Modern Questions about Homosexuality and the New Testament
Painting by Rembrandt of Paul, one of the most notable of early Christian missionaries, who called himself the "Apostle to the Gentiles." Paul, a Hellenistic Jew, was very influential on the shift of Christianity to Gentile dominated movement. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Homosexuality as “Against Nature” in Romans 1 1. 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 R...