Homosexuality and the Bible: Two Views

Front Cover
Fortress Press, 2003 - Religion - 117 pages
Few recent issues have sparked such debate in the churches as homosexuality, same-sex unions, and ordination of gays and lesbians. A key point of contention is the meaning and authority of the biblical witness. In this brief book, two New Testament scholars discuss the relevant biblical texts on the subject of homosexual behavior and orientation. Discussing both Old Testament and New Testament texts, each author also raises important interpretive and moral questions and then offers a response to the other's main assertions. Chief questions examined by each include what the Bible has to say about homosexuality and homosexual behavior, the meaning of those texts in their cultural contexts, and the larger hermeneutical dilemma of what kind of authority the Bible's teaching, if recoverable, has for Christians today. A thoughtful and irenic dialogue, this volume can facilitate reflection and discussion among church members on a vital and contentious issue in American church life.
 

Contents

Introduction
ix
The Authority of the Bible
x
Changing Attitudes
1
The Old Testament
2
Transition to the New Testament
7
The New Testament
9
Homosexual Orientation
13
Defense of the Traditional Position
16
Love and Grace from the Perspective of Jesus and Paul
48
The Pervasive Stance against Homosexual Practice in the Old Testament
54
The Levitical Proscriptions and the Issue of Purity
60
The Witness of Jesus
66
The Witness of Paul
72
Concluding Thoughts
86
Response to Robert AJ Gagnon
91
Response to Dan O Via
97

Wandering in the Wilderness
26
A Way Forward
27
On Determining What Matters in Scripture
39
The Proper Use of Analogies
41
Select Bibliography
104
Index of Scripture
110
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page ii - Dean of the School of Theology and Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky, USA.
Page 4 - Foundation) in 1974, the American Psychiatric Association dropped homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses, and several states have decriminalized homosexual activity between consenting adults. Homosexuality has also been decriminalized in many European countries, and there has been a movement by activist homosexual groups in the United States to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual preference.

Bibliographic information