{"id":61013,"date":"2006-05-29T16:50:00","date_gmt":"2006-05-29T21:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=61013"},"modified":"2023-05-29T16:53:26","modified_gmt":"2023-05-29T21:53:26","slug":"where-is-the-kiss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-is-the-kiss\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Is the Kiss?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby Greg Gwin\n

\"\"Someone has written to ask: “Where is the kiss?” Our correspondent lists five passages that refer to the greeting of a “holy kiss” (Romans 16:16; I Corinthians 16:20; II Corinthians 13:12; I Thessalonians 5:26; I Peter 5:14). He goes on to say, “I remember once being told that in the place of the holy kiss, we use a handshake. But is this not a violation of the exclusionary principle? If we condemn someone for using an instrument when the scriptures say to sing, why do we use a handshake when the scriptures specify a kiss? Is this not an equally severe violation of Bible authority?”<\/p>\n

Our querist has made a serious mistake. The Scriptures do not specify a kiss as the only <\/b>form of greeting. We read of salutations given by spoken or written word, by a wave or gesture of the hand (Acts 21:40), and <\/b>by a clasping of the hands. In Galatians 2:9, Paul mentions that James, Peter, and John “.. . gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship.<\/em>“<\/p>\n

The “exclusionary principle” does not apply here, simply because there is not one form of greeting that was taught to the exclusion of all others. In contrast to this, as we read the New Testament, we find that only <\/b>vocal music (singing) was used by early Christians in their worship of God. Therefore, we properly apply the principles of Biblical authority when we insist that our worship today follow that ancient pattern.<\/p>\n

The instructions given concerning the “holy kiss” were designed as an injunction against wrong motives and impure emotions. If people greet one another with a kiss (as is still commonly practiced in many places) it must be a h<\/strong>oly <\/b>kiss. Such greetings provide an obvious opportunity for lustful or improper thoughts, and the statements concerning the “holy kiss” were given as a regulation of an existing practice, rather than the establishment of a new and exclusive law concerning salutation methods.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Greg Gwin Someone has written to ask: “Where is the kiss?” Our correspondent lists five passages that refer to the greeting of a “holy kiss” (Romans 16:16; I Corinthians 16:20; II Corinthians 13:12; I Thessalonians 5:26; I Peter 5:14). He goes on to say, “I remember once being told that in the place of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[78,821],"class_list":["post-61013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-authority","tag-greetings"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":85415,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/to-applaud-or-not-to-applaud-in-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":61013,"position":0},"title":"To Applaud or Not to Applaud in Worship","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dick Blackford To \"profane\" something is to take what is holy and treat it as common. This is the reason I don't applaud in worship unto God. Worship to the Almighty, Eternal, Sovereign God is unique, in a class by itself. Only in the Lord's Supper do we eat\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7500,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-is-it-appropriate-to-start-kissing\/","url_meta":{"origin":61013,"position":1},"title":"When is it appropriate to start kissing?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 26, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When is an appropriate age to start kissing from a biblical standpoint or is there one? Answer: Most people start at infancy. Okay, okay, I know that isn't what you meant, but it does point out that it isn't the kiss that is critical to the answer, but the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19562,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-kissing-wrong-before-marriage\/","url_meta":{"origin":61013,"position":2},"title":"Is kissing wrong before marriage?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I just read your answer to a question about if handjobs or fingering were a sin. I liked how you explained it, but I got confused towards the end. You explained it with an analogy that you wouldn\u2019t want another man fingering your wife. This made me wonder\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6783,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/shouldnt-we-lift-hands-in-prayer-and-greet-with-a-holy-kiss\/","url_meta":{"origin":61013,"position":3},"title":"Shouldn’t we lift hands in prayer and greet with a holy kiss?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 4, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: God bless you for your great website! I was raised in a God-fearing church of Christ, but I am now attending one that has \"modernized\" into an almost unrecognizable church of Christ. I am\u00a0so relieved that churches such as yours are still out there! I was searching the web\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56023,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/would-kissing-in-a-play-be-considered-fornication\/","url_meta":{"origin":61013,"position":4},"title":"Would kissing in a play be considered fornication?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: You guys do a great job with your answers to some very open, graphic, and very personal questions. Keep up the great job! I've been a Christian for almost 40 years and I have never heard this question before, but a couple of weeks ago someone asked this in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35597,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-kiss-my-boyfriend\/","url_meta":{"origin":61013,"position":5},"title":"Is it wrong to kiss my boyfriend?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I am 21 years old and am in a relationship. Is it too early? My boyfriend confessed to me that he fornicated once with his first girlfriend, and he really regrets and feels really so bad when he remembers it. He has never shared it with anyone except\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61013\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}