I have been urged by a friend
and colleague to write a response to many of the arguments set forth in a
popular article about the Bible and Homosexuality: The Great Debate: Justin’s
View. Her urging is due to a re-opening
of sorts on seminary campuses of the
debate about LGBTQ+ marriage and its place in the church, particularly in my
own denomination: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Since 2009, my denomination has affirmed LGBTQ+
pastors in “committed life-long relationships,” and since that vote took place,
it could be said that more “conservative”/orthodox voices have been silenced in
the debate. I am encouraged that other
voices are seemingly being asked to rejoin the conversation, and I hope to contribute
to that conversation in some small manner.
My friend
directed me to Justin’s article, and I read it.
There were numerous points that caught my attention that I thought
deserved rebuttal, and I will do that shortly.
But before I do so, I want to lay out a few of my assumptions which guide
my arguments.
1. I consider
the Bible to be God’s revelation to humankind about who God is and what God has
done. I do not view the Bible as
humankind’s thoughts about God or ideas about God. To view the Bible in this
second capacity opens up the Pandora’s box of allowing me to shape God into my
own image instead of the other way around.
2. I view the
Bible through the lens of Christ and the “chief article of faith.” In Lutheran-speak, this means Christ is the
center of the biblical message, and that message centers on the justification
of sinful humans as they are reconciled to God through the work of Jesus. There are a lot of theologically loaded terms
in that last statement, ones that would need a lot of unpacking in a longer
essay, but be that as I am trying to keep this one as short as possible, I will
not unpack them now.
3. I also
operate under the principle that scripture interprets scripture–that the best
methodology of understanding certain words and texts are to look to other
similar words and texts within the Bible itself and then secondly to outside
sources.
4. I also
deeply respect and honor the historical situation these books were written
into. I believe the author’s intent is
primary and that we should not be imposing modern definitions on the Greek and
Hebrew words.
5. While I hold
no PhDs in biblical interpretation, I tend to spend quite a bit of time doing
exegetical research, particularly in the New Testament. On my bookshelf are numerous commentaries
from the following series: Pillar New Testament, Word, New International
Commentary of the New Testament, Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, and
Expositor’s Bible Commentary. I’ve also
read N.T. Wright’s Matthew-Romans “For Everyone” Series. These commentaries
make up the bulk of my biblical studies along with numerous lectures from
scholars on YouTube. I am much more
comfortable with New Testament scholarship than Old Testament scholarship, yet
there are still some places where I have studied deeply. You will see some of that commentary later.
6. I also hope
to do justice to Justin’s arguments and commentary. If I have misunderstood them or
misrepresented them, please call me out on it.
Too often, in my estimation, arguments today are geared towards what we
think was said and not what was said. I
oftentimes see people talk past each other and not fully engage with what was
said. I will try my best to NOT do this
but rather to engage the scope of what I hope is being said. Again, I hope you will critique me should I
miss the mark.
Justin’s View
can be read in its fullness here:
https://geekyjustin.com/great-debate/?fbclid=IwAR2jg_
I am pleased
that Justin is what I would call a moderate supporter of the LGBTQ+ position;
although he would call himself a conservative/evangelical. He is conservative in that he believes that
proper sexual expression be expressed within the bounds of “a committed,
loving, monogamous, lifelong, Christ-centered relationship.” There are some these days who believe this
definition to be too narrow and want to do away with any sort of boundary for
sexual expression. I side with Justin on
this one. Sexual relationships have
certain boundaries. In this, we are in
full agreement.
I am also in
full agreement with Justin that many heterosexual marriages do not meet the
standard that he sets forth. Many
heterosexual marriages are not Christ-centered, and many are certainly not
life-long. The divorce rate is just as
terrible among Christians as it is among those outside the Church. This is a huge black-eye for the Church and
makes Christians look like hypocrites when we speak about the sanctity of
marriage. And yet, perhaps we shall
touch upon this as we continue through this essay.
Where Justin
and I are not in agreement is his argument that the gender of the people
involved in “committed, loving, monogamous, lifelong Christ-centered
relationships” is unimportant. This takes him squarely away from the position
of a conservative/evangelical which is why I would call him moderate. Justin takes some time to argue why he holds
this position pointing out perceived flaws in the traditional argument for
marriage between a man and a woman before offering his apologetics for LGBTQ+
marriage.
