I just wanted to know what Jesus would think of our hobby. Do you think he would approve?

Lets see there was nothing wrong with a man having as many wives and concubines as he wished, adultery was a property violation of a husbands rights over this wives and clearly nothing wrong with "common" prostitutes.

"fortification" in I Cor is a total lie of translation of the Greek Pornei
See http://www.libchrist.com/bible/fornication.html

and:
What is "sexual immorality"

There are definite biblical restrictions on sexual acts which are broader called sexual immorality (Greek "porneia"). These are:

1) Sex during women's menstruation. Lack of hygiene for nomads in the desert (lack of clean water) could lead to dangerous infections -"unclean" in ENGLISH refers to filth/dirt/etc., but in Hebrew, it refers, as validly, to RITUAL impurity it was a "sin" (spiritual impurity) to do such.

2) Adultery which biblically was understood by the Hebrews to mean wrong for a married women to have sex with another man since violated her husbands property rights. A man could marry when he was age 12. It was never understood to be wrong for a married man since his wife had no such rights. The married man could have as many wives (as long as women was at least age 13) and concubines (breeders) as he wished as long as "other women" were not married (another man's property). Certainly there is nothing wrong with by agreement between man and wife, sharing sexually with others as in polyamory or swinging since no property of cheating issue. Nothing ever was wrong with singles sexuality. "Fornication" is a total mistranslation lie of Greek "porneia"

3)Sexual Idolatry as in using the temple prostitutes for pagan fertility goddess worship. Or, doing the same with the golden calf and having sex to praise it as a god when Moses came down. Porneia as used in I Cor 6-9, falsely translated in some bibles as fornication was actually the practice of the prostitutes in the Temples of Corinth selling their services as a part of pagan fertility goddess worship which was what Paul was warning against. Not even specifically about prostitution but used as a pagan sexual goddess worship.

Corinth was one of the sex capitals of the world. Corinth was even a Metaphor for Fertility. "Corinthian girl" meant prostitute, "to play the Corinthian" meant to visit a prostitution house. (see "Things They Never Told You In Sunday School: A Primer For The Christian Homosexual" by Rev. David Day, pg. 108)

The major deites at the time was Aphrodite, goddess of fertility, and Cybele, the Mother Goddess. The worshippers of Aphrodite worked as prostitutes in the temples.... these temples held over one thousand prostitutes. The purpose of these prostitutes was to earn money for the temple and to worship Aphrodite (they used sex as worship). So over 1,000 prostitutes were cultic, and that's just from the worshippers of Aphrodite

Nothing in the bible ever said there was anything wrong with non-goddess "common" prostitution which was common and often mentioned with nothing negative about it. Tel Aviv Today is the brothel capital of the world since prostitution just isn't a biblical issue for Jews and its legal in Israel as it is in almost all the world outside the U.S.

4) Pederasty - one of the worst of all sexual sins that took various forms: The practice of pederasty falls into three distinct styles. First is the relationship between an older man and a young boy. Second is the practice of slave prostitutes. Third is that of the effeminate "call boy" or male prostitute. Other practices included a heterosexual male degrading another heterosexual male by anal intercourse after capturing them in battle. Another practice was heterosexual's using anal intercourse to drive out other heterosexual strangers they didn't like such as the case of the Sodom story. It had absolutely nothing to do with homosexuality which is simply being as God designed some people to be.

Beyond these 4 there is no biblical basis for any other definition of porneia, or sexual immorality.

Christ taught in the Sermon on the Mount that the only law is the law of love. He demonstrated this by reversing four of the OT laws which conflicted with loving people. Therefore anything that was hurtful, not by mutual consent etc. would be immoral for a Christian, but obviously not loving sexuality regardless of marital status or natural sexual orientation.

Common Prostitution Is Not A Biblical Conflict
By Dave in Phoenix

There is no biblical basis for the anti-sexual traditions taught by tradition bound Christian Churches. We have a huge section "The Bible, Christianity & Sexual Issues" at http://www.libchrist.com/bible/contents.html which goes into great depth on all the issues.

The only prostitutes condemned in the Bible are those who were priests and priestesses to other gods. Israel’s neighbors practiced a fertility religion in which prostitution was part of the worship. This led naturally to describing worship of other gods as prostitution (Ex. 34:15-16; Judg. 8:27, 33; Hos. 4:13). This concept is central for Hosea’s preaching based on his experience with his unfaithful wife Gomer. Ezekiel also used this concept (Ezek. 16; 23) and extended it to include political treaties with foreign enemies (Ezek. 16:26, 28; 23:5).

