GAY TRUTH

I was 35 years old, called myself a lesbian, and worked as an activist and English professor in New York when I first encountered these words from Romans 1: God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting. (Romans 1:24–28) Huh, I muttered. It seems like a dangerous hate speech or some other devastation designed to ruin my life. God’s word brought me to a line in the sand and a hole in my heart....

A Christian website published a column saying that 2020 presidential contender Pete Buttigieg is “deserving of death.” What does that mean?    This biblical statement is based on Romans 1 where Paul lists a range of sins of which one is homosexuality as a serious sin -deserving judgment (as do all sin)  WHICH BIBLE VERSE IS BEING REFERRED TO HERE? Romans 1: 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.   28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and deprav...

Is Paul making a blanket pronouncement that homosexuality is sin against God in Romans 1:26–27 when he speaks of a behavior (“men with men” and “women with women”) that is “against nature”? The Revisionist Answer It is not possible to read here a reference to a crime against nature or a so-called “natural law” because such a concept is Greek and was unknown to Paul. The Biblical Answer Natural law was known to Philo and Josephus, contemporaries with the apostle Paul, and it is reflected in literature contemporary with, or antecedent to, Paul. For Jews, it represented creation and God’s law brought into harmony (see pp. 149–62, 239–51). The Revisionist Claim In Romans 1, Paul condemns men and women who leave their natural state. He does not condemn those who are born homosexual, who have the homosexual condition, for that is their natural state. Ancient peoples did not know of the modern ideas of a mutual, permanent homosexual union and homosexual orientation. Rather, Pa...

Some liberal theological scholars claim that Paul's writings about homosexuality are actually about abusive  homosexual relationships  (rape, prostitution, etc.). Isn't it the case that what Paul says does not apply to consensual  same-sex relationships ?  Due to the work of  Robert Gagnon  and many other biblical scholars, we know that this was not the case.'  Secular historians of the  Roman Empire  also record clear examples of consensual, adult same-sex relationships in the  Greco-Roman world .  Paul knew exactly what he was condemning . Christians need to remember, given the doctrine of the divine  inspiration of Scripture , that when Paul condemns something, the  Holy Spirit condemns it as well. When we cite Paul, we cite the Holy Spirit.  Romans 1 and  1 Corinthians 5  present a very sophisticated argument for the sinfulness of same-sex acts and same-sex relationships. In 1 Corinthians 5, ...

Romans 1 :26–27 Perhaps no New Testament text has suffered more assaults than has Romans 1 . Central to the revisionist approach like Brad Chilcott- to Romans 1 is the focus on new ways of understanding the meaning of nature (physis) in verses 26–27. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. The words for “natural relations” represent more literally “natural use” (physikēn chrēsin). Unnatural relations, then, are “against nature” (para physin). The word for “nature” occurs once as a noun (in v. 26) and twice as an adjective (in vv. 26 and 27). “Against Nature”—Views of Interpretation Perverts and Inverts Some interpreters limit the term natural to “what is natural for m...