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[Tweed of Wills]

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.

Obesity affects society and the health care system. Nearly 1 in 5 deaths in the US is associated with obesity. Great numbers of Christians are able to rally against homosexual rights and other cherry-picked issues, yet this quite obvious scripture gets no attention. Is this hypocritical?

(side note. I am talking about obesity related to health and poor diet [personal choices] not people with rare conditions.)

[jimwalton]

We know that some sins are greater or lesser than other sins (Jn. 19.11 et al.), but we're never given the list that ranks them. We reason and intuit which we think may be worse than others, but it's all guesswork. You can't say with the certainty you have expressed that Obesity is equal with Suicide.

In 1 Cor. 3.16-17, Paul is responding to divisions in the church. Their factional bickering and personality preferences are destroying the community. His reference point is not each individual, but that *together* (corporately) they are the dwelling place of God, His temple, and therefore need to figure out how to get along better.

Gluttony in the Bible is perceived as irresponsible, uncontrolled, and dishonorable (Dt. 21.20; Prov. 23.2, 21; 28.7; Mt. 11.19; and Titus 1.12), but I think you're off the mark to claim it's as equal a sin as suicide.

[Tweed of Wills]

You didn't really. If you choose to stuff your face until you die, you can look at it any way you want, it's akin to suicide.

[jimwalton]

I agree with that, but that's not at all what you said or asked. You were saying obesity (gluttony) was "as equal a sin as suicide." That's a complete different issue. Of course people who are gluttons to the point of obesity (talking about obesity related to health and poor diet [personal choices] not people with rare conditions) are indulging in self-destructive behavior. No argument there. But you were asking if it was as equal a sin, which I showed you clearly it is not.

[Tweed of Wills]

James 2:10 - For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one [point], he is guilty of all.

1 John 3:15 - Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

[jimwalton]

Of course those things are true. Sin is still sin, and sin brings guilt, but some sins are worse than others. For instance, in international espionage, leaking classified information is the crime. That's where guilt is established. After that, the court weighs the nature and quantity of the leaked to determine the punishment.

These verses don't make any point that gluttony is equal a sin to suicide.

[Tweed of Wills]

ok but if sin is sin, and all sin is punishable by death, it seems deceptive to say 'buuuttttt this one over here is worse' - there's no 'worse' death punishment. they're all punishable by death

[jimwalton]

Death in the Bible is not a judgment (punishment) but a "wage" (Romans 6.23). Death is more alienation from God than it is the cessation of life (technically there is no cessation of life). It is earned recompense. N.T. Wright says, "Death is the denial of God's created order."

In Genesis 2, death was not a judgment but the declared and forewarned eventual outcome of their decision and behavior. They will be forbidden to have access to the Tree of Life. Death is a break of fellowship with God.

Physical death is the fate of all of us, whether believers or unbelievers. Spiritual life after death awaits believers; spiritual death after death awaits unbelievers. It's true that all sins lead to death (the consequence of alienation from God), but there are degrees of punishment inside that state, so there are degrees of "sin-ness," as Jesus himself said in John 19.11. But it could be argued that gluttony is never even called a sin in the Bible, because it isn't called that. It's foolish and self-destructive, but it is never called a sin, whereas murder, anger, and hate are.

[Tweed of Wills]

are you saying suicide is not a sin? seems like a lot of mental gymnastics here to justify people stuffing their faces to the point of hindering their health and leading to death. Even if they don't die, gluttony is still the sin, and all sins are punishable by death

[jimwalton]

No, I am not saying that suicide is not a sin. Suicide is killing, and therefore murder, and so is a sin.

You say gluttony is a sin. Please lead me to the Bible verse that says that.