Thread:CorrosiveDragon/@comment-26889426-20160217225535

One does not need a Ph.D. to realize that homosexuality is anatomically aberrant; that is, there is a created biological order intended in our sexuality. As an editorialist at Harvard’s Peninsulajournal writes: “How can (homosexual) people be happy when they’re persistently deceiving themselves, believing that it is just as natural for sperm to swim into feces as it is to swim into eggs?” 25  “The true religious goal of human sexuality can be seen, not as satisfaction, but ascompleteness.” 26  This fulfillment is unattainable in homosexuality. Now that we have considered God’s positive purpose in creating human sexuality, we are ready to look at biblical texts which explicitly address homosexuality. Space precludes a detailed response to pro-homosexual interpretations of these passages. The interested reader can check the resources listed in the endnotes for further reading.

Leviticus 18 and 20

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. (Lev. 18:22) If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. (Lev. 20:13)

Although these prohibitions explicitly condemn homosexuality as an abomination before God, we are told that they are not relevant today. Why? First, the pro-homosexual interpretation is that since these condemnations are contained in the “Holiness Code” of Israel, they were only applicable to ancient Israelites, to keep them separate from the pagan practices of their neighboring tribes. 27  Second, parts of this code are not kept today. Letha Scanzoni and Virginia Ramey Mollenkott assert that “consistency and fairness would seem to dictate that if the Israelite Holiness Code is to be invoked against twentieth-century homosexuals, it should likewise be invoked against such common practices as eating rare steak, wearing mixed fabrics, and having marital intercourse during the menstrual period.” 28  Much effort need not be expended answering these objections. First, God did not condemn certain behavior for the Israelites only because Israel was to be kept separate from Canaanite practice. Otherwise, if the Canaanites did not practice child sacrifice and bestiality, would these then have been all right for the Israelites? Of course not! Having sexual relations with an animal and killing one’s child are inherently wrong and evil, even when they are not related to pagan worship; they are abominations before God. And yet, these specific prohibitions also are listed in this passage, both immediately before and after the condemnation of homosexuality (Lev. 18:21-23). Other prohibitions listed in Leviticus include incest and adultery (Lev. 18:6ff; 20:10). Were these too only condemned because of the Canaanites? To argue in this fashion is dishonest and denies that there are eternal moral absolutes. What of the fact that other parts of the Holiness Code in Leviticus are not kept today? Again, the answer is simple. The Holiness Code contained different types of commands. Some were related to dietary regulations or to ceremonial cleanliness, and these have been done away with in the New Testament (Col. 2:16-17; Rom. 14:1-3). Others, though, were moral codes, and as such are timeless. Thus incest, child sacrifice, homosexuality, bestiality, adultery, and the like, are still abominations before God.

Romans 1:18-27

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. (Rom. 1:26-27)

If there were no other passage than this which condemns homosexuality, those engaged in this lifestyle would still be, in Paul’s own words, “without excuse” (Rom. 1:20). Paul’s intent in Romans 1 – 3 is to show that all have sinned, Jew and Gentile alike, and turned from God. It is not an accident that the apostle begins his argument with a reference to the Creator and His creation (1:16-20). His Jewish/Christian audience would immediately have connected this with Genesis 1 – 2, which, as we have seen, tells us not only about God’s created order, but also about the complementary design of male and female within that order. In his catalogue of sins (Rom. 1:18-32) Paul lists homosexuality and lesbianism first after idolatry

not because they are the most serious sins, but because they are warning signs that a violation of reason and nature has occurred. Men have inverted God’s order by worshipping the creature rather than the Creator, and as a signal of this error, like the blinking red light on the dashboard of a car which is functioning improperly, God has given them up to “dishonorable desires” in the inversion of their sexual roles. 29