I will first take a look at some of Justin’s
rebuttals to what he calls traditional arguments. I will rebut some of his biblical
interpretation, and I will seek to give a defense of traditional marriage which
is not based in any of Justin’s criticism.
Rather, my argument is based on a response to the grace of God given
through Jesus Christ.
First, let’s
take a look at Justin’s rebuttal of the four major arguments that
Traditionalists offer. I will not print
out any of Justin’s arguments themselves.
You can read them for yourself on his post. Instead, I will respond with simply my
rebuttals/agreement.
Argument #1
“Our bodies were designed for heterosexuality.”
Justin tries to
refute this argument by offering the following premise: just because our bodies
were designed one way does not mean using them another way is sinful.
He uses this
argument to support this premise. 1)
Sometimes the design does not work correctly.
2) When we use alternative means to overcome the malfunction, no one
deems this sinful. 3) If using things to overcome the malfunction were sinful,
we would have to outlaw a whole lot of things.
I agree that
sometimes the design malfunctions and does not work as intended. There are a host of ways this happens, some
through our own actions and some through no fault of our own. And I also agree that using methods to
overcome these malfunctions are not sinful.
But if Justin is saying that homosexual urges are malfunctions and not
part of the design, then it would follow that one does not seek to enhance the
malfunction, but to find a way to mitigate its effects. A deaf person (in Justin’s own example) uses
sign language to communicate. A
paralyzed person uses a wheel chair to become mobile. A surgeon does open-heart surgery to fix a
malfunctioning valve or bypass a clot.
But Justin isn’t suggesting that those with homosexual inclinations do
such a thing. He is not arguing that
they use external assistance to correct or mitigate the malfunction. He is arguing that the malfunction be
accepted and engaged in.
Because
Justin’s conclusion does not follow from his premises, his refutation of
Argument #1 falls far short. However,
Justin does have a legitimate question, and I will attempt to answer it when I
give my reasons against LGBTQ+ marriage below.
Argument #2:
Sex is for procreation.
I agree with
Justin on this point.
Argument #3:
There are no examples of same-sex marriage in the Bible.
I also agree
with Justin on this point as well.
Argument #4:
Because God says so. (a.k.a. There’s a rule against it.)
Justin argues
that this is what the whole argument comes down to. Actually, it isn’t, but again, I will deal
with that in my apology for heterosexual marriage below. Yet, it is important to deal with Justin’s
use and interpretation of the biblical texts that he cites. He makes four points under this argument. I will not deal with points #1 and #3. The story of Sodom (point #1) does deal more
with a lack of hospitality and the threat of violence than it does
homosexuality, and “arsenokoitai” (point #3) has just enough mystery around it
since Paul made that word up (although there are still some solid exegetical
reasons for using it). So, let’s delve
into the other two texts:
Romans 1:
Justin argues
that Paul begins this passage looking at all of humanity and then narrows it
down to idol worshipers in Rome who belong to fertility cults. Therefore, this passage does not apply to all
of humanity, but is geared towards a specific situation that Paul’s readers
would have easily understood and known beyond a shadow of a doubt was
sinful. Justin’s interpretation (based
upon very recent scholarship) allows wiggle room for homosexual behavior
outside of fertility cult worship.
However, Justin
(and the scholars who follow this interpretation) miss the bigger picture of
what Paul is trying to accomplish in the second half of Romans chapter 1,
chapter 2, and first half of chapter 3.
Paul is laying out his argument for the necessity of the Gospel which he
articulates in Chapter 3 verses 27-28.
Paul intends to show that ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God. Paul uses chapter 1 to show how ALL
Gentiles have fallen short, and then uses chapter 2 and part of 3 to show how
ALL Jews have fallen short. This text in
chapter 1 is meant to apply to all of humanity.
The question
that arises is this: if this text is meant to apply to all of humanity, then
why did Paul choose homosexual acts as the defining sin of idolatry? Why didn’t he choose one or more of the Ten
Commandments? He could have easily
chosen stealing or murder or lying or coveting.
Why not these?
The answer is:
Paul is dealing with what we might call the natural law and natural order. “What can be known about God is plain to
them, because God has shown it to them.
Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine
nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the
things he has made.” Romans 1:19-20,
NRSV.
