Jesus Didn't Say Anything about Homosexuality

Stand To Reason ^ | 03/05/2013 | ALAN SHLEMON

[SeekAndFind]

Jesus didn't talk about homosexuality. Does that mean it's okay?

If you’ve ever said that homosexuality is a sin, there’s a good chance that someone tried to correct you with, “Jesus never said anything about homosexuality.” It doesn’t matter what Bible verse you believe bolsters your claim, they believe that Jesus’ silence on the matter trumps all other considerations. But there are a number of reasons why this objection doesn’t work.

First, it’s not certain that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality. The Gospel writers didn’t record everything that Jesus said – only what they thought was important to their audience. Indeed, most of what Jesus said (and did) was never written down. John 21:25 says, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.” It’s possible Jesus did talk about homosexuality, but the Gospel writers didn’t feel it was necessary to include it in their accounts.

Second, it’s clear what Jesus would say about homosexuality if asked. Jesus was an observant Jew who, like all Jews living under the Old Covenant, was bound by the Mosaic Law. That’s why He often referenced it (e.g. Jesus references the two greatest commandments in Matthew 22:37, 39). Therefore, if He was asked what He thought about homosexuality, He would have cited the Levitical prohibitions (Leviticus 18:20 and 20:13) that unequivocally state that homosexual behavior is a sin.

Third, Jesus did not speak about every immoral behavior. Should we infer that drunkenness, child sacrifice, and neglecting the elderly are appropriate since Jesus never said anything about them either? That’s absurd. Jesus addressed moral issues as they arose in conversation with His disciples and opponents. And even then, not every discussion was documented by the Gospel writers.

Fourth, the argument that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality presumes that the words of Jesus are more authoritative than the words of Scripture elsewhere. But it is the Holy Spirit – God Himself – who inspired all of the Bible, including epistles like Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 1 Timothy where homosexuality is addressed. Moreover, Jesus and the Holy Spirit co-exist in the Godhead and have been in perfect and eternal communion from eternity past. Therefore, we can be confident that Jesus agrees with what the Holy Spirit revealed about moral issues in the Bible.

Jesus’ scriptural silence on homosexuality is not relevant to the moral question. It seems like people are unwilling to accept what the Bible teaches when it conflicts with their own sensibilities.

[edpc]

He also said, "He who is without sin, cast the first stone." The said to the sinner, "Go and sin no more."

That does not mean he gave adultery an endorsement.

[fwdude]

Excellent commentary. The thought-devoid claims of the homosexualists is so laughable and political. Any thinking person can see right through them.

[DuncanWaring]

Even if Jesus didn’t say anything about it, His Father did; punctuated with fire and brimstone.

[Responsibility2nd]

The reason Jesus didn’t speak about homosexuals was because there WEREN’T ANY homosexuals.

If the culture of his day allowed for public stoning of adulterers and fornicators....

Just think what would have happened to some rump ranger.

[Alex Murphy]

....the argument that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality presumes that the words of Jesus are more authoritative than the words of Scripture elsewhere. But it is the Holy Spirit – God Himself – who inspired all of the Bible, including epistles like Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 1 Timothy where homosexuality is addressed. Moreover, Jesus and the Holy Spirit co-exist in the Godhead and have been in perfect and eternal communion from eternity past. Therefore, we can be confident that Jesus agrees with what the Holy Spirit revealed about moral issues in the Bible.

I know a number of people who believe that Jesus' words, as recorded in the Gospels, are more authoritative than everything else in the Bible (as if they contradict each other).

[Lx]

He didn’t say anything about smoking crack either so it must be OK.

Is logic no longer taught? I’m not talking about the author but the people that are asking that stupid question about Jesus and homos. I hate using the two in the same sentence.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: The reason Jesus didn’t speak about homosexuals was because there WEREN’T ANY homosexuals.

If this is true, I wonder how they began to proliferate eventually...

[SkyDancer]

Didn’t say anything about smoking either.

[Sacajaweau]

Why does one need God to tell someone that homosexuality is a “deliberate” perversion.

[Responsibility2nd]

If this is true, I wonder how they began to proliferate eventually...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rome. And Greece. Now THOSE cultures were rife with that stuf.

[PapaBear3625]

Mathew 18:6 "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

What else could He have been talking about, except pederasty?

[Resolute Conservative]

They were all gathering in a land to east in preparation for Mo’s arrival.

[william clark]

You’re forgetting that the culture was under Roman domination at the time.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: What else could He have been talking about, except pederasty?

Well what to say? Many of today’s homosexuals will swear that they are not pedophiles.

[lonestar67]

I think Matthew 19 is pretty clear:

” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’[a] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’[b]? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

[SkyDancer]

Leviticus 20:13 - New International Version "'If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads."

[Steve_Seattle]

The fact that no comment of Jesus concerning homosexuality was recorded in the Bible is actually evidence that he accepted the standard Jewish prohibition of the practice. Had he disagreed, it would have been "news", so to speak, and would have been recorded as part of his divergence from the mainstream Judaism of his day. The topic of homosexuality was simply not a matter of controversy in his Jewish milieu (it was condemned) and did not even need to be discussed. It was only as Christianity began to spread out into the Gentile world - where homosexuality was widely accepted - that Christian authors began to explicitly address the issue.

There is an early (AD 90-110) Jewish-Christian document known as "The Didache" which was not included in the Bible but which is believed by most scholars to be an authentic expression of early, orthodox Christianity, and it has a very clear condemnation not only of homosexuality but also of abortion.

[Buckeye McFrog]

I suppose he sat down with them like prostitutes and tax collectors and all the others. Forgave them and told them to go and sin no more.

[allendale]

If you are a Darwinian, homosexuality makes no evolutionary sense. If you’re a religionist, it is condemned as a sin. If you are a parent, it is the primordial horror that all wish to avoid. If you are a politician its campaign funds and votes.