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GOD, THE BIBLE
AND
HOMOSEXUALITY
A Study
of homosexuality in the Bible must start with Sodom and Gomorrah. The
choices made by the people of these two cities and the Divine judgment upon
such choices have great relevance for all of humanity through the ages.
Genesis
19:1
Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the
gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed
himself with his face toward the ground.
2 And he said, “Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s
house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and
go on your way.”
And they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.”
3 But he insisted strongly; so
they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and
baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
4 Now before they lay down, the
men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from
every quarter, surrounded the house. 5
And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you
tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.”
6 So Lot went out to them through
the doorway, shut the door behind him, 7
and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly!
8 See now, I have two daughters
who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may
do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the
reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.”
9 And they said, “Stand back!”
Then they said, “This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting
as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed
hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door.
10 But the men reached out their
hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.
11 And they struck the men who
were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great,
so that they became weary trying to find the door.
12 Then the men said to Lot, “Have
you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever
you have in the city—take them out of this place!
13 For we will destroy this place,
because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the LORD,
and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.”
24 Then the LORD rained brimstone
and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens.
25 So He overthrew those cities,
all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the
ground.
Both the Apostles Peter
and Jude emphasized in the New Testament that invariably the
sins of the two cities will be followed by horrible consequences if other
societies embrace them.
2 Peter 2:6
And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with
an overthrow, making them an ensample unto
those that after should live ungodly;
Jude 1:7
Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving
themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth
for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Leviticus 18:22
22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an
abomination.
NOTE: In the Bible it is often assumed that what applies to men conversely
applies to women as well.
Leviticus 20:13
13 If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have
committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood
shall be upon them.
Deuteronomy 23:17
17 “There shall be no ritual harlot
of the daughters of Israel, or a perverted
one (Qadesh) of the sons of Israel.
NOTE:
Deuteronomy 23:17 Hebrew qadesh,
that is, one practicing sodomy and prostitution in religious rituals.
1 Kings 24
24 And there were also perverted persons
(Qadesh) in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the
nations which the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
1 Kings 15:12
12 And he banished the perverted persons (Qedeshim)
from the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
Romans 1: 18
18
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth
in unrighteousness,
19
because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown
it to them.
20
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His
eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
21
because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor
were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts
were darkened.
22
Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23
and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like
corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
24
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their
hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,
25
who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the
creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women
exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
27
Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their
lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and
receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
28
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,
God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not
fitting;
29
being filled with all unrighteousness,
sexual immorality,[c]
wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife,
deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,
30
backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil
things, disobedient to parents,
31
undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving,[d]
unmerciful;
32
who,
knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things
are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who
practice them.
I CORINTHIANS 6: 9 is of critical importance as it distinguishes between
male prostitution and actual homosexual acts. It also makes it more than
clear what the consequences of such acts will be for people who do not
repent of such acts.
1 Corinthians 6:9 (New
King James Version)
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor homosexuals,
nor sodomites,
1 Corinthians 6:9 (New
International Version)
9Do
you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be
deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers
nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders
1 Corinthians 6:9 (New
American Standard Bible)
9
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom
of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
homosexuals.
1 Corinthians 6:9 (New
Living Translation)
9
Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of
God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge
in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery,
or are male prostitutes,
or practice homosexuality,
I Timothy 1:8
(New King James Version)
8
But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully,
9 knowing this: that the law is not made for a
righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the
ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of
fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10
for fornicators, for sodomites, for
kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that
is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 according to the
glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.
This is a
warning to societies who dare to embrace and support homosexuality as
“normal.”
Jude 1:7-8 (New King James
Version)
7
as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to
these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth
as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Recommended Sites
Excellent article by Bob Davies, former homosexual
Homosexuality
and the Bible
Superb Site on Homosexuality and Science
Homosexuality and Science
A
surprisingly interesting and useful analysis by Wikipedia
DO ATHEISTS CARE FOR HOMOSEXUALS MORE THAN
GOD?
