StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Homosexuality and the Bible - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The issue of homosexuality in the church has long been an incredibly explosive one, provoking immensely strong opinions on both sides of the issue. …
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER95.8% of users find it useful
Homosexuality and the Bible
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Homosexuality and the Bible"

The issue of homosexuality in the church has long been an incredibly explosive one, provoking immensely strong opinions on both sides of the issue.While it will certainly be a very, very long time before these arguments are resolved in any particular direction, there is a robust theological discussion, as well there should be. There were two particular kinds of arguments that surprised me and challenged my own previously held views about homosexuality. I have long believed that homosexuality is a sin as discussed in biblical teachings, and that barring rare instances of people with the physical characteristics of both sexes homosexuality should not be practiced.

The two arguments that challenged my views were reinterpretations of biblical texts that I had thought were conclusively against homosexuality, and an appeal to the evolving message of god which can take the form of experience and communal consciousness. I am not sure that these arguments have convinced me that I am wrong, but they at very least have made me look at things differently. One of the most striking arguments I read for this assignment was the two different interpretations of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah presented in the Johns article.

In this biblical section it is clear that God hold the actions of the people in Sodom and Gomorrah to be morally reprehensible – the language is explicit and the punishment very, very clear. But I had never previously considered exactly what aspect of the passage was morally reprehensible – to me it had always been about homosexuality and nothing else. But there are, upon reading the Johns article, a wide variety of ways to interpret this text. Here the sexual relationship is not a loving and committed one, but an incredibly violent one, and I hope that if the group was coming to gang-rape a woman the reaction of god and the bible would be just as negative.

What is somewhat troubling about this passage is that Lot, who is held in this to be moral, being saved by God, offered his own daughters for the gang-rape, but this seems to be upheld by the biblical text. This has demonstrated to me that all biblical texts can be interpreted in a wide variety of ways, This section of the text also ties in interestingly to the next argument, those based on lived experiences and adoption of a communal conscience, and made me recall the other things I know about Lot.

Lot not only offers his own daughters, virgins who had never had sex, up to the gang to be abused in the place of angels, but also had a drunken incestuous relationship with those two daughters. Yet he is the person that God chooses to save from Sodom. This just showed to me that what is held up as morally acceptable in the bible may not be how we in a society today view morality – anyone in any church would condemn someone offering their children up for gang-rape, or having sex with their own daughters, regardless of the circumstances, even though the bible tacitly condones this behaviour throughout its text.

The Johnson article extends this communal conscience to a more fully developed and robust argument. One of his central points is that the bible, though an important resource, cannot be adhered to dogmatically at every point throughout – if one did so they would, as he said, “stone physicists and adulterers,” as the bible (Johnson). His argument that today’s arguments about homosexuality have some similarity to the arguments about the abolishment of slavery during the 19th century and before.

Slavery, as Johnson says, is something that is held as okay throughout the text – many people who are supposed to be morally good and supported by God hold slaves, and no one, not even Jesus, specifically condemns the practice. But throughout the history of the world, people began to see the horrors of slavery, the damage it does to individual people, and have decided that it is something that needs to be banned, that cannot be a part of Christian life. If this process can happen, where a communal conscience develops to decide that something is not okay in Christian society, could it be possible for the reverse of that process to happen?

Could society observe the practice of gays and lesbians in our community, see people who are living in loving and committed partnerships in conformance with how a Christian marriage should be led, and decide that despite biblical evidence this is something we cans support? The final argument that challenged me was the idea that there is probably simply too much focus being put on this. The vast majority of Christians are straight, not homosexual, and thus the vast majority of sexually improper practices are done by straight people (Johns).

Perhaps given the state of immorality that many Christians are living in – heterosexual premarital sex, heterosexual extramarital affairs and so on, more energy should be spent on those issues and less on homosexuality. The arguments in these articles was fairly compelling and challenged many of my preconceived notions about homosexuality and the Christian Church. It has shown me that biblical passages are perhaps not so easy to interpret as I had thought, and can be interpreted differently than I had, and that there is a source of morality outside the bible that must be considered during these discussions.