Israel’s neighbors practiced a fertility religion in which prostitution was part of the worship. This led naturally to describing worship of other gods as prostitution (Ex. 34:15-16; Judg. 8:27, 33; Hos. 4:13). This concept is central for Hosea’s preaching based on his experience with his unfaithful wife Gomer. Ezekiel also used this concept (Ezek. 16; 23) and extended it to include political treaties with foreign enemies (Ezek. 16:26, 28; 23:5).

Leviticus 18 is specifically designed to distinguish the Jews from the pagans who worshipped the multiple gods of fertility cults. It also is included with other Mosaic laws such as required killing kids who curse their parents, the death penalty for picking up sticks or doing other work on the Sabbath, and under the law, slave-beating was a protected legal right!

Leviticus 19 starts out specially about Idolatry being forbidden
Leviticus 19: 26-28 forbids eating meat, cutting your beard and have tattoos.
Than verse 29 not making daughter a harlot - again referring to idolatry of worshiping the gods of Molech via sex.

Regarding prostitution:
"Common" Prostitution Is Not A Biblical Conflict
Just like with other sexually repressive teachings of traditional Christianity much of what you think you know about biblical issues is based on traditional teachings that have no biblical basis. Just as tradition has twisted the original texts to try and argue that singles sexuality is wrong, or that swinging is adultery, they have also hijacked the real meaning of biblical prostitution and how it applies today.

Cultic Prostitution
Biblically cultic prostitution is clearly wrong. Cultic prostitution uses sex as idolatrous worship of the pagan goddess, such as the fertility Gods which the TEMPLE prostitutes had "johns" worshipping by having sex in the Corinthian temples which was what Paul so strongly preached against. Yes these prostitutes were worshipping the pagan goddesses in the Jewish Temples! Clearly we can understand why this was so upsetting! It as a clear violation of the First Commandment which requires no other gods before the one true God. In New Testament times, Venus and Aphrodite were the main gods of the Corinthian pagans. The temple of Venus was one of the most magnificent buildings in the city and the temple employed over 1000 prostitutes, which were paid for with public funds. Their purpose was to serve men in worship of the fertility gods so their feeds and cattle would be fertile. In Old Testament times, the Canaanites worshipped Baal was the Canaanite god of fertility and Astarte, love goddess of the Phoenicians. It was wrong for the children of Israel to go "a-whoring after other gods" which were these cultic prostitutes.

From "Halley's Bible Handbook" 1 Cor. 6: 9-20; "Venus was the principal Deity of Corinth. Her temple was one of the most magnificent buildings in the city. In it a thousand Priestesses, Public Prostitutes, were kept, at public expense, there always ready for Immoral Indulgence, as worship to their Goddess." The Christians continued to go to the temple for sexual indulgences with the priestesses of Venus. This was all Paul was talking about and he says nothing about loving sexual pleasure-sharing with non-goddesses'!

Greek travel-writer, Strabo (ca. 64 Bc-AD 21), regarding ancient Corinth writes: "And the temple of Aphrodite [in Corinth] was so rich that it owned more than a thousand temple-slaves, courtesans (hetairai ), whom both women and men had dedicated to the goddess. And therefore it was also on account of these women that the city was crowded with people and grew rich" (8.6.20; LCL trans.).

Non Goddess Prostitutes in the Bible
There are only a few non-cultic prostitutes mentioned in the bible. Since men could have as many wives and concubines (for breeding or just sexual enjoyment) as they could afford it may have been only the poorer men who would need prostitutes for sexual variety. They couldn't afford the "upkeep" of wives or concubines so they went to prostitutes for sexual pleasure and release.

Prostitution in Hebrew society was morally censored at times for legitimate reasons such as the knowing who would own the resulting children, with no effective birth control, but it was not illegal or a sin. Only Israelite priests were prohibited from marrying a prostitute. Listed as wrongs for which God will judge is trading "a boy for a harlot" (Joel 3:3). But being a prostitute (harlot or zonah in Hebrew) herself, if single, is guilty of no biblical crime unless she is a priest's daughter, in which case says Lev 21:9 she "profaneth her father" and "shall be burnt with fire."

