So Many Of The Old Testament Laws . . .

[Ice_nine]

seem so absurd. I can't wrap my head around why God commanded people not to wear mixed fibers or touch women who happened to be menstruating. I don't get it. It all seems very arbitrary and meaningless. Sure we don't follow these ritual laws now, but why? Maybe this is Catholicism 101 stuff but I've just never gotten it.

[Jaime]

Have you ever WORN mixed fibers? They chafe like you wouldn't believe man!!!


Ok seriously

Most of the OT laws that you are probably referring to come from the book of Levitcus. The book of Leviticus had a very specific purpose that was obvious at the time but not readily known today. In OT time, while the Israelites were starting to figure out what it meant to be a Jew, there was an older and very popular pagan religion called the Canaanites. This was a very popular religion that required a lot of rituals (many of them sexual ) to manipulate the canaanite gods to do people's bidding. Canaanites had sacred prostitutes that one would pay and then perform these rituals with them for better crops, curses on your neighbor, get your goat pregnant, etc.

The Book of Leviticus is made up of a lot of rules that directly counteract pagan rituals created by the canaanites. Sleeping with a sacred prostitute while she was menstruating was an example of one of these rituals. So while we may ignore the details of the laws of Leviticus, we still honor the intent. We do not believe that we can control or manipulate God and we do not try to do so. We are in servitude to him.