Works Cited Johns, Lauren L. "Explicit and Implicit References to Homosexuality in the Bible." AMBS. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. . Johnson, Luke T., and Eve Thushnet. "Homosexuality & the Church | Commonweal Magazine." Homepage | Commonweal Magazine. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. . Stassen, Glen Harold, and David P. Gushee. Kingdom Ethics: following Jesus in Contemporary Context. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2003. Print.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Homosexuality and the Bible Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/religion-and-theology/1434222-homosexuality-and-the-bible
(Homosexuality and the Bible Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words)
https://studentshare.org/religion-and-theology/1434222-homosexuality-and-the-bible.
“Homosexuality and the Bible Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/religion-and-theology/1434222-homosexuality-and-the-bible.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Homosexuality and the Bible

Homosexuality and Religion

Homosexual or heterosexual is not defined in the bible as we are all members of humanity saved by the cross of Christ.... Main Body Laws on homosexuality have traditionally been governed by promoting traditional morals.... True, the Catholic Church and other monotheistic religions have condemned homosexuality,...
7 Pages (1750 words) Term Paper

United Methodist Church Doctrine on Homosexuality

Homosexuality in the bible: A Reinterpretation of the Stance of the United Methodist Church Throughout the years, the church, in all of its manifestations, has been responsible for answering many of the time's most difficult and relevant questions.... Naturally, although some of these may seem as somewhat comical during the current time, if a particular church or group of believers sought to take these directives literally, then truly a miserable interpretation of the love of God as exhibited elsewhere throughout the bible must necessarily be reflected....
8 Pages (2000 words) Research Paper

Homosexuality as a Theological Issue

The basic tenets in support of these views include the nature of homosexuality, morality of homosexuality, way out of homosexuality and response to homosexuality.... In his article, “homosexuality and Christian Faith: A Theological Reflection” Jennings points out that homosexuals and homosexuality is one of the major importance deliberations of denominational bodies.... Currently, homosexuality is social issue, and one that draws a lot of attention from different fronts....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Effects of Society on the Development of a Homosexual

homosexuality, the tendency of an individual to be attracted sexually, emotionally and romantically toward another individual of the same sex, has long been condemned and criticized by society, on the whole and individual members as well.... The aspect of homosexuality is even… homosexuality being one of the three types of sexual orientations is now believed to be caused by physiological factors rather However, the general attitude that the society has toward gay men or lesbian women continues to be negative....
10 Pages (2500 words) Research Paper

Religion Can Be Used to Promote Hate

This book is another source that studies Homosexuality and the Bible.... the bible, Christianity, & Homosexuality will be used two ways.... The first is to show what types of myths exist about the bible and homosexuality.... the bible only mentions homosexuality several times in the bible.... the bible does not speak of domestic partners in a homosexual relationship.... Dwyer numbered all of the references of homosexuality in the bible to seven....
5 Pages (1250 words) Annotated Bibliography

Equal Opportunity of Homosexuality Through History

The author of this coursework "Equal Opportunity of homosexuality Through History" describes changes in attitudes with regard to sexuality.... This paper outlines historical and contemporary beliefs on homosexuality, its impact on the health and social care of homosexuals, their cognitive and psychological aspects.... This paper seeks to discuss an issue concerning homosexuality particularly with regard to the health and social care of homosexuals....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

The Case for the Recognition of Same-Sex Relationship

Clearly, same-sex relationship remains a controversial and polarizing issue, particularly in many Western societies wherein the legal and social norms emphasize equality.... In recent years, the gay movement has effectively promoted its cause to the point that same sex relationship… There are now several Western countries that opted to adopt the legalization of same-sex marriage....
19 Pages (4750 words) Essay

Does an Absent Father Lead to Homosexuality in Their Children

Apart from the absence of fathers and nurturing, Christianity and the bible play a significant role in guiding the male child in the proper direction.... This assignment "Does an Absent Father Lead to homosexuality in Their Children?... describes the concept of homosexuality....
6 Pages (1500 words) Assignment
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us