I feel vindicated

suedonim, exactly!

The Book of Matthew is in the New Testament.

petra, what happened there was awful behaviour.

yes, overcoming bad thoughts is good behaviour.

Whether lust is behaviour or thoughts or intent or whatever, the verses about lust still stand.

Is it fair to judge someone on feelings they "can't help"? I would have said no

No, I wouldnt say that is fair.
But I am not sure that that happens,does it?

A favourite saying of my Granny was 'ye can't be hung for your thoughts
as long as the thought doesn't become the deed.'

I guess that's all of us who like to watch Ross in Poldark and Lord M in Victoria condemned!

Oooooooh! Déja vu!!
(Don't know why I can manage acute but not grave accents).

I thought this Jesus bloke was supposed to be a good guy. I don't think judging people the way you describe, obi, is good. In fact I think it's positively nasty.

That Matthew bloke could have got it wrong, of course. Yes, I expect that's what happened. I'll carry on thinking Jesus was a good bloke... well, possibly loads of good blokes. Some people think there were lots of Messiah types back then.

Matthew was one of the 12 disciples.

I do find the lust rule a bit harsh.

If one resists it, then one isn't doing anything wrong.
Unfortunately not I dont think in this instance.
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart

Looking at a woman lustfully is not resisting lust, it is acting upon it.

Is watching Lord M on the telly and having lustful thoughts as bad as watching Rufus Sewell in RL and having lustful thoughts? (I wish, chance would be a fine thing)

obieone we have to bear in mind that the New Testament is a carefully edited edition of what was decided hundreds of years after Christ's death:
What was written down in the first place was not contemperaneous, much has been ignored and what is left may not be a true account of the life and times of Jesus anyway.

As a code to live by much of it laudable, but much has 'disappeared' or been 'lost' or edited to suit the agenda of various Popes, Synods, scholars etc.

Oh dear! Here we go again!

As a Wiccan I believe that whatever you do, whether for good or ill, comes back 3 times - Do what you want, provided it hurts no-one . . . that includes you! We're human and temptation can be hard to resist, but if you keep the Wiccan Rede or the 10 commandments in mind, and listen to your conscience, you won't go far wrong!!!

Would anybody like an interesting little academic lecture on the difficulties of translating ancient text. Hmm, I thought not?
Going right back to the original post I have always been inspired by "Love is not always something wonderful that you feel, it is often something difficult that you do."

If having a lustful thought is as bad as acting on that thought, then why not go the whole way and "do the deed"?

Might as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb.

Jayanna I remember posting all that when religion was discussed on GN before, about the number of times the bible books were was repeated verbally at first before anyone had time to write them down, the careful selection of sources that suited the position of the early church at various times and the destruction of any that didn't fit, the many times they were copied by one scribe after another, the way the meaning of words changing with each translation from one language to another, the differences over the centuries in the social structure and the place of men and women and so on and so on.

Many people agreed, or said that they had never thought of all that. However, those who see the Bible as a single unchanging unit that sprang ready-made into existence (like Aphrodite on her sea-shell) won't change their view.

Should have typed were repeated, and the meanings of words changed

I also would separate "feeling" and "intent" from "action".

You might feel very hungry, but not carry that on into the intent to eat something sitting on someone's worktop, and if you were tempted and considered putting out a hand to pick it up, you might remember that you shouldn't do that, and not
turn the intent into action.

Desire is a hunger inside, like hunger for food. Looking at someone with lust in mind is intent (in imagination if not in reality) and can be resisted and the eyes turned elsewhere, the mind diverted onto other things and the body not carried further into action.

Good posts Elegran

personally rather not be hung for anything gillybob.

The Bible makes sense as a whole Elegran.

It is a dangerous path to start to ignore or ignore parts that someone doesnt like, for no other reason than a person doesnt like them.
God is not going to have the Bible so messed about with, that it no longer makes sense.

perhaps also better say that there are different grades of hell.

If you knew you would sentenced to be hanged and go straight to hell if you as much as thought that a plate of Sunday dinner looked delicious, let alone entertained greedy thoughts that you would love to gobble it up, you might decide that you would rather die with an full stomach than an empty one.

Probably all the men in the world will be in one or other of them because of their 'lustful looking'...

Not sure if it works the same for women?

I suppose it must do, as they would have committed adultery in thought. So the whole world will be in hell!