Homosexuality and the Bible: Two ViewsFew 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
| ix | |
| x | |
| 1 | |
| 2 | |
| 7 | |
| 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 |
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Common terms and phrases
abomination absolute adult adultery analogy ancient argument believe Bible and Homosexual Bible's biblical texts Christ Christian church commandment complementarity condemnation context contrary to nature Corinthians creation stories cult prostitutes defile desire destiny Deuteronomistic divorce early Judaism ethical flesh gender Gibeah Gospel Gospel of John Gudorf Hays heart hermeneutical heterosexual Holiness Code homo homoerotic homoerotic unions homosexual acts homosexual behavior homosexual orientation homosexual practice human sexuality impurity incest interpretation issues Jesus Jones and Yarhouse Levitical proscriptions Leviticus 18 Luke male and female male-female male-male intercourse marriage Matt meaning misogyny moral norm offense Old Testament one's override Paul Paul's person porneia position pro-homosex Professor Gagnon purity refer regard relationship ROBERT A. J. GAGNON rule same-sex inter same-sex intercourse scholars Scripture Scripture's sex intercourse sexual behavior sexual immorality sexual intercourse sexual orientation sinful slavery Sodom Spirit stance theological tion traditional uncleanness woman
Popular passages
Page 54 - So then, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh - for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, 'Abba! Father!
Page 55 - Every sin that a man does is outside the body," but he who commits sexual 46: 16 Genesis 2:24 immorality sins against his own body. 19Or don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have from God? You are not your own, 20for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
Page 54 - Son in the likeness of sinful flesh/ and for sin* he condemned sin in the flesh* in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us/ who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Page 37 - Any interpretation of scripture that hurts people, oppresses people, or destroys people cannot be the right interpretation, no matter how traditional, historical, or exegetically respectable. There can be no debate about the fact that the church's stand on homosexuality has caused oppression, loneliness, self-hatred, violence, sickness, and suicide for millions of people. If the church wishes to continue with its traditional interpretation it must demonstrate, not just claim, that it is more loving...
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.
Page 24 - ... predisposition toward homosexuality. In one sense, however, the etiology of homosexual orientation is not a significant factor for the formation of normative Christian ethics. We need not take sides in the debate of nature versus culture. Even if it could be shown that same-sex preference is somehow genetically programmed, that would not necessarily make homosexual behavior morally appropriate." Surely Christian ethics does not want to hold that all inborn traits are good and desirable. The analogy...
Page 30 - ... emerges from the pages of Scripture, sex appears as a matter of secondary importance. To be sure, the power of sexual drives must be acknowledged and subjected to constraints, either through marriage or through disciplined abstinence. But never within the canonical perspective does sexuality become the basis for defining a person's identity or for finding meaning and fulfillment in life. The things that matter are justice, mercy, and faith (Matt. 23:23). The love of God is far more important...