our SkFriends legal advisor and scholar Charles Hahn, Esq.)

So, if the Bible says sodomy is a sin, there is an argument amongst some religious scholars that it too prevents oral sex, a deductive conclusion, albeit not specific.

Since I don't want to pretend to be a legal or biblical scholar, there's not much more I can discuss on sodomy and oral sex for now. You know how I feel about it!

Regards,

The Street Doctor

P.S. Here are the Bible references on sodomy I could find:

Source: http://bible.christiansunite.com/Naves_Topical_Bible/ntb4636.shtml

Genesis 19, verses 5 - 8
   5: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
   6: And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
   7: And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.
   8: Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
 

Exodus 22, verse 19
   19: Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.
 

Leviticus 18, verses 22 , 23
   22: Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
   23: Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.
 

Leviticus 20, verse 13
   13: If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
 

Leviticus 20, verses 15 , 16
   15: And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.
   16: And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
 

Deuteronomy 23, verse 17
   17: There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.
 

Deuteronomy 27, verse 21
   21: Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, Amen.
 

Judges 19, verse 22
   22: Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him.
 

1 Kings 14, verse 24
   24: And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
 

1 Kings 15, verse 12
   12: And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
 

1 Kings 22, verse 46
   46: And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land.
 

2 Kings 23, verse 7
   7: And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
 

Romans 1, verse 24
   24: Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
 

Romans 1, verses 26 , 27
   26: For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
   27: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
 

1 Corinthians 6, verse 9
   9: Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
 

1 Timothy 1, verses 9 , 10
   9: Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
   10: For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;

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Thanks for sending me this, and although I have read it twice, I must be overlooking the part where oral sex is yukkie and you shouldn't do it.  I just see references about when a woman has her period, or if either the man or woman has some disgusting discharge, that they are unclean. 

 

Could you show me the specific passages regarding oral sex?

 

Thanks.

 

If this subject is too difficult for you to discuss, I'll understand if you would rather not continue this discussion. 

 

This is not for the website, please.  Not in this format.  I'll rewrite perhaps. 
 

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Source:

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Letter to Dr. Laura about Leviticus

See also: The Bible may not be "literally" true say Jewish Conservatives

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate.

Leviticus 18 *
²²You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the other specific laws and how to follow them.

01. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord. (Lev. 1:9) The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

Leviticus 1 *
⁹but he shall wash its entrails and its legs with water. And the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.

02. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

Exodus 21 *
⁷"And if a man sells his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.

03. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual cleanliness. (Lev. 15:19-33) The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

Leviticus 15 *
¹⁹"If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be set apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. ²⁰Everything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean; also everything that she sits on shall be unclean. ²¹Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ²²And whoever touches anything that she sat on shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ²³If anything is on her bed or on anything on which she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening. ²⁴And if any man lies with her at all, so that her impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.
²⁵"If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, other than at the time of her customary impurity, or if it runs beyond her usual time of impurity, all the days of her unclean discharge shall be as the days of her customary impurity. She shall be unclean. ²⁶Every bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her impurity; and whatever she sits on shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her impurity. ²⁷Whoever touches those things shall be unclean; he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
²⁸"But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. ²⁹And on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. ³⁰Then the priest shall offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for her before the LORD for the discharge of her uncleanness.
³¹"Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness when they defile My tabernacle that is among them. ³²This is the law for one who has a discharge, and for him who emits semen and is unclean thereby, ³³and for her who is indisposed because of her customary impurity, and for one who has a discharge, either man or woman, and for him who lies with her who is unclean."'

04. Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

Leviticus 25 *
⁴⁴And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have--from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves.

05. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

Exodus 35 *
²Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.

06. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev. 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?

Leviticus 11 *
¹⁰But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which is in the water, they are an abomination to you.

07. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

Leviticus 21 *
²⁰or is a hunchback or a dwarf, or a man who has a defect in his eye, or eczema or scab, or is a eunuch.

08. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

Leviticus 19 *
²⁷You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard.

09. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

Leviticus 11 *
⁶the hare, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you; ⁷and the swine, though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. ⁸Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. They are unclean to you.

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev. 24:10-16) Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

Leviticus 19 *
¹⁹"You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.

Leviticus 24 *
The Penalty for Blasphemy
¹⁰ Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and this Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel fought each other in the camp. ¹¹And the Israelite woman's son blasphemed the name of the LORD and cursed; and so they brought him to Moses. (His mother's name was Shelomith the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) ¹²Then they put him in custody, that the mind of the LORD might be shown to them.
¹³And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁴"Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
¹⁵"Then you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: "Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. ¹⁶And whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the LORD, he shall be put to death.

Leviticus 20 *
¹⁴If a man marries a woman and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you.

I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Jack Ballinger

Source:  http://skfriends.com/02.htm#03

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