Atheists defend the right of homosexuals and lesbians to pursue their life
styles. Furthermore, they promote the erroneous view that the God of the
Bible is unfair and oppressive toward them. Does God hate homosexuals and
lesbians or are His prohibitions a supreme manifestation of love and deep
concern?
God since the
beginning has given clear and undeniable pronouncements about homosexuality.
He has declared in both the Old and the New Testament that
homosexuality is a sin that He strongly disapproves of. Some have
erroneously assumed that this manifests hatred on God's part toward his
homosexual and lesbian children. This is the furthest thing from the truth.
In fact what His prohibitions really indicate is a deep love for his
children and an attempt to keep them from choices that can cause them
serious harm and that can shorten their lives dramatically.
Because there are plenty of web sites that offer well-documented facts
on the damaging effects of homosexuality, I will simply direct the reader to
them, at the end of this article.
However, I do want take the opportunity to stress some vital points
that this author stands for.
1. Persecuting, abusing or verbally diminishing the value of any human
being is unacceptable -- and that includes homosexuals and lesbians.
2. All human beings
are children of the Almighty, and thus He loves us all equally.
Implying otherwise means diminishing the fact that God is Love.
3. God wants us
all to evade behaviours that are potentially harmful to us.
Homosexuality is "one" such behaviour and it is neither less nor more grave
than let's say, adultery, dishonouring one's parents or fornication. Sin is
sin, no matter what the behaviour.
4. God knows more
than anyone else the physical and emotional consequences of homosexuality.
Waiting for Science to enlighten us is a dangerous game.
5. God knows better
than anyone else the long-term consequences that sins of any kind have on
society. Waiting for Sociology and Psychology to enlighten us is also a
dangerous game.
6. God insists on
repentance from sin, because He loves us and wants the best for us. It could
not be any other way, if He is really a loving God. He is not in the
business of persecuting His children; He is in the "protection" business.
7. Atheists,
Agnostics, Deists or liberal theologians miss the boat greatly when they
push human rights at the expense of the long-term well being of sinners.
Encouraging sinners to persist in behaviours that can seriously damage them
or that can shorten their lives by decades, is plain cruel and
irresponsible.
8. It is
intellectually dishonest to promulgate the myth that homosexuality has been
proven by Science to be genetic and that one cannot change it. This is an
outright lie that fails to acknowledge the complexity of the issue, and the
fact that many homosexuals have already moved away from such behaviours
successfully.
9. God did not give
space to any "genetic predisposition" factor. He did not hint in any way at
any exceptions to the rule. He knew better than anyone else the causes of
homosexuality and, in spite of such knowledge, He persisted over thousands
of years with the same command: "Don't do it !"
10. Religious
organizations who dare to distort God's verdict, or who push a liberal
agenda regarding homosexuality and that teach that homosexuality is not a
sin, are, in the opinion of this author, playing a dangerous spiritual game.
Daring to modify God's verdict on what is sin is a statement of insolence
and it is an insult to God Almighty.
11. All humans are
sinners and all are deserving of eternal oblivion. God though has provided
both the payment for all sins (Jesus Christ) and the help to overcome
insidious sins of any kind (The Holy Spirit). Both are there for the taking
and are totally free. There is one requirement though: REPENTANCE.
"Go and sin no more," Christ said to the woman caught in the act of
adultery, and He says the same to all of us -- without exception.
HELPFUL WEB SITES
1.
THE HEALTH RISKS OF GAY SEX
By John R. Diggs, Jr., M.D.
2.
MEDICAL CONSEQUENCES OF WHAT HOMOSEXUALS DO,
By Paul Cameron, Ph.D.
3.
NARTH (National Association for Therapy and
Research on Homosexuality
5.
Theology, Research ... : The Negative Health
Effects of Homosexuality
6.
Stanford Nurse Details Lethal Consequences of
Engaging in Promiscuous Anal Intercourse
RECOMMENDED FREE BOOKLET FROM
UCG.ORG
(No follow up)
The
Ten Commandments
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