Prostitution was common in biblical times. In Proverbs men are warned against squandering their money foolishly on prostitutes. But it was a money issue not morality. There was no law against prostitution for non-Hebrew women. Today prostitution flourishes in Israel and some of the world's most popular brothels are in Tel Aviv. For Hebrew women it was very important to have a husband to have children with to maintain the Hebrew people. It was never considered adultery for a man, married or single, to have sex with a prostitute, as long as she was single (not owned by another man). It was only wrong if it was for the purpose of pagan goddess worship.

Judah saw nothing wrong in hiring a prostitute for the night.

Rahab "the harlot" was praised in Hebrews 11:31 and Jos 6:17 as an example of faith. Rahab was praised because she helped Israelite spies whom she hid and helped escape but the mention of her as "the harlot" wasn't a negative reference .

In Hosea 1:3, God commanded Hosea to marry a prostitute named Gomez. In Hosea 4:15, God said he would not punish the daughters of Israel when they turned to prostitution.

In Hosea 1:3, God commanded Hosea to marry a prostitute named Gomez. In Hosea 4:15, God said he would not punish the daughters of Israel when they turned to prostitution. (Someone Commented: These passages are allegories to Gods relationships with Israel, which at the time wasn't exactly good. The Hosea 4:15 reference I believe is saying that though Israel in general is acting as a harlot, Judah (one tribe of Israel) is not. EG, all of the tribes except Judah are acting as harlots. I think some of this could possibly support the notion that there was clearly a double standard - one for men, and another for women. And it certainly seems to be stating that it's not OK for women to cheat.) And men could always cheat as long as the "other women" was not married (owned by husband).

Other prostitutes mentioned in the Old Testament were the harlot of Gaza, whom Samson visited, and two squabbling prostitutes who asked Solomon to settle a dispute. It is simply reported the fact that they were prostitutes, no big deal, nothing is ever said in condemnation of their profession.

In fact the Hebrew judge Solomon may have done more whoring than judging (Judg 16:1-4), and Jacobs son Judah, mistaking his own veiled daughter-in-law for a harlot, hired her as a prostitute (Gen 38: 13-18). The leader Gilead fathered Jephthah by a prostitute which resulted in Jephthah's half-brothers, when dividing up the inheritance, left Jephthah out (Judg 11: 1-2).

Proverbs obviously views the foreign prostitute unsympathetically (oppressor, not victim) who with superior wealth and astuteness manages to seduce simple Israelite boys and husbands. In this trajectory we may also read Paul's treatment in 1 Cor. 6:9-20, where Christian men (especially husbands, whose wives may have taken vows of sexual abstinence to pray, 7:5) are warned against uniting with prostitutes. As perhaps in Proverbs, the prostitutes apparently are viewed as manifesting the demonic forces of pagan religion (cf. 10:18-22). Christians are exhorted to "flee" both the prostitutes and their idolatrous religion (6:18; 10:14). How Jesus would have managed to become a "friend" of prostitutes by continually "fleeing" from them, traditional sex-negative Augustinian commentators never tell us.

Since wealthy men didn't need prostitutes (they had plenty of wives and concubines) prostitution was certainly not a high Noble calling. But there clearly was nothing immoral or wrong from a biblical prospective with non-goddess prostitution. Today many men have little opportunity for sexual fulfillment so prostitutes are the only viable option. Sexual frustration results in men that become aggressive and are far more likely to sexually harass, abuse or rape women than men who are sexually happy and fulfilled.

Legal Prostitution in the Bible reflects the cultures double standard that while a wife must be faithful, a Hebrew man can have sex with an unmarried prostitute, or any other single woman, and not be committing adultery. But if the woman is a wife -owned by her husband under the patriarchal system of the Hebrews - then both she and her sexual partners are adulterers, a crime for which the penalty is death (Lev 20:10; Deut. 22:22).

In New Testament times, there also was nothing said about prostitution being wrong and in fact Jesus makes the point that harlots who believed John the Baptist will enter the kingdom of God before the chief priests and elders who rejected John's message (Matt. 21:31-32).

Today prostitution is not pagan idolatry nor the concubines of biblical times - women as breeders and for sexual pleasure. And nowhere in the Bible is a word said about that being wrong!! Today many women enjoy providing intimacy and sexual pleasure to men based on their choice without being owned as concubines for men and of course always using safe sex to avoid "breeding" and so its a very healthy interaction both physically and emotionally.

