Different Christian views on Homosexuality

Question 1

Context:

• Homosexuality in the UK Key Facts
• Sex between two men was a crime before 1967 and people were often imprisoned and sentenced to the death penalty if found out.
• Homosexuality was also considered a mental illnesses- most Christian denominations regarded homosexuality as a sin.
• In 1967 Parliament made it legal for gay men aged 21 and over to have sex. The age of consent was lowered to 18 in 1994 and 16 in 2001.
• The first same-sex marriages took place in England and Wales on the 29th march 2014.

Question 2

Contemporary responses from Christianity:

FOR:
- Christians should take a leaf from the life of Jesus who accepted and valued members of society who were ‘socially disenfranchised.’
- The Archbishop of Canterbury in the mid-twentieth century, Geoffrey Fisher, pushed for decriminalisation of homosexuality. He said that sexuality is within ‘a sacred realm of privacy into which the law must not intrude.’

COMPROMISE:
- The Catholic Church makes a distinction between ‘tendencies’ and ‘acts’. Being gay is not a sin, but acting upon it is seen to be wrong. This is rooted in Natural Law thinking, where the purpose of sex is procreation, and since homosexual sex is not able to product children, it is wrong.
- Some Christians argue hat homosexuals should remain celibate.

AGAINST:
- The Church promotes heterosexual family life, there are issues related to how they can engage with the issue of homosexuality.

Question 3

Old Testament passages reinterpreted:

• ‘That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.’ (Genesis 2:24) The union of heterosexual marriage is part of God’s plan.

REINTERPRETATION: The Genesis story is just one version of a relationship, it does not explicitly condemn homosexual relationships.

• ‘You shall not lie with a man as you do with a woman. This is an abomination.’- Leviticus 18:22.

REINTERPRETATION: One argument is that this verse should be viewed in its context; Leviticus was written as a code pf conduct for the Jewish Nation to further its nation. Homosexual relationships cannot procreate, so that is why they were prohibited. There may also be translation issues; abomination means contrary to ritual; meaning it is contrary to expectation.

Story of Soddom and Gommorah: Lot was a prophet, who had gone to the city of Sodom. Two male angels stayed with Lot and the homosexual men in Sodom wanted to have sex with the angels. Lot escaped with his family and God destroyed the city of Soddom.

Reinterpretation: The moral of this story is not about homosexuality, but rather the violent actions of the people of Soddom. Prophet Ezekiel said that ‘Soddomn’s sins were pride, gluttony and laziness.’

Question 4

NT Passages on homosexuality:

‘Do not be deceived; Neither the sexually immoral nor idolators nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor greedy nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.’ 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

REINTERPRETATION: Most people are on the list, so most people are in need of forgiveness, not just homosexuals. By ‘sex with men’, the Bible may have been referring to the prostitutes at the time of the bible.

St Paul- ‘Even women pervert the natural use of their sex by unnatural acts, In the same way men give up natural sexual relations with women and burn with passions for each other.’- Romans 1:26-27

REINTERPRETATION: This is part of a huge list of immoral acts. and because the list is so extensive, we have no excuse to pass judgement on homosexuals in particular.

Question 5

Bible passages that do not condemn homosexuality:

• ‘You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgement do the same things.’- St Paul
• ‘Do not just or you too will be judged. For with what you measure others, it will be measured against you.’- Matthew 7:1-2
• ‘Then God said, ‘Let us make man in Our Image and Likeness.’ This means that God made us as we are, so gay people were meant to be gay. God does not make mistakes, so we should not view homosexuality as wrong.
• The running theme of the NT is that we should not judge others, as everyone needs forgiveness,

Question 6

Supplement notes;

• ‘Abomination’ verse: Daniel Karslake, director of ‘For the Bible tells me so’, says the word ‘abomination’ comes from the Hebrew word ‘ to eval; meaning contrary to ritual. Leviticus was the holiness cost designed to further the tribe of the Jewish nation. There is nothing about divine judgement.
• On ‘unnatural’ relationships: In Romans 1:26-27, speaking of idolators in the Greek and Roman world, Paul wrote ‘The men also abandoned natural relationships with women and were inflamed with lust for one another.’ This verse is likely to have been intended to focus Christians’ minds on procreation.

Question 7

What Jesus says about homosexuality:

• Jesus did not say anything about homosexuality, perhaps because it was not an issue of concern for him. This is significant because Jesus spoke out about other issues, for example he firmly condemned divorce.

Question 8

Contemporary Christian views on homosexuality:

AGAINST:
- Many Evangelical Protestants believe that the bible is the directly inspired and infallible word of God. Homosexual orientation and practice are therefore both ‘detestable’ and incompatible with being a Christian.

FOR:
- Other Protestant Churches take into account the insights of Biblical criticism and of psychology and genetics. They may fully support the changes in the law, and seek to follow the example of Jesus who challenged social and religious injustice, treating all people as having equal value.

COMPROMISE:
- Catholic view (see previous)
- CoE: For- considers the liberal and progressive views of many of its members, and the knowledge that many of its clergy are gay. Against- Also has to take into account the fundamentalist wing in the UK and in other Anglican Churches, notably in Nigeria.
- CoE official teaching: gay relationships fall short of the ideal which is heterosexual marriage, but homosexuals should be treated with respect. However, clergy in gay relationship should practice celibacy, in contrast to heterosexual clergy who are able to get married.