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Showing posts with the label John Boswell

Why 'God and the Gay Christian' Is Wrong About the Bible and Same-Sex Relationships

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In March 2012, Matthew Vines posted a video on YouTube suggesting that "being gay is not a sin," and that the Bible "does not condemn, loving, committed same-sex relationships." He spoke eloquently from the heart with poise, conviction and vulnerability. The video quickly went viral. Vines is a bright young man raised in a Christian home. At age 19, he left Harvard University after his third semester so that he could come out to his family and friends in Wichita. He knew that his father would not agree with the way he reconciled his sexuality with Scripture . So Vines sought to arm himself with biblical scholarship on the affirmation of same-sex relationships and strove to convince his family and church that they were wrong—that homosexuality is not a sin. Vines's new book, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships, expounds further on the arguments made in his video. His aim is not to present new information, but ...

Greek word 'Arsenokoites' only points to homosexual sin

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Matthew Vines  has become a new voice in the homosexual Christian community with a message that promoted homosexual Christianity . In his address, Vine asserted that all the biblical passages dealing with homosexual behavior have been wrongly interpreted and do not prohibit "loving and monogamous homosexual relationships". Vines' argument about the biblical passages that address homosexuality has been heard many times before from people like John Boswell and others. Nonetheless, it is good for Christians to revisit those sections of Scripture and see how Vines' assertions stand up to biblical exegesis. We'll examine two passages in Paul's epistles that deal with homosexuality. Paul's Letters to the Corinthians and Timothy Two of the verses in the New Testament that mention homosexuality are found in Paul's first letters to the Corinthians and Timothy: "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God ? Do not be ...

Does the Bible condemn Homosexuality?

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There are many in today’s culture that do not recognize the Bible as any kind of moral authority, especially on the matter of homosexuality. It should come as no surprise that atheists and skeptics hold this position; for example, the late Christopher Hitchens once remarked, “What do I care what some Bronze Age text says about homosexuality?” As noted apologist William Lane Craig has observed, “One of the best ways to defend the legitimacy of the homosexual lifestyle is to become an atheist.” There are, however, a number of practicing homosexuals and activists who are not atheists and argue that the Bible legitimizes general homosexual behavior . Their core argument is that the Bible has been misunderstood and misinterpreted where homosexuality is concerned.  Let’s be honest: if they’re right, and God’s Word really does not condemn homosexual behavior, then a whole lot of angst and effort that’s occurring in churches and society could disappear in a flash. But the $64,000 ques...

ABC Australia Fact Checker actual lies

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Tony Abbott is completely correct on the concept of traditional marriage being between a "Mum and a Dad." The entire population would agree except a minority who themselves are homosexual and obviously would seek to fin minor variations of marriage throughout different cultures in order to say marriage historically is a free for all.  ABC Fact Checker quotes Yale University's John Boswell and his book entitled: Sex Unions In Premodern Europe. He claims the use of the word friend is misunderstood and really means lover. With regards to Christianity he claims a lesbian relationship between Ruth and Naomi , David and Jonathon, he reinterprets a spiritual fraternity as a homosexual relationship. The author died of AIDS. All of his examples are questionable, minor and insignificant. Writing in The Christian Century magazine, the Candler School of Theology 's historian of theology Philip Lyndon Reynolds expressed "profound problems" with Boswell's pos...

Christians who resist same sex attraction

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Unlike Matthew Vines, I was not raised in a Christian home and believed homosexual, romantic relationships were not sinful. I became aware of my attractions toward other men when I was nine but hid them until I came out in my early twenties while in graduate school pursuing a doctorate in dentistry. My mother was devastated but through this incident, she became a Christian. Although her initial response was rejection, after coming to Christ she could do nothing other than love her gay son. After many years of running from God and rebelling against my parents, I was incarcerated for drug dealing and received the news that I was HIV+ . I found a Bible in the trash can and began reading it. I confided with a prison chaplain who told me that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality, and he gave me a book by gay historian, John Boswell . Like Vines, I too wanted to reconcile faith with sexuality. With that book in one hand and the Bible in the other, I had every reason to accept Boswell...