Paul has in
mind here Genesis chapter 1 and the creation of humanity. He also has the first command of God ever
recorded in the Torah–a command that was not given on tablets of stone, but was
written into the very fabric of creation: Be fruitful and multiply. This command is known throughout every
culture and every society. It is as
natural as the air we breathe. It
extends to plants and animals alike. And
once the creation exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling
a human being or animals; once humanity began glorifying the creation instead
of the creator, even the most basic command was broken. Then, everything else went to the proverbial
hell in a handbasket to the point where “They know God’s decree, that those who
practice such things deserve to die–yet they not only do them but even applaud
others who practice them.” This statement
would not have been specific to Roman fertility cults, but to the corruption of
all of humankind. For ALL have
sinned. That’s Paul’s point. And homosexual behavior is a part of that sin
as it breaks the first command recorded in the Bible.
Leviticus
18-20
Justin’s foray
into biblical interpretation here is ripe with problems. Justin lumps all of these laws as “given to
keep the Israelites pure and separate from the polytheistic culture around
them.” And since these laws served that
purpose, they have fulfilled their purpose and gone the way of the
dinosaur. Furthermore, he argues no one
looks to Leviticus for morality. So,
let’s put this to the test and look at a few more of those laws given to “keep
the Israelites pure and separate them from the polytheistic culture around them.
- You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another. Leviticus 19:11
- You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning. Leviticus 19:13
- You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:18
- When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19:33-34 (All NRSV)
I
could quote a few others, but here is the question, at least according to Justin’s
logic: shall we throw out these commands and consider them “side dishes at a
buffet?”, picking them because they look good while others do not? I would hope not. And just to make it abundantly clear, when
asked for the most important commands of Scripture, Jesus quoted first
Deuteronomy 6:5 and then Leviticus 19:18.
Jesus himself looked to Leviticus while offering moral guidance. Perhaps we should as well.
I
do need to take a moment here to point out that oftentimes, Lutherans have been
accused of (well, because we do) oftentimes separate the Old Testament Law
into: moral laws, ceremonial laws, and civic laws. The Leviticus 18 passage is often viewed as a
ceremonial/purity law so that the people of Israel will not be like the
Canaanites who are living in the land who have defiled it—and so that the land
doesn’t “vomit them out.” I truly wonder
exactly how the land would do such a thing…but, well, that’s beside the point.
Let’s
consider this argument for a moment.
Verses six through 18 offer a gigantic list of people who you “should
not uncover the nakedness of” (NRSV).
This is actually a Hebrew euphemism which means have sexual relations,
which is why the NIV translates it as such.
Reading through that list, one has to ask if these prohibitions were
simply put in place to differentiate the Israelites from the Canaanites or if
having sexual relations with your mother, sister, aunt, granddaughter, etc. are
meant to be more universal? Perhaps that
is a rhetorical question. These commands
are not simply ritualistic commands intended to keep the Israelites away from
fertility cults, but part of the moral law, and they are very close to the
commands regarding men lying with men and women lying with women.
It
is also important to note that scholars oftentimes refer to this section of
Leviticus as the “Holiness Code.” (Based
on Leviticus 19:2) The purpose behind
this section is to have a people who mirror the holiness of God—not simply set
apart from the ritualistic worship of surrounding cultures, but set apart from
the ethics and morals of those same cultures.
As such, this text is not simply about purity, but about holiness and
mirroring the holiness of God. Justin’s
rebuttal does not take these things into account, and when these things are
brought forward, his rebuttal seems overly simplistic and very shallow.
As
far as I can tell, given the weakness of Justin’s refutations of these two
biblical texts, the “God says so” rules still apply. But, and you may be surprised at this, I
would not use these texts as evidence against gay marriage. I believe they point out that homosexual
behavior is a sin according to the Law of God.
But, you see, Christians are no longer under the Law...
And
this may be a very good place to deal with Justin’s major objection to what he
might call the Traditionalist’s major problem: there is no “clear, consistent
standard that we can apply across the board.”
Paul
actually gives us this standard in the book of Romans chapter 6. This is a very difficult chapter to
understand because it involves a way of thinking that is quite foreign to us
but was not foreign at all to the ancient world. Paul begins with what we might call
representative thought.
Essentially,
it boils down to this: whatever happens to Christ happens to us. Christ is our new representative–as compared
to Adam who is our old representative.
