What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality?

What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality?
By: Kevin DeYoung

I would highly recommend this book for people from all sides of this issue. It is not driven by a political agenda, and I appreciated how Kevin DeYoung approached this emotionally charged topic.

Before diving into the complexities of Greek and Hebrew language and all things Bible interpretation, he is quick to clarify something that needs to be reiterated more often: “I hope we can agree that the Bible is manifestly not a book about homosexuality. That is to say, if we think the big takeaway from this Big Book is the rightness or wrongness of homosexual activity, then we’ve managed to take a sublime narrative and pound it into a single talking point… the first and more significant question is ‘What does the Bible teach about everything?’

He then defines his terms and explains that the question he is trying to answer in this particular book is: "Is homosexual activity a sin that must be repented of, forsaken, and forgiven, or, given the right context and commitment, can we consider same-sex sexual intimacy a blessing worth celebrating and solemnizing?" (the latter as suggested in other books such as Torn)

I think this is of utmost importance when talking about this issue as people have a framework they understand certain words through which can cause a lot of problems and misunderstandings. DeYoung is clear in his semantics and accessible in his application.

Part 1 of his book focused on Scripture- both Old Testament and New Testament. He begins in Genesis with the creation account- becoming one flesh: is this prescriptive? is it more about not being alone than not being incomplete?

He moves on to the story of Lot with his daughters in the Sodom and Gomorrah account- is this actually about homosexuality or is this really just about non-consensual sex?

The passages in Leviticus get a lot of attention in today’s debate. If we have to obey Leviticus, why are we wearing clothes made with two kinds of fabric, eating bacon, , etc.? And so a big question is: Does Leviticus still apply to us today or is it part of the Mosaic law-covenant we are no longer bound by?

He fleshes out six reasons for why we can take those verses seriously and concludes with, “Anyone who has studied the Bible as a serious discipline understands that navigating the relationship between the Old and the New Testament can be tricky business. We don’t simply adopt the Mosaic covenant as our church membership covenant. Nor do we simply dismiss God’s gracious self-disclosure in the Torah because of a gag line about eating shellfish. Leviticus was part of the Bible Jesus read, the Bible Jesus believed, and the Bible Jesus did not want to abolish. We ought to take seriously how the Holiness Code reveals to us the holy character of God and the holy people we are supposed to be.”

In the New Testament he focuses on Romans, 1 Corinthians and 1 Timothy. He addresses the question of whether the Romans verses is more about exchanging “natural” for “unnatural” relationships in terms of sexual orientation or exploitation and more study of the original language(malakoi and arsenokoitai).

In Part 2 he touches on all the most common objections to the traditional Biblical view:

• the traditional view of marriage is only based on a few verses?

• how would God create people with desires they are not allowed to express? isn’t he a fair God?

• can’t we reject a traditional view of marriage because of cultural distance—back then the culture didn’t have any concept of sexual orientation and healthy covenantal same-sex unions?

• church negligence- why do Christians make a big deal of homosexuality and give a pass to other sins like divorce and gluttony?

• but God is a loving, gracious, and forgiving God, won’t he will love us and save us no matter what relationships we engage in if they are healthy?

• do you really want to hold onto the traditional view of marriage and be on the wrong side of history?

Though his book focuses on homosexuality and the church, he includes appendices that discuss what is at stake in terms of the ‘political’ aspect of same-sex unions in terms of human flourishing and equal rights. He also includes some thoughtful suggestions on how we communicate on this topic in a loving, yet confident way.

Well-researched throughout, taking into account the original language—what the words mean and how else they are used in Scripture— this book is an excellent, concise, intelligent, and grace-filled discussion on a highly relevant and controversial topic.

“We cannot settle for a culturally imported understanding of love. The steadfast love of God must not be confused with a blanket affirmation or an inspirational pep talk. No halfway responsible parent would ever think that loving her child means affirming his every desire and finding ways to fulfill whatever wishes he deems important… We can respect differing opinions and treat our opponents with civility, but we cannot give our unqualified, unconditional affirmation to every belief and behavior. We must love what God loves. But we must also hate what God hates.”

[note: hate “what” not hate “who”- God loves all of his created people even when we sin]

“A rant is not an idea, and feeling hurt is not an argument. To be sure, how we make each other feel is not unimportant. But in our age of perpetual outrage, we must make clear that offendedness is not proof of the coherence or plausibility of any argument. Now is not the time for fuzzy thinking. Now is not the time to shy away from careful definitions. Now is not the time to let moods substitute for logic. These are difficult issues. These are personal issues. These are complicated issues. We cannot chart our ethical course by what feels better. We cannot build our theology based on what makes us look nicer. We cannot abdicate intellectual responsibility because smart people disagree.”

“Let God be true though every one were a liar…” Romans 3:4

“The God we worship is indeed a God of love. Which does not, according to any verse in the Bible, make sexual sin acceptable. But it does, by the witness of a thousand verses all over the Bible, make every one of our sexual sins changeable, redeemable, and wondrously forgivable.”

I would also recommend reading from a perspective of someone who has been there—

Jackie Hill Perry’s book ‘Gay Girl, Good God.’

Rachel Gilson’s book ‘Born Again This Way.’

Sam Allberry’s book ‘Is God Anti-Gay?’

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