Was paul in the bible gay
Ted Grimsrud—October 4, 2017
Over the past several decades, as North American Christians have sought to discern the way forward amidst differing convictions concerning the acceptance of LGBTQ Christians and of same-sex marriage, one of the arenas of debate has been what to make of the writings of Paul the Apostle. Several alternative perspectives have been argued for, in a general sense breaking down into three broad options.
Paul and “homosexuality”*: Three options
*[I will use quotes around “homosexuality” throughout this post to signify my uneasiness with using the word because of the pejorative connotations it has in general usage. What I will mean by “homosexuality” is the general phenomenon of people being attracted to others of the alike sex. Part of the difficulty with the language is due to the fluidity of human sexual attraction in general that shows that our existence cannot be reduced to two simple categories, “heterosexual” and “homosexual.”]
(Option 1) Paul may not have written a great deal about “homosexuality,” but what he did write is clarify and utterly damning. In Romans 1 and 1 Corinthians 6 Paul makes it clear that gay sexual in
Was Paul Against Loving, Consensual Homosexual Relationships?
Most people from older generations can think of when homosexual behavior was not considered “normal” in society and the appearance of the first same-sex attracted TV characters was scandalous. Today, it is more unusual to see a show that doesn’t highlight a gay character, and it is the declaration of biblical morality that is scandalous in world. The normalization of lgbtq+ behavior, in turn, normalized increasingly radical departures from God’s created design for men and women, and record numbers of boys, girls, and even men and women report that their feelings do not conform with their physiological gender.
Men and women state that their feelings complete not conform with their biological gender. Some contend that we have misunderstood the Bible’s teachings regarding homosexual behavior.
Some argue that we have misunderstood the Bible’s teachings regarding lesbian behavior. They argue that Moses and Paul did not have any conception of loving, consensual male lover relationships, only abusive and coercive acts connected to slavery or temple prostitution. They further hypothesize that there may be queer relationships depicted in the Bib
The Bible and same sex relationships: A review article
Tim Keller, 2015
Vines, Matthew, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support 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 fall 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 original innovative intention for humanity ... and therefore that lgbtq+ 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 opposite 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
Paul’s Understanding of Sexuality
μαλακοὶ and ἀρσενοκοῖται in 1 Cor 6:9
Introduction
Paul uses two words in 1 Cor 6:9, “μαλακοὶ” (malakoi) and “ἀρσενοκοῖται” (arsenokoitai), that are as important to Paul’s understanding of sexuality as they are complex to understand. Consider how differently leading English translations render this part of the verse.
“men who apply homosexuality” (ESV; a marginal note reads, “The two Greek terms translated by this phrase refer to the passive and active partners in consensual homosexual acts”)
“men who have sex with men” (NIV [2011]; a marginal note reads, “The words men who have sex with men translate two Greek words that allude to the passive and active participants in homosexual acts”)
“male prostitutes … homosexual offenders” (NIV [1984]
“effeminate … homosexuals” (NASB 1995; a marginal note to the first word reads, “i.e. effeminate by perversion”
“effeminate … sodomites” (NKJV)
“effeminate … abusers of themselves with mankind” (AV)
These translations appear to agree that the individuals in view are men who are engaged in some nice of sexual activity of which Paul disapproves. But the translations’ differenc
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