What does this mean?
I
think I can best sum it up with the Old Testament story of David and Goliath.
Goliath was the champion of the Philistine army, and every day he would
challenge someone in the Israelite army to come and fight him. The fear of fighting this giant went far
beyond simply individual combat, for you see, the person who accepted Goliath’s
challenge wasn’t just fighting for himself.
He was fighting for the entire nation of Israel. If the Israelite lost to Goliath, that meant
the entire nation lost, and vice versa.
This was one of the methods armies used to avoid massive death and blood
shed.
Goliath
represented the country of the Philistines.
David
represented the country of Israel.
David
won/Israel won. That’s how it worked.
In
a like manner, Jesus becomes our representative when we place our trust in
Him. And Paul lays it out: what happens to
Jesus also then happens to us. Jesus
died, and he died to sin. Therefore, we
have died to ourselves and died to sin.
Jesus was raised from the dead to live a new life. Therefore, we are raised to live a new
life. The life Jesus lives, he lives for
God. Therefore, the life we live, we
live for God. And since we live for God,
we do not seek to sin.
Paul
then fleshes out what this means even further in the second half of Romans
6. Paul says we have a new master. We were once enslaved to Sin. We were curved in on ourselves, but because
of our new life in Christ, we are now slaves to God. (Yes, I know the language is problematic for
some today, but there are two important points here. First, the slavery mentioned in the New
Testament is nothing like the slavery practiced during the African slave
trade. Slavery in the New Testament was
something someone voluntarily entered into so that he or she could pay off
accumulated debt. When the debt was paid
off, the slave was now free. And, of
course, someone could redeem you or pay off your debt and set you free. Secondly, whether we know it or not, we are
all slaves to something—usually our heart’s greatest desire. If that desire is not God, you have an
idol—an idol that will demand your very life.
The only Master who grants you freedom through servitude is God.) And being slaves to God, we long to honor and
serve our Master with our entire being.
How
does that play in dealing with homosexual relationships? There are two salient points here. The first is realizing the importance of the
design of humanity, and the second is honoring the Designer.
To
realize the importance of the design, we must turn to Genesis chapter 2. I know that there are many who appreciate
Genesis 1 and treat God’s calling of the creation (including humanity) very
good as serious business, but who turn around and ignore and call Genesis 2
& 3 a myth. As far as I can tell,
Justin doesn’t do such a thing. Justin
admits to a very high appreciation and understanding of scripture. He appeals to its authority. This is why he spends so much time trying to
interpret it in a fashion that justifies his position. And while his interpretation may be lacking,
his stance on its authority is not.
Therefore,
we turn to Genesis 2 and the creation of
humanity recorded there. Hopefully you
are familiar with the story. Man does
not have a suitable helper and is alone.
God recognizes that this situation is not optimal, so God creates the
animals. None is found to be
“suitable.” I included quotation marks
around the word suitable because the connotation of this word is not simply
relational in the sense of companionship—it is also relational in the sense of
sexual. One can imagine Adam looking at
a rhinoceros and saying, “Nope. Don’t think so.
Try again.” (Paul uses this understanding in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 when he argues against prostitution.)
Therefore,
God causes a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and God removes a rib to create
woman. There is something very
significant about this. We must remember
that ancient Jews viewed God as perfect; whole.
Therefore anything in creation that was not whole was actually
diminished and further from God. If
someone lost a hand or foot in battle, they were considered diminished and
further from God. If someone was
deformed by leprosy or illness, they were diminished and further from God. If a eunuch, well, you get the idea.
But
here in the creative process, God diminishes His own creation and makes Adam
less than whole. And woman, who is taken
out of man is also less than whole. But
when they are joined together...well, that wholeness returns. “For this reason a man leaves his mother and
is joined to his wife.” Something quite
marvelous is taking place in this union, and it is why Jesus offers the council,
“Therefore what God has joined together, let no human tear apart!”
I
am Lutheran and believe in 2 ½ sacraments, but the Roman Catholics may be onto
something in their calling marriage a sacrament. There is definitely something very holy
taking place here–something that can only take place between a man and a woman—not
only relationally, but sexually as the word “suitable” suggests. That’s the way it was designed.
