Is it possible that the biblical texts were ignorant about homosexual orientation and were thus prohibiting only “unnatural” homosexual practice by participants of heterosexual orientation? This would suggest that the practicing homosexuals in the Bible were involved in homosexuality against their natural inclinations. Yet the nature of sin is that people sin because they want to sin (James 1:13-15). It comes from our desires. No one is dragged into sin kicking and screaming. Homosexuality existed in biblical times because people enjoyed it; they were drawn to it by their own hearts (Mark 7:21-23). An artificial distinction between (sinful) homosexual practice and (justifiable) homosexual orientation contradicts the Scripture’s constant connection of desire, orientation and deed. If the deed was prohibited in Scripture, the desire was too.
Edward Welch

Americans Claim Noahs Ark Disc

Americans Claim Noahs Ark Disc

APn 09/21/89 2102 American’s Claim Noah’s Ark Discovery ARK0921.NWS

Copyright, 1989. The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Two Americans claimed Thursday to have discovered Noah’s ark on the southwest side of Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey while flying over it by helicopter.

Chuck Aaron, the pilot, said a square boat shape was spotted 14,500 feet up on the mountain in a place usually covered by a glacier. He said the area was exposed this summer because of high temperatures in the region near the Soviet border.

“We are 100 percent sure this is the ark,” Aaron, of Orlando, Fla., said in a telephone interview.

There have been various claims of the discovery of the ark since Turkey lifted a ban on climbing the mountain in 1982.

Many Christian fundamentalists, who interpret the Bible literally, believe the ark must be on Mount Ararat. The biblical account in the Book of Genesis said that after the great deluge, the ark came to rest on the mountain with Noah’s family and a cargo of male and female pairs of every kind of animal.

But geologists say even though there is evidence of a flood in Mesopotamia in Sumerian times, they maintain it is not possible for a ship to make landfall at an altitude as high as Mount Ararat.

Aaron said he and his partner, Bob Garbe, discovered and photographed the object they believe is the ark during a Sept. 15 flight.

He said he and Garbe, a pharmacist in Colombus, Ohio, have made five flights in the last three years in search of the ark on the 16,000-foot-high mountain.

He said the glacier on the mountain only melts enough to expose the boat every 20 or 30 years.

Aaron and Garbe belong to the Orlando-based Immanuel Expeditions Foundation. Aaron said they used donations and $60,000 of their own funds to finance the expedition.

He said they plan to return next year for a June climb to the spot with a team of 20 that will include geologists and archeologists.

Aaron said they based their search on information provided by an American pilot, Ed Davis of Albuquerque, N.M., who said he saw the same boat shape at the same spot during a flight in 1943, and on other reported sightings.

### END ###