Adultery is the title of the eleventh episode from season one of Way of the Master.
Episode Walkthrough[]
(00:32 - 5:50)
Program takes place with Kirk and Ray sitting in chairs at a restaurant. In Ray's hand he holds a copy of the Evidence Bible.
You can see an review/critique of the Evidence Bible here on RationalWiki.
- Kirk begins by explaining the show is called Way of the Master because they want to preach the gospel the way Jesus did, and Christians have something more valuable than a cure for cancer. This program is to show Christians how to reach out to friends and loved ones so they are prepared and not seem foolish.
- Ray shares how Jesus spread the gospel to Nicodemus in John 1 and John 3, and the gospel is open to the humble with ears willing to listen. And to do that, they must use the Law, the Ten Commandments.
- Kirk shares some hardships he encountered when telling people they need Jesus and why he died on the cross for them, they sometimes say "Hey keep it to yourself. I'm glad you found something that works for you, but keep me out of it. I'm happy and I do not need Jesus." Kirk says you do not want to appear as a salesman pushing your product onto people, but Christians continue to share their faith because they "know" people will perish without Jesus. Kirk instructs that Christians should explain why they need Jesus and they will listen.
Why should we listen to a fictional character who is the product of myth and legend? There is no evidence for a historical Jesus, and the Bible teaches that humans have no intrinsic right to fairness or respect. Search the bible all you wish, but nowhere does it state that every human being possesses an inherent right to be treated with respect or fairness. They Bible does not teach that we deserve respect; we deserve damnation because we are intrinsically evil.
- Ray quotes Martin Luther on what other Christians taught about the Law in his day;
"Satan, the god of all dissension, stirrith up daily sects, and last which of all other I should never have foreseen or once suspected, he has raised up a sect as teach... that men should not be terrified by the law, but gently exhorted by the grace of Christ."
- Ray says basically there was a sect of Christians in Luther's time that was preaching that people should not be terrified by the Law, which Ray says sums up most of modern evangelism.
Do you know what else Martin Luther said? "Reason is the greatest enemy that faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but -- more frequently than not -- struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God."
"Reason should be destroyed in all Christians.” Ray comfort and Kirk Cameron seem o follow this one to a T, which is the main thing they are trying to accomplish with this program.
"Whoever wants to be a Christian should tear the eyes out of his Reason."
"Reason is the Devil's greatest whore; by nature and manner of being she is a noxious whore; she is a prostitute, the Devil's appointed whore; whore eaten by scab and leprosy who ought to be trodden under foot and destroyed, she and her wisdom ... Throw dung in her face to make her ugly. She is and she ought to be drowned in baptism... She would deserve, the wretch, to be banished to the filthiest place in the house, to the closets."
[Martin Luther, Erlangen Edition v. 16, pp. 142-148]
"There is on earth among all dangers no more dangerous thing than a richly endowed and adroit reason...Reason must be deluded, blinded, and destroyed."
[Martin Luther, quoted by Walter Kaufmann, _The Faith of a Heretic_, (Garden city, NY, Doubleday, 1963), p. 75]
“Faith must trample underfoot all reason, sense, and understanding, and whatever it sees must be put out of sight and ... know nothing but the word of God.”
This is where we discover Martin Luther knew the enemy of faith was reason, we see it still today. People of reason tend to be scientist, logical thinkers, and rational people. People of faith tend to submit their minds and hearts to a supernatural being that they believe exists.
"The word and works of God is quite clear, that women were made either to be wives or prostitutes."
[Martin Luther, Works 12.94]
"The Jews are the most miserable people on earth. They are plagued everywhere, and scattered about all countries, having no certain resting place. They sit as on a wheelbarrow, without a country, people or government... but they are rightly served, for seeing they refused have Christ and his gospel, instead of freedom they must have servitude."
"Either God must be unjust, or you, Jews, wicked and ungodly. You have been, about fifteen hundred years, a race rejected of God."
"Therefore the blind Jews are truly stupid fools..."
[Martin Luther, "On the Jews and Their Lies", 1543]
"We are at fault for not slaying them [the Jews]"
[Martin Luther, "On the Jews and Their Lies"]
- Kirk says Jesus used the Law like a mirror to show us how filthy we are in sin and in need of cleansing. In this program, they examine the seventh commandment "Thou Shall Not Commit Adultery." Most people are not worried about this one because they are not married or are loyal to their spouses. However, jesus explained the "details" of that law.
