My good friend other Dave over at the Grace Pages just put forth a comedy masterpiece that has been much referenced already. Dave's post is about, um, (and I quote) "the sordid habit of cerebral onanism". Now it's a great post, but with this quote Dave perpetuates one of the most heinous mischaracterizations in the history of Biblical interpretation. That poor guy Onan has been wrongfully labeled the Patron Saint of Masturbation thanks to centuries of willful misrepresentation by the Roman Catholic church (and later, many others). But let's check the actual text, shall we?
Genesis 38:6-10 (NIV)
6 Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the LORD's sight; so the LORD put him to death.
8 Then Judah said to Onan, "Lie with your brother's wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother." 9 But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother's wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. 10 What he did was wicked in the LORD's sight; so he put him to death also.
It seems to me that it's pretty clear that Onan's infamous act was actually practicing the ancient contraceptive art of withdrawal (punishable by death, naturally). This was also the story that inspired the wonderful opening number to Monty Python's Meaning of Life.
There's a serious point here too (no, really). If this particular, quite clear, piece of scripture has been so blatantly misinterpreted for centuries, why is it so far fetched to believe that there are many other more subtle misinterpretations?
Oh, and where are all the biblical literalists when their widowed sisters-in-law need more kids, hmm?
