I will state outright that this series of posts is timely in light of the groundswell to legalize gay marriage and the push by modern culture to normalize homosexual behavior. So forceful is this push that even many within the Christian Church are beginning to abandon long-held doctrines, beliefs, convictions and Scriptural truths to morph or merge to the culture rather than engage it with the intent to teach it, correct it and stay distinct from it.
This will be
the first post of approximately two dozen on the topic of the Bible and
homosexuality. I anticipate at some point I will be censored or shut down as
this is a firebrand issue that draws the ire of people on both sides of the
debate. This is an abridged presentation of my thesis from college. Had I not
abbreviated this it would've been twice as long. If it appears that some of the research is missing it is because I had to truncate or trim some content to make it digestible on mobile devices. In other words paragraphs are foreshortened and I do not embellish ad-nauseam on topics (I cut to the chase). This being
said, if something looks weakly debated please understand there is probably
more research behind it. I've cited nearly 60 sources. If pressed hard enough (or attacked) I
will bring it into the comments section to validate points further.
This series
of posts is as balanced as my conscience would allow so not to be horribly
biased or intellectually arrogant. Many conservative evangelical Christians
will say that I shouldn't have helped argue the homosexual point-of-view or
given this ideology any ground to stand on. For me this is untenable and in the
end would be counterproductive for the purposes of teaching and maintaining an
academic balance (i.e.: fairness). This would just validate the accusations
that Christians are ignorant of homosexuality or ignorant in general. In an
attempt to not give the pro-homosexual movement any ire to aim back at me I
have actually included many of their views. This was done primarily as
antithesis to the biblical view in a form of dialectic so we can arrive at an
acceptable biblical apologetic that incorporates as many arguments of the
culture as possible.
Additionally,
centuries of church abuses, double-standards, hypocrisy and true hateful
intolerance (like the people at Westboro Baptist and those of their ilk) has
already given gay advocates too much fuel for a fire that is already
raging out of control. In this series I would like to build the homosexual
views as clearly as possible alongside orthodox Christian views. The difference
being that I will also systematically dismantle fallacious claims biblically,
theologically and through logic. I will do this to show why
homosexuality's arguments are either biblically, morally, ethically, or
logically flawed. I intend to show exactly why acceptance of homosexuality in
church leadership or as unrepentant sin is unacceptable in a Christian church
and by extension why it is damaging to society through forced litigious
marriages. Consequently, in my defense of this thesis I will inadvertently show
why homosexual marriage is not biblical also and should not be done by Bible believing
pastors/ministers even under threat of being arrested, ostracized or other penalties.
Regardless,
this series of posts will most likely have half the people that read it nodding
their head in agreement and the other half will turn a decidedly unfavorable
eye towards it. I expect that it will maligned by some, perhaps vehemently and
aggressively at times. Unfortunately, I suspect this will divide my
readership...but it won't be because of bad theology or poor
interpretation/hermeneutics. It will be because those that reject a biblical
argument are not as versed in biblical truth or worse, they are not biblical.
It will be because of emotion or how they feel about the topic and what
presuppositions that they bring to it and also to the Scriptures.
Thesis Statement
The intent
writing this series of posts is to describe the Scriptural position on homosexuality
which is adamantly and strongly against the sin of homosexuality as it is
against all sin. A predominately conservative, traditional or orthodox Christian
viewpoint will be presented. At times where balance is needed I will also view the debate from a
non-orthodox or liberal theological viewpoints where there is no biblical
parallel or where a liberal/non-orthodox view exemplifies, establishes or helps
accentuate a point being made. To conclude, I will offer a theological response
and biblical reactions to the sin of homosexuality.
Liberal
Theology
When I say
liberal or Liberal Theology, what I am referring to is those on the theological continuum that lean mostly towards more radical criticisms or unbiblical higher
criticisms, man’s reasoning and the findings of modern academia and modern
scholarship. A liberal viewpoint usually takes elements of the Bible and
Scripture that do not align with modern precepts and discards many of them. As
such many of their theories or precepts either reject the supernatural or consider
much within the Bible as dubious as a reliable source (Enns 587). In an attempt
to save Christianity from becoming irrelevant, liberal scholars try to rescue
Christianity from irrelevance by putting it on a Procrustean bed and proceed to
amputate the Faith until it becomes invalid theologically. They end up
abandoning many historical Christian doctrines along the way (Enns 593). What
remains is a syncretistic Christian blend that mostly relies on reason,
rationalism and is devoid of virtually all of its metaphysical/supernatural
elements.
Because of
these anthropocentric views, liberalism (generally) believes that a person
(being the source of reason) is basically good and through education can be
improved (Enns 593). Additionally, there is a desire in the liberal theological
viewpoint to modernize the understanding of Scriptures and to include modern
cultural phenomenon such as Liberation Theology which seems to be a catch-all
for theologies that unite sociological or economic concerns (Enns 630). The socio/economic
theologies that would fall under this category include feminist theology, black
theology, social justice/socialist theology and gay (GLBT) theology. Their
presuppositions and methods of interpretation therefore fall along those lines.
Conservative
Theology
When I say
conservative or traditional view I am referring to a theological view that
stands opposed to Liberal Theology/Christianity and holds to historic doctrines
of Christian faith (Enns 648). Specifically, I speak of an approach to
theological issues that are historically linked to reform movements, especially
the Reformation and the backlash against liberal theology of the late 19th and
early 20th century (Enns 648). Generally, the conservatives to whom I refer
also adhere to verbal plenary inspiration of the Bible, the inerrancy of
Scripture, historic and time honored hermeneutic methods, and a triune
sovereign God that includes the full deity and full humanity of the Son. The
conservative view also believes that humanity was originally created holy but
chose to sin in Adam and fell in Adam also, therefore all of humanity has this
sinfulness imputed to them through Adam. Because of this Fall, humanity is
totally corrupted and depraved by their nature. Because of this wickedness, God
being perfectly righteous must eventually judge it (Enns 648, Erickson 100).
Christ-like
Behavior
For those
that will say that I am not following in the footsteps of Jesus by not loving
these sinners in their sin I respond this way. If I love people in their sin
and do not expect them to repent and turn from their sin, I am actually hating
them in reality. How you say? Because as unrepentant sinners I am allowing them
to accrue judgment against themselves which is accumulating God's wrath on the Day
of Judgment. People that truly love God obey His commands (John 14:15).
Conversely, people that do not love God disobey His commands and continue
willfully in their sin (Romans 1). The truth is that I do have a heart for the
lost and the sinners of this world but the culture has so twisted what is
considered love and hate that they literally have been turned on their head in
an illogical manner.
To continue
to do things that are clearly shown and described as sin in the Bible is to
willfully disobey Scripture and this can only accumulate the wrath of God. I
would truly hate you if I would allow this to happen without informing you and
warning you of the error against God. Only a twisted mind would say that I was
"hating" you for telling you that you are in sin when you are
sexually immoral whether it be adultery or otherwise. To continue in these sins
unabated is to be unrepentant therefore you are condemned to eternal separation
from the love of God. Hell awaits you down that path, yet the world will have
you believe that I do not love you for not letting you be destroyed by those very sins.
Sins that the Bible clearly condemns.
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