Posted on 06/15/2024 9:03:39 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
I'm sure you've heard this argument before. It's a common argument in LGBT-affirming circles. It goes something like this: Since Jesus did not specifically address homosexuality, it is assumed that he was accepting of it. This position is often referred to as the “silent argument.”
In this article, I aim to provide you with a biblically grounded and theologically sound refutation of the “silent argument.”
By examining Jesus's teachings on marriage, sexuality, and sin, we can clearly understand his beliefs and teachings. This will allow us to respond to the misinterpretations promoting Jesus as a gay-affirming Jewish rabbi.
Responding to the silent argument
It is poor reasoning to think because Jesus didn’t mention a particular sin or immoral evil, he somehow was for it. This is problematic for three primary reasons.
First, are we to assume that Jesus' failure to mention bestiality, rape, and incest explicitly implies his support of these immoral acts? Of course not. Even gay revisionists recognize the flaws and limitations of using “silence” as an indicator of Jesus' support for immoral behavior.
Second, the “silent argument” makes unwarranted assumptions about the cultural context of Jesus' time and attributes excessive importance to what Jesus' culture should have acknowledged and accepted as truth. But it wasn’t like parents were having kids coming out left and right like in our culture today. At that time, homosexuality wasn't a significant issue. It was widely understood that same-sex behavior was not in line with the Scriptures and was, therefore, forbidden for Jews to practice.
Third, the “silent argument” falsely assumes that the Gospel accounts encompass all of Jesus' teachings and views, which is a stretch. A close companion of Jesus even said at the end of his account, “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25). John uses a bit of exaggeration to emphasize that Jesus had plenty to say about a wide range of topics. This goes back to the point made earlier. If homosexuality were as prevalent and acceptable as gay revisionists claim, then indeed, we would have evidence of Jesus speaking directly to the moral issue in the affirmative.
But wait. Many gay revisionists like to cite the Sermon on the Mount as supporting their inclusive beliefs about sexuality. However, it's not a solid source to support their view. If there were many LGBT individuals in Jesus’ time and he was accepting of them, why then didn't Jesus deliver a “Gay Pride Sermon on the Mount.” That would have been the perfect opportunity to address the issue of homosexuality openly to help change people’s minds.
Yet, that’s not what Jesus did. What we actually see in the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus addressing the issue of lustful desires, teaching that those who look at another person with lust have already committed adultery in their hearts (Matthew 5:28). In Mark 7:21-23, Jesus takes it a step further and explicitly lays out specific lusts and sins, “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” Jesus used the Greek word porneia, which encompasses not only “sexual immorality” but also homosexual sex.
Based on these two passages alone, it is evident that we receive direct teachings from Jesus that are far from silent. Jesus' teachings stress the significance of self-control and the necessity to safeguard one's heart and mind against impure thoughts and sexual sin, which dishonor God.
What Jesus actually affirmed
A straightforward and honest reading of the canonical Gospels reveals that Jesus’ ministry, teachings, and self-understanding are firmly grounded in the Jewish Scriptures.
In Matthew 5:17-18, Jesus declares, “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. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” In this statement, Jesus affirms the moral laws of the Old Testament, which include prohibitions against homosexual acts as outlined in Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13. The consistency of the moral law in Jesus' teachings (as we just read in Matthew 5:28 and Mark 7:21-23) indicates that He supported these prohibitions.
There is, however, an attempt to counter the interpretation of Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, which details homosexuality as an “abomination,” by suggesting that it refers only to pagan practices or rituals centered around temple idol worship. But that’s not what you see in the context of Leviticus. In Leviticus, Moses lists sexual tiers from bad to worse: 1. adultery, 2. homosexuality, 3. incest, and 4. bestiality.
These prohibitions are determined based on their rejection of the standard of moral living, especially regarding sexuality and marriage. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus emphasized the sanctity and permanence of marriage as outlined in the creation account in the book of Genesis.
Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So, they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate (Matthew 19:5-6).
Jesus couldn't have been more explicit about his beliefs and affirmations regarding marriage and sex. In Matthew 19, Jesus provides a clear blueprint for the sacred union of marriage and emphasizes the importance of sexual relations within the context of marriage. His teachings align with and affirm the moral standards set in the Mosaic law, upholding the purity and holiness of sexual relations within the bonds of marriage between a man and woman.
Considering Jesus's affirmation of the Jewish Scriptures, the creational model of marriage being between a man and a woman, and the call for repentance from all types of sin, including sexual sin, it is evident that Jesus did not need to address homosexual practices specifically. His teachings made it clear that he had high standards for sexuality, relationships, and marriage.
