What does the bible teach about homosexuality
What does the Bible say about homosexuality?
Answer
In some people’s minds, being homosexual is as much outside one’s control as the color of your skin and your height. On the other hand, the Bible clearly and consistently declares that homosexual action is a sin (Genesis –13; Leviticus ; ; Romans –27; 1 Corinthians ; 1 Timothy ). God created marriage and sexual relationships to be between one dude and one woman: “At the launch the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’” (Matthew –5). Anything outside of God’s intent and plan is sin. The Bible teaches that Christians are to live for God, deny themselves, choose up their cross, and follow Him (Matthew ), including with their sexuality. This disconnect between what the Bible says and what some people experience leads to much controversy, debate, and even hostility.
When examining what the Bible says about homosexuality, it is essential to distinguish between homosexual behaviorand hom
The Bible on Homosexual Behavior
One way to argue against these passages is to make what I phone the “shellfish objection.” Keith Sharpe puts it this way: “Until Christian fundamentalists boycott shellfish restaurants, cease wearing poly-cotton T-shirts, and stone to death their wayward offspring, there is no obligation to heed to their diatribes about homosexuality being a sin” (The Gay Gospels, 21).
In other words, if we can disregard rules enjoy the ban on eating shellfish in Leviticus , then we should be allowed to disobey other prohibitions from the Elderly Testament. But this argument confuses the Old Testament’s temporary ceremonial laws with its permanent moral laws.
Here’s an analogy to aide understand this distinction.
I keep in mind two rules my mom gave me when I was young: hold her hand when I cross the street and don’t drink what’s under the sink. Today, I contain to follow only the latter rule, since the former is no longer needed to protect me. In fact, it would now do me more harm than good.
Old Testament ritual/ceremonial laws were love mom’s handholding rule. The rea
What Does the Bible Express About Homosexuality?
What Does The Bible Say About Homosexuality?
Introduction
For the last two decades, Pew Research Center has reported that one of the most enduring ethical issues across Christian traditions is sexual diversity. For many Christians, one of the most frequently first-asked questions on this topic is, “What does the Bible say about attraction to someone of the same sex?”
Although its unlikely that the biblical authors had any notion of sexual orientation (for example, the term homosexual wasn't even coined until the late 19th century) for many people of faith, the Bible is looked to for timeless guidance on what it means to honor God with our lives; and this most certainly includes our sexuality.
Before we can jump into how it is that Christians can maintain the authority of the Bible and also affirm sexual diversity, it might be helpful if we started with a brief but clear overview of some of the assumptions informing many Christian approaches to understanding the Bible.
What is the Bible?
For Christians to whom the Bible
The Bible and same sex relationships: A review article
Tim Keller,
Vines, Matthew, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same Sex Relationships, Convergent Books,
Wilson, Ken,A Letter to My Congregation, David Crum Media,
The relationship of homosexuality to Christianity is one of the main topics of discussion in our culture today. In the fall of last year I wrote a review of books by Wesley Hill and Sam Allberry that take the historic Christian view, in Hill’s words: “that homosexuality was not God’s original artistic intention for humanity and therefore that homosexual perform goes against God’s state will for all human beings, especially those who trust in Christ.”
There are a number of other books that obtain the opposite view, namely that the Bible either allows for or supports same sex relationships. Over the last year or so I (and other pastors at Redeemer) hold been regularly asked for responses to their arguments. The two most scan volumes taking this position seem to be those by Matthew Vines and Ken Wilson. The review of these