And
it goes beyond relationships involving people of the same sex. Men are missing something that was taken out
of them. Two men share the same lack—at
least according to this part of the creation story. Two women share the same lack. Only through the relationship between a man
and a woman can this lack be filled.
This
understanding of marriage takes us much deeper than those who argue that
marriage is a cornerstone of society especially for raising children. I agree that marriage is this, but this
definition does not capture marriage fully because there are many families that
struggle with conceiving children (like my own) or who choose to not have
children or who are unable to have children.
Their relationships are still marriage despite exclusion from the
raising children/cornerstone ofsociety definition.
This
understanding of marriage also takes us further than those who propose it as
the means where you express your love (and receive love) as a part of personal
fulfillment. While marriage does have an
aspect of this, relying on this definition alone is problematic especially when
love fails—as it does often. It is much
easier to seek fulfillment and love elsewhere when relationships become
problematic than it is to work to mend relationships and grow through
problems. Personal fulfillment is
inherently selfish and is likely the primary reason for the high divorce
rate.
The
understanding of marriage that I propose found in Genesis 2 and affirmed by
Jesus in his teaching of divorce provides a very deep, very powerful,
foundation for understanding the reason we get married and work to stay
married. It also provides the reason
marriage is between a man and a woman.
Man and woman are meant to complete each other. That’s the design.
But,
we must now deal with Justin’s objection: just because our bodies are designed
one way, is using them in another way sinful?
I
want to remind us here, that we are no longer under the Law. Paul even agrees with the Corinthians who
write to him and say, “All things are Lawful.”
Paul’s retort: all things are Lawful, but not all things are beneficial. And here is how they are not beneficial. I will begin with an analogy–even though all
analogies are not perfect, but this one is quite understandable for many.
A
treadmill is a wonderful tool that was invented so that we can exercise
indoors; however, many folks use treadmills to hang dirty or even clean clothes
on for extended periods of time. Is such
an act sinful?
Well,
we would say no. Not in the least. We might do it all the time. But is this beneficial for us? Well, no.
We should be using the treadmill for that which it was designed. It is healthier for us to do so. There is definitely self-interest for us in
doing so–even if we don’t feel like exercising or are not attracted to
exercising.
But,
there is another reason that goes beyond our own self-interest. In using the treadmill for its purpose, we honor
its creator. I mean, what if the
inventor of the treadmill walked into a house and saw his wonderful, intricate
creation being used as a clothes rack?
Would he be disappointed?
Outraged? Upset? Would he shake his head in bewilderment that
his design was being coopted and corrupted in such a fashion? I mean, he knows he doesn’t own it. He knows
people are free to do with things as they choose, (and we are) but does that
diminish his disappointment or frustration in those who abuse this freedom (of
course it does)? And of course, we are
free to hang clothes on that treadmill if we choose. We have complete and total freedom, but are
we bringing honor to the one who made it for a different purpose? Of course we are not.
In
a like manner, we know the original design for marriage. We know God’s original design for our bodies,
and we bring honor to God by using them as they were intended. We do not bring honor to God by using them as
they were not intended. This is why
Justin’s argument about two couples who are living godly lives in all things
except for one being heterosexual and one being homosexual fails. They may each be producing fruit, but one of
these is not bringing honor to God.
Before
we begin using this standard to deal with many of Justin’s examples of problems
with the Traditional view, we need to also deal with the purpose of the
Law. Justin argues that God’s Laws (or
rules as he states) have a purpose behind them.
Once those laws fulfill their purpose, they become irrelevant. Therefore, each law should be looked at one
by one to see which ones have been fulfilled and are no longer relevant. (Interestingly enough, Justin does not show
how the laws/rules regarding homosexuality have been fulfilled.)
Yet,
orthodox Christianity has taught from very near the beginning that the Law of
God; the Rules of God serve two purposes–purposes that are ongoing and never
fully fulfilled by us. Mind you, they
have been fulfilled by Christ, but not by us.
The
first use of the law is to reveal our sin. Romans 3: 19-20 (NRSV), “Now we know
that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that
every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to
God. For ‘no human being will be justified in his sight’ by deeds prescribed by
the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.” The Law is constantly revealing our sin to
us. It never stops doing this to us. It condemns us all the time. When we fail to care for our neighbor, the
Law convicts. Whenever we think evil
thoughts, the Law convicts. Whenever we
fail to worship, the Law convicts. The
Law will always point out our sin. It’s
purpose is ongoing. It’s purpose is to
drive us to the Gospel.