- Ray says Jesus was prophesied to magnify the law and make it "honorable." The religious leaders of the day said the law says all God requires is outward piety, but Jesus said God demands truth in inner parts. Ray retells the night of his conversion, when he reexamined the law, he thought he was okay with the seventh Commandment. However, Jesus said if a man should look upon a woman with lust, he has committed adultery within his heart. Ray knew he violated the law.
Where is this prophecy? how can you tell what the religious leaders of the day taught? In Jesus' time the Jews taught inner sacrifice and redemption while they were forbidden to make sacrifices at the Temple. However, the Jews believed God loves study of the Torah much more than burnt offerings (proverbs 2:5)
- Kirk clarifies that they are not saying that we are forbidden to simply look at someone of the other sex, there is a difference between looking and lusting. Kirk says your conscience knows the difference. Kirk describes lust as pornography in the mind, or as the Bible says "adultery in the heart."
As many psychiatrists will tell you, most of our emotions (including lusting) is involuntary and cannot be controlled,so to conemn tem as wrong and sinful causes unnecessary guilt and psychological harm. Jesus' teaching would result in the repression of feelings that we must be in contact with for reasons of our psychological health.
Street interview[]
(6:05 - 11:50)
Ray interviews a man named Scott, an atheist, pulled from the street. Ray asks if the building near there had a builder, Scott said yes because he actually knew the builder. Ray ignored that and he told Scott he knew a building had a builder, Scott must know creation requires a creator. Before Scott could counter that fallacy, Ray tells Scott he has a conscience planted in him by God. Scott says just because he does not know the answer does not mean "God did it" (known as the argument from ignorance). Ignoring that, Ray then takes Scott on the are you a good person? routine. Scott laughs that the idea that he will go to Hell, Ray does not find it funny. Ray says if you laugh at a Judge who finds you guilty and sentenced to the electric chair, laughing at the electric chair does not make it disappear or change reality. Scott says if there is a Heaven or Hell, and the only way to get into Heaven is not by being a good person or judge them according to how good they lived, rather he must live by someone else's rules that is a form of dictatorship and tyranny and Scott would prefer not to be with them anyway. Ray says he is not a good person, because he is a lying, thief and an adulterer at heart. Scott says how do you define "good." Ray says good is keeping the Ten Commandments. Scott says he never once intended to be harmful, but Ray asks Scott if he knew that whenever he lies he is sinning against God? Ray asks Scott if he likes pornography. Scott says yes, then Ray asks if pornography is right or wrong. Scott answered it depends, a picture of a naked women as in art hurts no one, but if a woman wants to appear naked it is her choice and if she likes it Scott does not consider it wrong. Ray then asks is child pornography wrong, Scott says yes because the kid is too young to understand what they are doing. Ray then asks when does moral pornography become immoral pornography? Scott says it depends, the law says age 18 is okay, but Scott says he knows some dumb girls and he thinks the bar should be raised to their twenties.
How hypocritical of Ray to say that simply not believing in something means it does not change reality, while he ignores and denies the truth that his beliefs of hell does not change reality one bit to suit his fantasies. Ray can deny the reality of evolution, but it will not change a thing.
How can Scott know he is sinning against something that does not exist?
Lesson[]
(11:51 - 13:01)
- Ray says there are people out there who say there is nothing wrong with pornography, but is there something wrong with child pornography? When people say it is wrong, Ray says they have a moral line they draw. They say this is right and this is wrong. Well, Ray asks when does moral pornography become immoral pornography? When asked what is the right age, 13? 14? 17? Ray says they say yes at 17, then Ray points out that lust has clouded their moral compass. Ray says anyone who looks at a woman with lust has committed adultery in his heart. People say that pornography does not hurt anybody, Ray says true but the Bible says all sin is against God. Then Ray moves on to several stories in the Bible, such as Joseph who was tempted by sex by refused because he would sin against God. David committed adultery with Bathsheba, and David prayed to God for forgiveness. Finally, the Prodigal son spent all his money on goods and prostitutes, then repented to God saying he had sinned against him. Ray concludes sin is primarily against God.
When does moral pornography become immoral pornography? The man in the interview did not say 17 was fine, but things are not black and white Ray. When is moral killing become immoral? Many of us do not give killing animals a second thought, but when it comes to killing other humans we deem it wrong? So when does moral killing become immoral killing? Can you kill something as long as it's not human? What about driving. Is it moral to let a normal responsible person drive but if you let a small child drive does that mean driving overall becomes immoral?