Two main arguments are raised against the historic understanding of this passage. The first is that Paul was not referring to true homosexuality here because he stated that they exchanged “the natural function for that which is unnatural.” It is argued that for those with a true homosexual orientation, that is their “natural” sexual expression. Hence he could only mean heterosexuals who were leaving their heterosexual relations for what was against their natures. 30  This argument involves an amazing anachronism. That is, those saying this are attempting to place a very recent twentieth century understanding of homosexuality back into the first century mindset of Paul. People in the first century did not think in terms of “sexual orientation.” It is inconceivable for Paul to have even attempted to make a psychological differentiation such as this. Concerning this, Richard Hays writes: “The idea that some individuals have an inherent disposition towards same-sex erotic attraction and are therefore constitutionally ‘gay’ is a modern idea of which there is no trace either in the NT or in any other Jewish or Christian writings in the ancient world.” 31  The second attempt to refute Paul’s clear condemnation of homosexuality argues that his words “unnatural” or “against nature” do not refer to a certain created order, but rather use “nature” in the sense of “current convention” or “current custom.” 32  While “nature” is sometimes used in this fashion (e.g., 1 Cor. 11:14), the context of Paul’s argument in Romans 1 clearly is that of creation and the natural order established by the Creator Himself (Rom. 1:20, 25). Thus Paul is asserting that homosexuality is a gross violation of God’s natural design for His creation. In addition, it should be noted that the phrase “against nature” was used in connection with homosexual intercourse by both Philo and Josephus, contemporaries of Paul. 33

1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders… (1 Cor. 6:9, NIV)

In both 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10 the apostle Paul states that those guilty of sexual immorality will not inherit the kingdom of God. At the time Paul wrote his letters there was no word in classical, biblical, or patristic Greek which corresponded with our English term “homosexual.” Instead, homosexual behavior was described (e.g., Rom. 1:26-27). The words Paul uses here — malakoi (“male prostitute”) and arsenokoitai (“homosexual offenders”) — have been translated in different ways. Because of this those condoning homosexuality have tried to lessen the impact of these verses, saying that all Paul was condemning was either homosexual prostitution or pederasty (i.e., men having sexual relations with boys). 34  Virtually every Greek lexicon, however, including all of the standard English ones, has understood these words (especially arsenokoitai) to be referring to homosexuality. 35  Arndt and Gingrich’s lexicon says malakoi refers to persons who are “soft, effeminate, especially of catamites, men and boys who allow themselves to be misused homosexually.” 36  Likewise, arsenokoites means “a male homosexual, pederast, sodomite.” 37  We also find these terms in classical Greek literature (e.g., Lucian and Aristotle) “sometimes applied to obviously gay persons.” 38  As well, if Paul were only condemning certain types of homosexuality he would certainly have specified this. Instead, he used a term directly based on the Greek Septuagint translation of the prohibitions against homosexuality in Leviticus:

meta arsenos ou koimethese koiten gynaikos (Lev. 18:22) koimethe meta arsenos koiten gynaikos (Lev. 20:13) 39

Paul, a rabbi thoroughly trained in the Torah, was certainly mindful of these Levitical condemnations and the Septuagint translation of them when he chose his wording in 1 Corinthians and 1 Timothy.

Law and Gospel

Is homosexuality natural and healthy, as the gay rights movement wants us to believe? The answer from Scripture is no, and as Christians we must not be involved in homosexuality nor be among those who, as Paul warns, “approve of those” who are engaged in it (Rom. 1:32). The Roman Catholic church is correct in stating that homosexuality is “an intrinsic moral evil.” 40  At the same time, though, we must reach out to all people with the love of Jesus Christ and His gospel, which alone has the power to change lives. And we must speak out against hatred and violence directed toward any group, remembering that we are all sinners, worthy only of God’s judgment. We all have sin in our lives, and we are all tempted in different ways (whether it be toward homosexuality, adultery, incest, greed, violence, pridefulness, or whatever else). Paul used the Law to show us, his readers, our sin and the fearful judgment awaiting us. But then, to those who truly desired to follow after God, he announced the good news of the Gospel: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). For all who accept this gift, including homosexuals, there is reconciliation to God, regeneration as His children, and “grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). <ac_metadata title="Gay Rights Movement"> </ac_metadata>