Scripture, Tradition, Church Leaders, the Holy Spirit: What Do They Say about Homosexuality?

Dear Readers,

OK, one more post about homosexuality and then I can move on to other subjects that we'd all enjoy a little more.

Historically, Christians have decried homosexual acts as sinful.  They draw on at least four sources to justify their position: 1) scriptures 2) tradition 3) Ecclesiastical authority 4) the mystical guidance of the Holy Spirit.  And really, these are the only four sources that Christians have to look to when determining whether anything is sinful.

1) The scriptures that are frequently used to defend heterosexuality and traditional marriage include the following:

Genesis 2: 18 - 25, the creation of Adam and Eve, God's endorsement of their marriage.

Genesis 19: 24 + 25, God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were cities rife with homosexuality.

Leviticus 18:22, the law of God revealed to Moses, which specifically forbids homosexual acts.

Romans 1: 24 - 27, Paul's condemnation.

There is also the general heteronormativity that prevails throughout the Bible.  All throughout the Bible, God's people have been heterosexual, and they have been commanded to not commit adultery.  

2) Tradition.  Modern Christians who honor the customs of their Christian forbearers have got to recognize that Christendom has always been overwhelmingly heterosexual.  This is the way Christians have organized their societies since time out of mind.  There have been experiments with polygamy, as with the Mormons, and experiments with celibacy, as with the Shakers.  But these are aberrations from the norm, and they also fit within traditional understandings of sexuality.  There has never been a widespread, long-lasting Christian experiment with homosexuality.  It just hasn't been done. 

3) Ecclesiastical authority.  To list all the condemnations of homosexual acts by Christian leaders would fill volumes.  A few church leaders who have spoken clearly on this subject come to mind: Joel Osteen, Elder Boyd K. Packer, Cardinal George, Jerry Falwell, Billy Graham, and the guys from Chick-Filet.  Also, gay couples have not been married in Christian churches.  Oh, there may be a few Christian groups who perform commitment ceremonies for gay couples, but these groups are very new and very small.  The men and women at the top of church hierarchies have overwhelmingly condemned homosexual acts as sinful.

4) The mystical guidance of the Holy Spirit.  OK, this source of authority is pretty squishy.  It's very difficult to distinguish the Holy Spirit from emotions.  There are plenty of gay people who claim that they are totally at peace with God, even while continuing their gay lifestyle.  But I'll just go ahead and assert that the Holy Spirit has confirmed to me that homosexual acts are sinful.

Despite these four sources of authority for Christians, some of the faithful have wavered on their stance on homosexuality.  Some have been timid to speak up about the subject, while some have gone so far as to reverse their positions and advocate acceptance of homosexual acts.  Steve Chalke, for example, an evangelical pastor in England who heads a church of 20,000, now openly supports gay marriage.  And then there is a new American group called NALT (Not All Like That).  They're a group of self-described Christians who support gay marriage.  Pastors like Chalke and groups like NALT have developed methods to topple the aforementioned four sources of authority.

As for scripture, they reduce its authoritative power.  They point to errors and contradictions in the Bible, and they claim much of the Biblical text is figurative.  But the chief tool of the "gay Christian," though, might be giving Scripture the cold shoulder.  They ignore it.  Instead of delivering sermons based on a close reading of the Bible, they babble about God's universal love, tolerance and acceptance of nearly everyone and everything.  They preach that everything is hunky-dory.  They tacitly introduce the ideas that maybe there is no Devil and you really don't need to go to church very often and you really don't need to be extreme in your religious devotion.  Just take things easy, they say, go with the flow, and love everyone.  And "gay Christians" love to remind people that Jesus was all about love and mercy and that Jesus was harshest to the hypocritical hyper-religious Scribes and Pharisees, and they love to remind people to "judge not." 

(Personally, I don't understand those Christians who are constantly telling others not to judge anyone.  Are Christians to understand that we aren't supposed to distinguish between good and evil?  Or, are we to understand that when we do distinguish between good and evil, we shouldn't talk very much about the distinction?  Are we not supposed to encourage others to forsake their idol gods and follow the teachings of Christ?) 

2) Christians who support gay marriage tear down the authority of tradition mostly by ignoring it.  They claim a new day has dawned, or that God has created a lot of gay people now, or that Christians in the past were homophobic and intolerant.

3) Christians who support gay marriage diminish the authority of church leaders by disagreeing with them, arguing with them, and disassociating with them.

4) As for the Holy Spirit's authority, it's pretty easy for Christians to claim that the Holy Spirit is telling them that homosexuals are born that way and that they should have the right to marry whoever they love and so on.

Of course, I side with the traditional sources of authority in Christendom.  I think that the Scriptures, tradition, church leaders, and the Holy Spirit are clear.  I think they all point to homosexual acts being sinful.

Sincerely,
Telemoonfa