Ray's stories do not have a leg to stand on. As for the Prodigal son, the issue was spending money on prostitutes, not pornography. God commanded the son of David, Absalom, to have sex with David's concubines for all Israel to see in 2 Samuel 16:22, so God himself is clearly not against pornography.
Second Street interview[]
(13:02 - 14:57)
Skip to an interview with a man on the street, most likely started in the mid-conversation after the are you a good person? routine. The man starts off by saying he has lied, lusted, etc. because he is human, and the God he was taught is forgiving and merciful. The man says God made him the way he is, he says lust is an animal instinct, but he is not going around stealing and lying. He says he is not a bad person, but Ray says what really matters is what God considers a good person to be. Ray says Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins so all the man has to do it repent and be saved. Ray says God is just and perfect.
Ray had nothing to comment of the part when the man said he is just human and lusting is a natural human and animal instinct. He is correct. Ray denies that we are animals.
Lesson 2[]
(14:58 - 15:10)
Ray and Kirk sitting on chairs in a restaurant.
- Kirk says the reason why thinks most people who have a problem saying Jesus said that lust is the same as adultery is because they know they are guilty.
Or it is because Jesus is commanding that we repress ourselves and deny a basic human instinct we have no control over. This is another example of Christianity simply trying to snare everyone into guilt so they can later comfort them with a false promise of salvation.
(15:11 - 15:46)
- Ray retells a time when he was on the street and overheard the conversation between Ray and the interviewee and shouted "I Love Sex!" Ray said "duh! Who doesn't love sex? Sex is a gift given by God for procreation and enjoyment. But God says to confine sex in the bounds of marriage not the lady down the street." Ray says it is much more enjoyable to have sex in marriage and never risk the chance of catching or spreading sexually transmitted diseases. Ray says God said if you get out of it, you have sinned against God.
Sex is not a gift from God. If it were a gift, why would he make it a sin? Why would he create children capable of reproducing around ages 13? Why did he create men with organs that he would later demand to have them cut off the skin at the end? If God only favored sex inside of marriage, then Ray has a lot of explaining to do with all the stories of mass orgies, sex with concubines or relatives all throughout the Old Testament.
(15:47 - 16:18)
- Kirk says "People like to think because something brings us pleasure, it must be good. Kinda like the song that says 'It can't be wrong because it feels so right.' well the truth is, that is just not the way that it is, I mean some people go and rob a bank and feel great going in there with guns ablazin' come out with millions of dollars feeling strong and powerful like they are a hero. But that does not make it right. So pleasure is not a good criteria for whether something is right in the eye's of God."
The reason why we do deem bank robbery as unlawful is because it brings more harm then pleasure. As civil creatures, we try to balance or minimize harm. If we find pleasure in eating, we are free to eat more than necessary. If Kirk and Ray take pleasure in constantly lying, they are free to at their own risk because once they are exposed as liars (and they already have countless times) then people will realize the kind of people they really are.
(16:19 - 16:30)
- Ray says that lust gives a man pleasure. Pleasure is his darling sin and he will not let it go.
Only in Ray's fantasy is pleasure harmful. Not once in any part of this program, or any other program, does he prove sin or establish the proof for it.
(16:31 - 17:07)
Scene switches to Kirk standing on a mountain top.
- Kirk uses an analogy of a kid holding a lit stick of dynamite. The kid is fascinated by the sparkling fuse, but he does not know that he is in danger. Kirk says that dynamite is sin and people hold onto it tight because it gives them pleasure. You should tell the kid the danger they are in and they will throw the dynamite far away from themselves. Kirk says that is what Christian must do, warn people of their danger so they will through the dynamite away from them as far as possible.
It is really easy to create an analogy such as this to fit your agenda and appeal to emotion to the audience to make your point, but that odes not make it true one bit.
(17:08 - 17:15)
Scene switches back to restaurant with the due sitting on chairs.
- Kirk says "Lust when it is conceived brings forth sin, and sin when it is finished brings forth death."