Yet,
there is a second use of the Law. To restrain
evil. In our ongoing battle with sin, we
need to know the boundaries. We need to
know what is right and what is wrong. We
need to know when sin is operating within us to lead us astray. The Law gives us those boundaries. And when we transgress those boundaries, use
number one kicks in.
And
now we must remember the Gospel: that we are now justified by grace as a gift,
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a
sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. (Romans 3:27-28) We are not saved by our own
actions, but by Jesus’ actions. We are
not saved by our following the Law, but by Jesus’ following the Law and then
imparting his righteousness to us. And
in thankfulness to that righteousness, we seek to bring honor and glory to
Jesus; to God; through our daily living.
Keeping
all this in mind, we now turn to Justin’s difficulties with the traditional
view and dealing with the biblical issues he points out:
Head
Coverings
There
are definitely some interesting exegetical issues with 1 Corinthians 11, not
the least of them being “because of the angels.” It’s also tough to know whether or not Paul
is talking about head coverings or hair styles.
And let’s throw the monkey wrench in there about whether or not praying
and prophesying is a compound meaning worship or if this is simply praying and
prophesying. It’s a tough passage!! But knowing that Paul is dealing with a cultural
issue is not one of the difficult exegetical issues. Scholars are pretty sure that Paul is dealing
with Roman, cultic issues trickling into the church, and he is trying to draw a
hard line to keep those outside influences, well, outside!
When
Christian practices looked like idol worship, that certainly was not honoring
God. Christians were separating
themselves from the “spirit of the age,” and were living and worshiping in a
different manner. Such a thing was God
honoring. So, it made sense for Paul to
draw that line hard and fast.
But
what about us? Does it still make sense
in light of the Gospel? Does it still
make sense knowing that our righteousness and our purity does not come from any
external sources, but it is what comes out of our hearts that makes us impure
(Mark 7:14-23)? The clothing we place
upon our heads does not make us pure (neither does what we eat), but it is what
comes out of us that glorifies God. In
that situation–in Corinth, the outward dress was not glorifying God–just as we
might object to someone wearing a satanic shirt or Hindu priestly garb or
Buddhist priestly garb to our worship. Comparing this to homosexual marriage
isn’t even close.
Romans
13:1
As
I said early in this document, I adhere to the supposition that Scripture helps
interpret scripture, and it is this principle which helps us with this
text. Justin doesn’t seem to be applying
this principle, so he misses a very important caveat in scripture. This is not the only place where obeying
government authorities is talked about.
In Acts chapter 5, the Apostles were brought before the civil
authorities who had ordered them to stop preaching the name of Jesus. The apostles didn’t hesitate in their reply,
“We must obey God rather than men.”
This
governing principle has always been in effect for Christians. Their calling is to honor God above any civil
commands, and this is why Martin Luther King, Jr. and southern black churches
were at the head of the civil rights movement.
They knew they were following God’s command even though society’s laws
were against them. It was also the reason many Christians turned against the
slave trade and worked to outlaw it. (Justin’s continued references to slavery
in the Bible actually deserve some response, but I will not do so in this
paper. I will point you to Paul Copan’s
book Is God a Moral Monster for some understandable and thorough reading
on the subject–reading that will open your eyes if you believe that slavery was
always accepted by the Church.) Obeying
civil law when it contradicts God’s commands does not bring honor to God.
Romans
13:8-10
Justin
calls this section a problem for the traditional view. However, in reality, Romans 13:8-10 is
actually problematic for Justin’s view because what Paul is saying is that when
one is full of agape—what he calls the deep, abiding, unconditional love that
comes from God—one is obedient to the commands of God. As Timothy Keller says in his commentary on
the book of Romans:
In other words, Paul refuses to pit love and law against each other. The obedient thing is the loving thing; the loving
thing is the obedient thing! If we want
to love others, we will obey God’s commands.1
And
God’s commands on same-sex sexual relations are pretty clear, at least as I
have outlined above. Therefore, once
again, Justin’s argument fails. “But
wait – the very definition of the Traditional View says that even when two
relationships are equally loving – even when they’re motivated by the exact
same selfless desires and the exact same servant hearts – that one of them can
be ruled sinful just because of a person’s gender.”
