Why does christianity condemn gay
What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?
What Does The Bible Speak About Homosexuality?
Introduction
For the last two decades, Pew Investigate 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 tell about attraction to someone of the same sex?”
Although its unlikely that the biblical authors had any notion of sexual orientation (for example, the phrase 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 is God’s very written word, it is widely understood that God produced its contents through inspired
What does the Bible tell about homosexuality?
Answer
In some people’s minds, being homosexual is as much outside one’s control as the shade of your skin and your height. On the other hand, the Bible clearly and consistently declares that homosexual activity is a sin (Genesis 19:1–13; Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; Romans 1:26–27; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:10). God created marriage and sexual relationships to be between one man and one woman: “At the commencing the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will depart his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’” (Matthew 19:4–5). Anything outside of God’s intent and design is sin. The Bible teaches that Christians are to survive for God, deny themselves, pick up their cross, and follow Him (Matthew 16:24), including with their sexuality. This disconnect between what the Bible says and what some people feel leads to much controversy, debate, and even hostility.
When examining what the Bible says about homosexuality, it is important to distinguish between homosexual behaviorand homosexual inclinationsor attractions. It is the difference betwe
The Bible and similar sex relationships: A review article
Tim Keller, 2015
Vines, Matthew, God and the Lgbtq+ Christian: The Biblical Case in Back of Same Sex Relationships, Convergent Books, 2014
Wilson, Ken,A Letter to My Congregation, David Crum Media, 2014.
The relationship of homosexuality to Christianity is one of the main topics of discussion in our culture today. In the collapse 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 unique creative intention for humanity ... and therefore that queer practice goes against God’s express will for all human beings, especially those who trust in Christ.”
There are a number of other books that take the other side 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) have been regularly asked for responses to their arguments. The two most read volumes taking this position seem to be those by Matthew Vines and Ken Wilson. The review of these two books will be longer than usual because the topic is so contested today and, wh
Leviticus 18:22
“You shall not myth with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”[1] It is not a surprise that this verse seems to say that queer male sex is forbidden in the eyes of God. The dominant view of western Christianity forbids same-sex relations. This verse is one of the clobber passages that people cite from the Bible to condemn homosexuality. This essay first looks at the various ways the verse is translated into the English Bible and then explores some of the strategies used to create an affirming perception of what this corridor means for the LGBTQ community. More specifically, it presents the interpretation of K. Renato Lings in which Lev. 18:22 refers to male-on-male incest.
While Lev. 18:22 is used to condemn homosexuality, we must realize that the word “homosexuality” was only recently coined in the English language. So did this term exist in ancient Israel? Charles D. Myers, Jr. confirms that none of the prophets in the Hebrew Bible state homosexuality.[2] He also contends that in ancient Israel same-sex relations were viewed as an ancient Adjacent East problem. The ancient Near East tradition included pederasty and relations between an older man and
The Case Against Christians Attending a Gay Wedding
The case against Christians attending a gay wedding is relatively straightforward. We can lay out the case in three premises and a conclusion.
The Argument
Premise 1: Same-sex attracted “marriage” is not marriage.
No matter what a government may sanction, the biblical definition of marriage (see Gen. 2:18–25, Mal. 2:13–15, Matt. 19:4–6; Eph. 5:22–33) involves a man and a woman. I won’t belabor the point, because I assume in this post that I’m speaking to those who consent with the Westminster Confession of Faith when it says, “Marriage is to be between one dude and one woman” (WCF 24.1). Gay “marriage” is not only an offense to God—sanctioning a gentle of sexual activity that the Bible condemns (Lev. 18:22; 20:13; Rom. 1:24–27; 1 Cor. 6:9–10; 1 Tim. 1:9–10)—gay “marriage” does not actually exist.
Premise 2: A gay wedding celebrates and solemnizes a lie.
Whether the service is done in a church or in a reception hall, whether it is meant to be a Christian service or a secular commitment ceremony, a queer wedding declares what is false to be accurate and calls evil good.
Premise 3: Attendance at a gay wedding bears general witness to t