Death existed long before "sin." Kirk and Ray believe we are in a fallen stage of the earth and there was no suffering or death before the Fall. if that is so, then why were humans first created with an immune system. An immune system testifies that external harmful forces did exist before the Fall. God even gave permission to Adam and Eve to eat from the trees, and in Genesis 1 he says they may eat from them like they would eat meat. You can only obtain meat from a dead animal, which means death did exist long before the Fall. Even if Adam and Eve did not eat meat, the simple fact that eating fruit from any of the trees is an act of eating a cellular organism and digesting it -meaning you killed a living organism. No matter how you look at it, death is a natural part of life and there was no "sin" that caused it. What Kirk and Ray are spewing throughout on this program, and off it, is nonsense. Sin did not cause death, sin does not even exist like their God and Hell.
(17:16 - 17:38)
- Ray "That is why we must used Bible verses the ones Jesus gave. Obviously in reference to sexual sin, if you look at a woman with lust you have committed adultery in your heart, he said "if your eye offends you, pluck it out and cast it from you. For it is better to enter Heaven without an eye then to go to Hell with both your eyes." In other words, if your eyes cause you to sin by looking at lustful things, it would be better to be blind then to end up in Hell with both your eyes."
{{Comment-box1|label=Comment:|text=Pluck out your eye? Jesus, showing his pro-life sensibilities, encourages castration: "There be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." Many devout Christians have taken this literally, such as Origen and entire monastic orders. Jesus gave no indication that he was speaking in a parable. Castration keeps babies from being born just as effectively as abortion. Jesus also said if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. Again, several devout followers of Christ did just this. So Ray, should we pluck out our eyes literally? Ray may say of course not, then he admits that we can take the Bible metaphorically and not literally.
(17:39 - 18:31)
- Kirk shares what strikes him about the modern ways we are taught to share our faith. Regarding the little kid with the stick of dynamite, can you imagine if someone instead of telling them the consequences of the danger they are in, a person walks up to the kid asking if the kid would rather have a pop-sickle in hope that he will give up the dynamite. Kirk says that does not work, instead the kid finds the dynamite more attractive. Instead we should tell the kid the consequences of the dynamite, then he will throw it away and run. Kirk says if people are told about the dangers of their sin, they will throw it away and run toward God.
(18:32 - 18:47)
- Ray jumping onto the kid with the dynamite analogy if that people take the pop-sickle, but they also hold onto the stick of dynamite because they have not found a biblical sense of repentance.
(18:48 - 19:10)
- Kirk "And that brings us back the Bible verse when Jesus said "Many will say to me on that day Lord, Lord" and he said "I will say to them depart from me because I never knew you" Why? Because you are a worker of iniquity. And so we need to talk to people about the consequences of their sin, it is the only way to turn from it. The Bible says that "it is through the fear of the Lord that a man departs from sin."
Questions and Objections[]
(19:29 - 20:24)
Scene takes place with Ray sticking his head out a third-story window (estimate).
- Ray "Some times when you take someone through the Ten Commandments and speak of the reality of Judgment Day and Hell, they will say it doesn't really concern me that I am going to Hell. A good analogy to use is the human eye. Say to them would they sell their eye for a million dollars? Some people would say yeah, I wouldn't mind. They could get a glass one to replace it. Then ask them if they would sell both for fifty million dollars? Nobody in his right mind would, our eyes are precious to us. We would not sell them for a hundred million dollars. The eyes are "windows" for our soul/ This soul, this life looks out the windows of our eyes. Jesus said whether we despise the value of our eye compared to the value of our soul, he said "if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you for it is better to go to Heaven without an eye than to go to Hell with both your eyes." In other words, of all the things we should prioritize in this life is not our eyes or Hell, but the eternal salvation of out souls.
There is no "reality" of Hell, only in Ray's imagination. Would someone sell both their eyes? What if they were born blind or have damaged eyes. Would the new eyes grant us night vision or ocular vision? Does the new eye have a blind spot like ours? Some people would probably take the offer.
(20:25 - 21:08)
Scene switches back to Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort sitting in the restaurant.
- Ray "We are talking about the God who created the universe, the god who spoke the sun into existence. This spirit fits into the volume of the sun a million times. When that sun sends its rays 93 million miles to this earth, those rays do not bend one inch, they travel in a straight line. That is a law that God has created, same with gravity. If you violate the law of gravity, you suffer the consequences. Or violate the law of electricity, you suffer the consequences. And when God gave us Law, God's law is absolute and God is not going to bend his law for your Day of Judgment. He is not going to compromise. So what you must do is change, get right with god, turn from your sins and trust the Savior for he will shelter you from the wrath that is to come."