The
two relationships might be equally loving between the partners, but they are
not equally loving towards God. One of
those relationships is breaking the commands of God and not honoring God. The criteria from Romans 6 once again defines
one of those relationships as sinful.
Sabbath
Law Breaking
Justin
misses Matthew’s point terribly in his commentary regarding Sabbath Law
breaking.
First,
he misses the fact that the Pharisees had instituted a whole lot of human laws
regulating what it meant to work on the Sabbath. Those weren’t dictated by the Torah but by
the religious institution.
Secondly,
Justin misses the crux of the argument Jesus puts forward. Jesus does not indicate that it is okay to
violate the letter of the Law. Jesus
tells the Pharisees what the Law means because He is “Lord of the Sabbath.”
(Verse 8)
After
all, Jesus was there from the beginning of creation, and through Him all things
were made. Jesus knows the proper
understanding of what the Sabbath is to be about, and he is pointing out that
the Pharisees had it all wrong. Their understanding of the Law was backwards. It is not okay to violate the letter of the Law. Neither is it okay to misinterpret it. That is certainly not honoring God.
Because
of some questionable biblical interpretation, a failure to realize the purpose
of the Law, and a failure to realize that the Traditional view is not based
simply on “God said so,” Justin fails in his attempts to undermine the Traditional
arguments. So, let us now look at some
of Justin’s reasoning for promoting LGBTQ+ relationships and marriage.
Exegesis
versus Eisegesis
Justin
makes the assertion that we can glean from the biblical text deeper meanings
than even the authors themselves intended.
“But the abolitionists argued that Paul was writing under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and that there was a deeper meaning here that
even Paul himself might not have realized.
It’s a great argument, and I agree 100%.” This is a dangerous game to
play–in fact it is a game that has been played many times throughout history
oftentimes with disastrous results.
The
Roman Church played this game long and hard before the Protestant Reformation
using allegorical interpretations of the text to subjugate people and keep
itself in power. This is why they fought
so hard to keep the Bible out of the hands of the common folks. When you read
things into the text that are not intended by the author, you can manipulate
the masses very easily.
In
our own day, we have televangelists who do this very well. Prosperity gospel preachers add their own
“spirit filled” interpretations to the text giving ideas and thoughts to the
text that the original authors never imagined, and they have led many astray.
Here’s
a helpful thought: you don’t need to use Galatians 3:27-28 to build a biblical
case against slavery. All you need is
the book of Philemon. When, as Justin
says, Paul was using this text to help readers understand their identity in
Christ and that nothing should divide them: not race, social status, or gender,
that interpretation is enough. There is
no need to look for deeper meaning. All
one should do at that point is say, “What conclusions can we draw from this
meaning.”
The
Final Argument
Justin’s
final argument is based on the good fruit that homosexual relationships
bear. But Justin misses something
entirely: there are many people and things which are outside of God’s purview
that bear good fruit.
I
mean, I have known some atheists whose morality and generosity far exceeds my
own. I have known Hindus and Buddhists
and Jews and Muslims who are some of the kindest and gentlest people on the
planet. In the church, we call this
common grace. It is not saving grace.
Saving
grace takes a person and transforms them. Saving grace takes a person and
reframes their vision and their attitudes.
Saving grace takes them away from themselves and leads them to a life of
honoring God. I do not know Justin and
am not sure what he would say at this moment, but I have heard other homosexual
Christians claim that their sexuality is central to their identity; that their
attractions to the same sex are something they were given by God and to be
blessed by God. Such a claim is making
an idol out of their sexuality. While
they produce other fruits, they do not honor God in continuing to give in to
their sinful nature which basically says, “I’ll give up everything for you
except this.”
Am I calling anyone
who says such a thing a sinner?
Yes. Join the club. I am, too.
And I’ll invite you to put your trust in Jesus like I have. I’ll invite you to go through the heart
wrenching transformation of grace that will tear you apart, bring death to your
self, destroy all the things that you once thought were important and made you
who you thought you were, and then reconstruct you into a totally different
being. It’s a terrible process to go through,
but in the reconstruction, you will find a totally different way of being. And you will desire to honor God in all
things.
1Keller,
Timothy. Romans 8-16 For You. USA, The Good Book Company, 2015, p. 141
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