1. The term “homosexual” didn’t exist until 1892.
Some modern Bible translations say that “homosexuals” will not inherit the
kingdom of God, but neither the concept nor the word for people with exclusive
same-sex attraction existed before the late 19th century. While the Bible
rejects lustful same-sex behavior, that’s very different from a condemnation
of all gay people and relationships.
2. Sexual orientation is a new concept—one that the
Christian tradition hasn’t addressed. Many Christians draw on their
faith’s traditions to shape their beliefs, but the concept of sexual
orientation is new. Until recent decades, same-sex behavior was placed in the
same category with gluttony or drunkenness — as a vice of excess anyone might
be prone to — not as the expression of a sexual orientation. The Christian
tradition has never spoken to the modern issue of LGBT people and their
relationships.
3. Celibacy is a gift, not a mandate. The Bible
honors celibacy as a good way of living — Jesus was celibate, after all —
but it also makes clear that celibacy must be a voluntary choice. Requiring that
all gay people remain celibate is at odds with the Bible’s teachings on
celibacy, which are grounded Scripture’s core affirmation that God’s
physical creation is good.
4. Condemning same-sex relationships is harmful to the
LGBT community. Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount that good trees bear
good fruit, while bad trees bear bad fruit. The church’s rejection of same-sex
relationships has caused tremendous, needless suffering to the LGBT
community—bad fruit. Those harmful consequences should make Christians open to
reconsidering the church’s traditional teaching.
5. Sodom and Gomorrah involved an attempted gang rape,
not a loving relationship. It’s commonly assumed that God destroyed Sodom
and Gomorrah out of his wrath against same-sex relations, but the only form of
same-sex behavior described in the story is an attempted gang rape — nothing
like a loving, committed relationship. The Bible explicitly condemns Sodom for
its arrogance, inhospitality and apathy toward the poor — not for same-sex
behavior.
6. The prohibitions in Leviticus don’t apply to
Christians. Leviticus condemns male same-sex intercourse, but the entire Old
Testament law code has never applied to Christians in light of Christ’s death.
Leviticus also condemns eating pork, rabbit, or shellfish, cutting hair at the
sides of one’s head, and having sex during a woman’s menstrual period —
none of which Christians continue to observe.
7. Paul condemns same-sex lust, not love. Like other
ancient writers, Paul described same-sex behavior as the result of excessive
sexual desire on the part of people who could be content with opposite-sex
relationships. He didn’t have long-term, loving same-sex relationships in
view. And while he described same-sex behavior as “unnatural,” he also said
men having long hair goes against nature, and most Christians read that as a
reference to cultural conventions.
8. Marriage is about commitment. Marriage often
involves procreation, but according to the New Testament, it’s based on
something deeper: a lifelong commitment to a partner. Marriage is even compared
to the relationship between Christ and the church, and while the language used
is opposite-sex, the core principles apply just as well to same-sex couples.
9. Human beings are relational. From the beginning
of Genesis, human beings are described as having a need for relationship, just
as God himself is relational. Sexuality is a core part of what it means to be a
relational person, and to condemn LGBT people’s sexuality outright damages
their ability to be in relationship with all people — and with God.
10. Faithful Christians are already embracing LGBT
brothers and sisters. Mainstream denominations like Presbyterians and
Episcopalians now ordain openly gay clergy, and there are seeds of change in
evangelical churches as well. The Reformation Project hosted a training
conference for up to 900 LGBT-affirming Christians in Washington, D.C.—and the
movement for change in conservative churches is just getting started.
The Bible really does not fully address the topic of
homosexuality. Jesus never talked about it. The prophets never talked about it.
In Sodom homosexual activity is mentioned within the context of rape (raping
angels nonetheless), and in Romans 1:24-27 we find it mentioned within the
context of idolatry (Baal worship) involving lust and dishonorable passions. 1
Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10 talk about homosexual activity in the context
of prostitution and possibly pederasty. Nowhere does the Bible talk about a
loving and committed homosexual relationship. The only thing the authors of the
Bible knew about homosexuality was that which they saw expressed in the pagan
worship of Baal, the temple prostitution, et cetera. To use the Bible to condemn
homosexuality, as we see, involves a projection of ones own bias and a
stretching of the Biblical text beyond that of which the scriptures speak.
Historically, however, the Bible has been taken out of context and twisted to
oppress almost every minority one could imagine including women, African
Americans, children, slaves, Jews, and the list goes on. Do we truly understand
the greatest commandments? Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great
commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
(KJV Mat. 22:36-40)