"Spoke the Sun into existence." So Ray admits God "spoke" the sun and everything into existence in the form of an incantation, or by definition MAGIC! That's right, Ray, Kirk, and their ilk defend the idea that everything is the result of a magic man. Similar to the wild stories conjured up by children or the simple minded. How do you "violate" the law of electricity or gravity. To be more accurate, they are not laws but "theories." Jumping off a building and falling toward earth does not violate the law of gravity, in fact it obeys it. Receiving shock from electricity does not violate it, it obeys it. So clearly, Ray does not know a thing of what he is talking about, which is not surprising since this is all coming from a proud scientific-illiterate clown.
(21:08 - 21:57)
- Kirk "You know, its a uncomfortable thought I think for many Christians to think that God is unbending or unchanging, it seems to conjure up the idea that he is being cruel and harsh. But the truth is, like you said, the law of electricity we do not run around saying we hate the law of electricity, although we know if we stick our finger in a light socket, we'll fry. We do not hate the law of gravity, even though we know if we jump of a building is not going to soften its principles when we hit the ground, we're going to perish. We respect it and we fear it and we let it work for our good, the same way if we respect and honor the Lord and his laws and have a healthy fear of God work for our good that has us turn from our sin and realize the incredible mercy and grace God has extended to us, to save us from Hell."
(22:58 - 22:34)
- Ray "You know Kirk, in a sense I sympathize or empathize with non-Christians or the people watching who do not share our faith, if I was listening to this program I would be thinking "Boy lust has such a grip on me, I cannot look this way or that way without lusting." The Bible says that God will make you a new person with new desires, and that is the miracle of the new birth. It is not called born-again for the word's sake. We truly are born again, God makes us new creatures, the Bible says "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.""
(22:35 - 23:31)
- Kirk "And that is exactly what has happened with me, or with anyone else who has obeyed the gospel. Those who turn from their sin had put their faith in Jesus Christ to save them. God warns that "he who covers his sins shall not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them shall find mercy." So that is what we need to tell people to do, to confess and forsake their sins. So in summary, the seventh Commandment is one we should not choose to shrink back from using, but to bring it back to people and show them that if they have lusted in their heart, that is adultery in the eyes of the Lord. This is what Jesus did, this is not a method we have come up with on our own, Jesus used the Commandments to bring the knowledge of sin and clear the way for grace. That is why we call this show the Way of the Master."
Ending interview[]
(23:32 - 27:47)
- Ray interviews three men in Huntington Beach, Los Angeles. He first asks them what do they love most in life, they ll answer "life." When asked what is the second thing they love the most, they answer "women." Ray then takes them down the old are you a good person? routine. When asked if they would go to Hell, one of them says he does not believe in Hell. Ray says if he walks down the freeway and not believes in trucks, it will not change reality. The man says trucks are rel things, you can observe them, but he cannot observe Hell. Most people say Hell is in the center of the earth, but he thinks its just magma and rocks. Ray says there is a place called hell and that is where God sends sinners on Judgment Day. Ray tells the man not to take the chance, God had given him a conscience that tells you when you do wrong. Ray tells him that God has written his law on our hearts. Before the man, or any of them, could respond to ta, Ray tells them that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins so we make go to Heaven. Ray tells them to repent and trust in Jesus as you would with a parachute. After asking if they had a Bible at home, he tells them that if they become born again they will be granted a new heart with new desires, including able to forsake lust. Ray then repeats Jesus' saying of plucking out the eye if it causes you to sin. They end the conversation and the program there.
Final Remarks from Iron Chariots[]
Adultery involves a broken promise between consenting adults and has nothing to do with government. In many, if not most, cases it is destructive to a relationship and affects children of the marriage falls apart as a result. (Other things, such as fundamentalism, can cause the same problem.) But adultery by consenting adults does not fall into the category of malicious or harmful felony. It is a legitimate concern of ethics; however, it is no crime. Why don’t the Ten Commandments mention rape? What about incest? How about the more useful “Thou shalt not beat thy wife?” Why don’t the Ten Commandments tell husbands that it is immoral to force an unwilling wife to have intercourse? Why doesn’t the Bible say that it is wrong for you to have sex, even with your spouse, if you knowingly have a sexually transmitted disease (which the Bible would do if it were relevant to today). Although adultery is important, does it rate the Big Ten? In the Bible, women are considered the property of men (see Tenth Commandment), so adultery was really a crime of theft.
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