Posted on 05/10/2012 2:19:06 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
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.
> When God the Father wrote that homosexuality is an abomination, that was also God the Son.
Good point, and certainly consistent with the Bible. The only problem with it is that almost nobody among modern Christians or Jews supports following all the commandments attributed to the God of the Old Testament (or the New Testament, for that matter) — even if they say that they do. He not only said that homosexuality is an abomination but said that homosexuals should be killed (witches also, and if I recall correctly, children who curse their parents — a “damn you” could get them a death penalty), and a good many other offenses that I don’t feel like looking up right now.
Most modern Americans would choose to allow recognition of homosexual marriage rather than accept everything said in the Bible. Doing so would also mean no sex outside marriage by heterosexuals, and no divorce and remarriage (in most cases). Also many of the New Testament passages say to store up treasures in heaven instead of on earth and to live a spiritual life rather than be concerned about material possessions. That’s not what most Americans — or people anywhere — are doing.
The right needs to be careful in how it opposes Obama on this issue, else it will win the argument but lose the election. I think it should be framed as Obama further weakening the respect given to traditional marriage (and it should be pointed out that adult homosexuals can already live as couples and have their unions recognized. It’s just reserving the term “marriage” for heterosexual unions that’s at stake.) If the issue becomes homosexual marriage versus concepts that have a good bit of resemblance to Shariah law, I think homosexual marriage will win.
“Yeah, but that’s just some obscure passage in Romans”
There are those that are interested in pursuing the truth,
and those that are interested in pursuing an agenda.
You’ll never be able to convince the latter to conform to the former.
Thank you!!!
Jesus didn’t HAVE to directly say anyting about homosexuality because He had already given us His formula and definition of marriage.
What Jesus did have to say necessarily rules our “gay marriage” as being real marriage.
I am not unsympathetic to people who believe they love someone and want to commit themselves to them.
I am perfectly fine with minding my own business.
However....they are not fine with keeping their nose out of MY business.
They want the schools to teach MY kids a definition of marriage that is contrary to Jesus’s definition.
They want to tell my children their mother is a nutty/bigoted/homophobe.
They will soon be suing my church in an attempt to force our priests to perform ceremonies that contradict the teaching of Jesus.
They have already shut down adoption agencies.
They are haters and heterophobes who are completely intolerant.
They are waging a war on religion....and on Jesus’s teachings.
And the only One we have to access the Father.
Even the ancient Greeks, who’s social order was built around homosexuality, never thought to have had “gay” marriage enocoded in their laws, evidently knowing it wreck their whole sciety.
I believe Jesus DID say that a man shall leave his parents for his wife and they shall become one. That statement sure was a statement on marriage between a man and a woman.
Matthew 5:17 - “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
Jesus didn’t mention child molestation either.
What a weak argument. Besides .... Jesus being God in the flesh (Emmanuel - God with us), if it’s in the bible (God’s word) it’s Jesus’ words too.
that is a great connection!! thanks! I never thought of that!
In fact, it's largely the heterosexuals who invented unnatural sex and gay marriage.
Marriage as defined by God's law is supposed to be exclusive, not even looking at a random person with lust, lifelong, til-death-do-us-part, sacred, and fertile.
Porn and premarital sex are pervasive in today's heterosexual culture. Divorce/remarriage is found even amongst Christian pastors and ministers; and contraception is OK'ed even by some of the most conservative "Bible" churches. These are the practices that have already radically redefined marriage, making it optional, dissolvable, serial-polygamous, unnatural and deliberately nonprocreative.
Isn't it queer? Straights invented gay marriage.
It's not surprising that now the gays want in.
There are three kinds of people. 1) Those who believe the bible to be God's word (and they either follow it or not...) 2) Those who think it is a fairy tale...and 3) Those who think some of it is truth and some of it outdated since God has "grown up" in 2000 years...and they are the deciders of that truth.
Nominate yours for Post of the Day.
I don't get it. Like saying gays invented heterosexual marriage? Go Proud yourself somewhere other than FR.
It's true, though, that you're not comprehending what I said. I said heterosexuals had already largely redefined marriage by accepting premarital sex, divorce/remarriage, contraception, and the rest, so that marriage was neither exclusive, nor faithful, nor durable, nor fertile.
This is sin.
The gays now find that redefined, de-sanctified, sterile marriage suits them to a T. That's even more sin.
Sin is damnable stuff. Nothing to be proud of.
Not all homosexuals are haters and heterophobes but the ones who are poison the well.
I hope you’re prepared for abuse.
Body armor etc.
I don’t know that any sexual proclivities are a sin. I think gay people are probably born that way. I’ve known quite a few. Why would anyone CHOOSE a lifestyle that, until very recently was not only hated but dangerous?
It’s what one does with his or her sexual attractions that matter. Longtime gay couples who are moral and faithful may be better in God’s eyes than heterosexual couples who are rampant adulterers.
Unlike a lot of people, I am pretty tolerant of God and don’t pretend to know what he thinks of things.
You don't have to "pretend" anything. He said exactly what He thinks of it several times in the Bible.
Unless you think He changed His mind at some point?
If they are not engaging in sexual relations, I respect their purity.
If they are engaging in sexual relations, they are engaging in an objectively immoral act. Whether they know it or not. (A lot are confused about this.)
Very much like longtime straight fornicators who are "faithful". A lot of confusion here, too.
It's becoming common. In very many of our families, our daughters, nephews, sons, cousins, if the overall statistics can be believed.
Though common, it's still disordered, and those involved in it should be called to repentance. We hope and pray for that.
I have actusally met, though, a used-to-be-actively-gay couple who decided not to have sex. I think their choice is virtuous and honorable, because abstinence can be quite difficult and is certainly countercultural at this point, yet it is what God's law requires of everyone except lawfully wedded husbands and wives.
If I may ask, pray for all these sruggling people.
I’ve studied the Bible for years... and years. I’ve gone to more Bible study classes than I can remember.
I’m not a literalist. It’s impossible. It can be refuted on the first three pages of Genesis.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.