Prostitution in Israel Today A June 15, 2000 review sent to me:
The best action in Israel is in Tel Aviv. There are tons of "health clubs" which provide full sex for a price going from 120 to 250 shekels for half an hour (full service) (4.2 Shekels= 1 USD). The best two I have been to are located close to each other, and are in the area of Hamasger street. These are a little more expensive, but the quality is amazing. The first one is called Promise bar (on Hamasger street) and the other one is in Shozino street (3 minutes walking from the first one) and is called Shozino bar. In these places, there is an entry fee of 50 shekels, including a drink. Then you can sit at the bar, and choose the girl you want. The price is 200 shekels for half an hour, and it includes full service, bbbj without and sometime even more. The girls are all russian or from ukraine. ALL of them I found friendly, and most of them like what they are doing. You can also stay for a longer time, the price increases and is 400 shekels for one full hour (this would include more than 1 act, of course)

As I said, there are plenty of "health clubs" but these two are the best I found (after a lot of research!!!). Enjoy it.

Adultery Is Not what you've been told it is
The issues of adultery are quite clear. For 2000 years since Moses gave the no adultery commandment, adultery was understood to only apply to married women, and never to a married man. A married man could have as many wives and concubines (single women as breeders) as he wished and this was never considered wrong. Only when the puritanically minded starting taking over Christianity and twisting the original texts did the sexually repressive teachings begin. The lie is that Christian sexuality is allowable only in marriage and only with one partner. Besides being very much against the nature of human kind it just has no biblical basis. More and more theologians are exposing the lies that preach repressive sexuality. More and more Christians are finding more Christlike love in loving more than just their husband or partner. And many are fleeing Christianity for other eastern religions that so wonderfully integrate sexuality with spirituality. Biblical Christianity could do the same, except for the lies of Church traditions that have tried to control people by repressing their natural wholesome sexual desires.

Other Resources:
Countryman, L. William (1988). Dirt, Greed, and Sex Sexual Ethics in the New Testament and their Implications for Today. Philadelphia: Fortress.

Ortlund Jr., Raymond C. (1996). Whoredom: God's Unfaithful Wife in Biblical Theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Toorn, Karel Van Der (1989). "Female Prostitution in Payment of Vows in Ancient Israel." JBL 108/2:193-205.

Sexwork even allowed in very strict religions such as Islam in Iran.
Prostitution is a very serious crime in Islamic countries. You can be killed or lose body parts if convicted. BUT For Muslims you marry by reciting certain words. Marriage can be for any length from 1 minute to 99 years. I have heard of sexworkers with a Muslim client who recites the marriage vows with the time limit, so he feels no guilt since he is married to the sexworker for the time they are having sex. For many Muslims this makes the "arrangement" perfectly legal and is acceptable by the society since you are married! And of course you can be married to many women at the same time. Muhammad is said to have had between 9 and 14 wives, the exact number is not clear.

TEMPORARY MARRIAGE IN ISLAM - It is called "sigheh" and may be arranged for one minute up to 99 years in an official registry. Periods of temp marriage may be renewed or cancelled when time is up. Mohammed, it is said, recommended it to his soldiers and friends. The practice in contemporary Iran is, however, a religious loophole to allow dating and premarital sex without harsh repressive measures. It is also controversial and condemned by many people, since brides must be virgins. President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is said to have urged the practice in 1990. And it is apparently a common practice of clerics in the Islamic Republic. The open discussion of temp marriage is causing all kinds of social upheaval there. Source: NY Times 10/4/2000

Thanks, Dave. You have opened my eyes to a different perspective on the Bible. Have you ever though of forming your own Church?

I have no time nor interest in forming a Church - just help those with guilt issues regarding sexuality via htttp://www.libchrist.com which after 15 yrs still averages about 4000 different visitors a day.

Would you forgive Peter for gis past transgressions if he came and apologized to you?

His issue isn't with me - its all the women he abused by his lies, deceptions, attacks, the agency owners he hurt and stalked, and the boards that had to deal with him and try and keep him banned when he kept hiding behind different names and IP's.

Anyone can change but we certainly hope the Peter we knew is gone for good.

hmmm.

I guess you're not a believer in "love thy enemy".