Jason Jimenez is the founder and president of Stand Strong Ministries and is a respected Christian-worldview speaker, and faculty member at Summit Ministries. He is the best-selling author of Hijacking Jesus: How Progressive Christians Are Remaking Him and Taking Over the Church, Challenging Conversations: A Practical Guide to Discuss Controversial Topics in the Church, and Parenting Gen Z: Guiding Your Child through a Hostile Culture.
yup
+
Jhn 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
\/
the whole book
is what Jesus, the Word, said .
Matthew 10:15 New International Version
Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
Golly!
I wonder just what Jesus was thinking about here?
Sodomites that didn’t hold to the Sabbath laws?
(I shudda read ahead)!
By staying silent, he implicitly refers to the Hebrew law and its stance. This carried over to modern Christianity.
Genesis 18:20-21
20. Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous
21. that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."
Genesis 19:4-7
4. Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom--both young and old--surrounded the house.
5. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."
6. Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him
7. and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing.
Leviticus niv
18:22 Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.
20:13 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.
Isaiah 3:9 The look on their faces testifies against them;
they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it.
Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves.
================================================
2 Peter 2:13b Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight.
They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.
================================================
Ezekiel 16:49-50 "`Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom:
She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.
They were haughty and did detestable things before me.
Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.
1. But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
3. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
4. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;
5. if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;
6. if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;
7. and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men
8. (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)--
9. if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.
10. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings;
11. yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord.
12. But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.
13. They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.
But there IS hope!!!
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
9. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:
Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders
10. nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
11. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Jesus did mention eunuchs, however.
Genesis 18:20-21
20. Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous
21. that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."
Golly!
I wonder what this 'sin' is that is being pointed out here??
In Leviticus, Moses lists sexual tiers from bad to worse: 1. adultery, 2. homosexuality, 3. incest, and 4. bestiality.
_____________
I am going to have to read and research that. For starters, I didn’t know there was a stronger word than ‘abomination’ used in scripture.... On one level, is it logical that there be tiers? Sin is sin and I don’t think scripture supports a view that some parts of hell are hotter than others....
Here is a question that I am hoping someone can educate me on......Obviously there were two occasions in scripture when incest was not only allowed but encouraged. The first was after Adam and Eve and the second was after the flood when humanity was essentially starting over. There are other examples in scripture where something ‘prohibited’ is allowed for God’s purpose to be fulfilled.....but is it clearly outlined in scripture when the line was crossed chronologically so that incest moved from the permitted category to the sin category? And is that line clearly defined? How far from siblings does one have to be for it to no longer be considered incest?
I’m sure scripture lays all this out.....likely in Leviticus. Perhaps someone who is up on this topic can offer some thoughts or suggesta a good resource.....
In Genesis it says God created man and woman. It doesn’t say God created a man who later self identified as a woman or a woman that later self identified as a man.
The Lord validated all of Scripture by his life, death, burial, and resurrection.Only the biblically illiterate would ask such a question. Is Romans 1 less of Scripture than the Gospels? 1 Cor 6:9? All of Revelation?
It would be more intellectually honest to say that Jesus didn’t resurrect, as the Muslims assert.
Jesus called homosexuality a sin a number of times.
**Jhn 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
\/
the whole book
is what Jesus, the Word, said.**
And where did those words come from?....
...God the Father. The Son of God gave witness to that. Here are a few examples:
“...but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.** (John 8:26)
“For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.” John 12:49
“Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” John 14:10
“I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me;...” (John 17:8)
“I have given them thy word...” (John 17:14)
Hey, ya’ll have free will so do what you like but remember that there is price to be paid for everything, there is no such thing as a free lunch.
You left out that all major protestant denominations also condemned contraception until the Anglicans changed their teaching at the Lambeth conference in 1930.
This is not surprising as your reference material is from the UCG which in addition to not being Tinitarian (they believe that the Father and Jesus are seperate beings and that the Holy Spirit is not a Person at all) also believes that both Catholic and Protestant denominations fell away from the Faith a long time ago.
Your statement that the Catholic Church teaches sex is dirty and evil demonstrates your lack of an even basic understanding of the Catholic Faith or a parroting of propaganda (including those who have had experience with bad or fallen away catholics who have an axe to grind)
In general, nothing said by leftists can ever be taken at face value.
LOL..
“God’s pretty clear in the OT about homosexuality”
The gospel of John makes it pretty clear that Jesus was with God and was God in the beginning, and since. So Jesus did say He was opposed to homosexuality. From the Beginning.
The hypocrites weasel out of that be saying there was not an explicit, directly stated quote from Him about it in words that they approve of.
(“I did not come to change the Law but to fulfill it.)
🔝🔝🔝
✝️🙏🛐
Exactly
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.