Kevin deyoung on homosexuality
This article is part of the Questions and Answers series.
Q: If the Bible says so petty about homosexuality, why do Christians maintain on talking about it so much?
A: The reason the Bible says comparatively little about homosexuality is because it was a comparatively uncontroversial sin among ancient Jews and Christians. There is no evidence that ancient Judaism or early Christianity tolerated any expression of homosexual activity. The Bible says a lot about idolatry, religious hypocrisy, economic injustice, and pagan worship because these were common sins for God’s people in both testaments.
The prophets didn’t rail against queer practice because as a particularly noticeable and egregious sin it was less frequently committed in the covenant people. The Bible talks about bestiality even less than it talks about homosexuality, but that doesn’t make bestiality an insignificant issue—or incest or child exploitation or fifty other sins the Bible barely addresses. Counting up the number of verses on any particular topic is not the best way to determine the seriousness of the sin in
What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? - Softcover
CHAPTER 1
One Man, One Woman, One Flesh
GENESIS 1&#x;2
Suppose God wanted to produce a world in which marriage required a gentleman and a woman. How would he arrange this world? What sort of story would be told?
Perhaps he would first build the man, and then &#x; seeing the bloke was all alone &#x; make a suitable spouse for him. Maybe, in an expression of their equality and complementarity, God would fashion the second human being out of the first. Maybe the name of the one (woman, ishah in Hebrew) would be derived from her natural complement (man, ish in Hebrew). And in order to present the unique fittedness of the man for the woman, perhaps God would give them a direct (to be fruitful and multiply) that could only be fulfilled by the coming together of the two sexes. Maybe the story would end with the two &#x; one man and one lady &#x; starting a fresh family together and entering into a new covenant relationship, solemnized by an oath and sealed by the sort of physical union capable of perpetuating this family
The Case Against Christians Attending a Gay Wedding
The case against Christians attending a gay wedding is relatively straightforward. We can lay out the case in three premises and a conclusion.
The Argument
Premise 1: Queer “marriage” is not marriage.
No matter what a government may sanction, the biblical definition of marriage (see Gen. –25, Mal. –15, Matt. –6; Eph. –33) involves a man and a woman. I won’t belabor the point, because I assume in this post that I’m speaking to those who assent with the Westminster Confession of Faith when it says, “Marriage is to be between one bloke and one woman” (WCF ). Gay “marriage” is not only an offense to God—sanctioning a gentle of sexual activity that the Bible condemns (Lev. ; ; Rom. –27; 1 Cor. –10; 1 Tim. –10)—gay “marriage” does not actually exist.
Premise 2: A gay wedding celebrates and solemnizes a lie.
Whether the service is done in a church or in a reception hall, whether it is meant to be a Christian service or a secular commitment ceremony, a male lover wedding declares what is false to be genuine and calls evil good.
Prem This is a convincing and well-written book on why the orthodox reading of the Bible on sex and relationships is right. It's much more readable than longer books on the subject and it's written with real clarity and grace - De Young doesn't approach across as if he's trying to win an argument or has an axe to grind, just a genuine desire for people to hold to the truth. The first half of the book goes through the key passages (Gen. 19; Lev. 18; Lev. 20; Rom. 1; 1 Cor. 6; 1 Tim. 1) in the Bible that mention homosexuality, but crucially De Young starts with the creation narrative in Genesis 1 and 2 which sets the pattern of God's design for us as beings created male and female in the image of God. The second half of the book covers common objections from our customs (and even within the church). These objections range from more intellectual ones such as "What about Gluttony and Divorce?" to objections with more of an emotional pull such as "The God I worship is a God of love" or "It's not fa
Review: "What does the Bible really teach about Homosexuality?" by Kevin DeYoung