Did jesus teach against homosexuality
This article is part of the What Did Jesus Teach? series.
Silence Equals Support?
In a article for Slate online, Will Oremus asked a provocative question: Was Jesus a homophobe?1
The article was occasioned by a story about a lgbtq+ teenager in Ohio who was suing his tall school after school officials prohibited him from wearing a T-shirt that said, “Jesus Is Not a Homophobe.”
Oremus was less concerned about the legal issues of the story than he was about the accuracy of the expression on the shirt. Oremus suggests that Jesus’s views on homosexuality were more inclusive than Paul’s. He writes,
While it’s reasonable to assume that Jesus and his fellow Jews in first-century Palestine would contain disapproved of gay sex, there is no document of his ever having mentioned homosexuality, let alone expressed particular revulsion about it. . . . Never in the Bible does Jesus himself extend an explicit prohibition of homosexuality.
Oremus seems to recommend that since Jesus never explicitly mentioned homosexuality, he must not have been very concerned about it.
There are at least two reasons that we should be skeptical of this view.
Get a free duplicate of the ebook ‘What Does the Bible Re Why Jesus Doesn&#;t Need to Speak About Homosexuality
Question:
Is there anywhere in the Bible where Jesus condemns homosexuality?
Answer:
Remember first that Jesus and the Church distinguish between homosexuality—a psychological disorder for which a person does not bear guilt—and acting on that inclination, with the related acts always involving grave matter and, if done with entire knowledge and full okay, constitute “acts of solemn depravity” (the Catechism ; see , ).
Some argue that Jesus never condemned homosexual misbehavior, at least in what’s recorded in the Gospels. Yet Jesus refers to his heavenly Father’s moral opinion against Sodom and Gomorrah on two occasions (Matt. , ), a judgment that stemmed from the inhabitants’ inquiring to have sex with two angels whom they thought were men (Gen. ). The term describing queer misbehavior—“sodomy”—is derived from this historical event recorded in the Bible.
Proponents of “same-sex marriage” also miss some very fundamental points about Jesus and his ministry. Remember that Jesus is Jewish and therefore tells us that he comes to fulfill the commandment, not abolish it (Matt. ), which includes affirming original marria
What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?
What Does The Bible State About Homosexuality?
Introduction
For the last two decades, Pew Research Center has reported that one of the most enduring ethical issues across Christian traditions is sexual diversity. For many Christians, one of the most frequently first-asked questions on this topic is, “What does the Bible say about attraction to someone of the similar sex?”
Although its unlikely that the biblical authors had any notion of sexual orientation (for example, the term homosexual wasn't even coined until the delayed 19th century) for many people of faith, the Bible is looked to for timeless guidance on what it means to honor God with our lives; and this most certainly includes our sexuality.
Before we can hop into how it is that Christians can maintain the authority of the Bible and also affirm sexual diversity, it might be helpful if we started with a short but clear overview of some of the assumptions informing many Christian approaches to understanding the Bible.
What is the Bible?
For Christians to whom the Bible is God’s very written word, it is widely understood that God produced its contents through inspired
Does Jesus Ever Talk About Homosexuality?
I was in my mids living in San Diego. I joined some people from a nearby church and went to a Pride parade to pass out water, hand hugs, and hold signs saying “We are sorry the church hasn’t loved you the way Jesus would” (or something along those lines). All of a sudden, I was descended upon by a film crew with a microphone asking me what Jesus had to express about homosexuality. I was not expecting this, but I was giddy to share the love of Christ and talk about how we are all sinners saved by grace and how Jesus never singled out homosexuality as worse than any other type of sexual immorality. In the middle of my sentence (which I had been certain would be received with amazement, tears, and more questions about how to grasp this Jesus guy), the film crew interrupted me and said, “NOTHING. He said nothing about homosexuality.” And then they walked away without a pos, off to find their next “interview.”
I sat there dumbfounded. What had just happened? And was it true that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality? And if not, why not?
Spoiler alert: Jesus really doesn’t ever address homosexuality specifically, and in our curre
.
Why Jesus Doesn&#;t Need to Speak About Homosexuality
Question:
Is there anywhere in the Bible where Jesus condemns homosexuality?
Answer:
Remember first that Jesus and the Church distinguish between homosexuality—a psychological disorder for which a person does not bear guilt—and acting on that inclination, with the related acts always involving grave matter and, if done with entire knowledge and full okay, constitute “acts of solemn depravity” (the Catechism ; see , ).
Some argue that Jesus never condemned homosexual misbehavior, at least in what’s recorded in the Gospels. Yet Jesus refers to his heavenly Father’s moral opinion against Sodom and Gomorrah on two occasions (Matt. , ), a judgment that stemmed from the inhabitants’ inquiring to have sex with two angels whom they thought were men (Gen. ). The term describing queer misbehavior—“sodomy”—is derived from this historical event recorded in the Bible.
Proponents of “same-sex marriage” also miss some very fundamental points about Jesus and his ministry. Remember that Jesus is Jewish and therefore tells us that he comes to fulfill the commandment, not abolish it (Matt. ), which includes affirming original marria
What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?
What Does The Bible State About Homosexuality?
Introduction
For the last two decades, Pew Research Center has reported that one of the most enduring ethical issues across Christian traditions is sexual diversity. For many Christians, one of the most frequently first-asked questions on this topic is, “What does the Bible say about attraction to someone of the similar sex?”
Although its unlikely that the biblical authors had any notion of sexual orientation (for example, the term homosexual wasn't even coined until the delayed 19th century) for many people of faith, the Bible is looked to for timeless guidance on what it means to honor God with our lives; and this most certainly includes our sexuality.
Before we can hop into how it is that Christians can maintain the authority of the Bible and also affirm sexual diversity, it might be helpful if we started with a short but clear overview of some of the assumptions informing many Christian approaches to understanding the Bible.
What is the Bible?
For Christians to whom the Bible is God’s very written word, it is widely understood that God produced its contents through inspired
Does Jesus Ever Talk About Homosexuality?
I was in my mids living in San Diego. I joined some people from a nearby church and went to a Pride parade to pass out water, hand hugs, and hold signs saying “We are sorry the church hasn’t loved you the way Jesus would” (or something along those lines). All of a sudden, I was descended upon by a film crew with a microphone asking me what Jesus had to express about homosexuality. I was not expecting this, but I was giddy to share the love of Christ and talk about how we are all sinners saved by grace and how Jesus never singled out homosexuality as worse than any other type of sexual immorality. In the middle of my sentence (which I had been certain would be received with amazement, tears, and more questions about how to grasp this Jesus guy), the film crew interrupted me and said, “NOTHING. He said nothing about homosexuality.” And then they walked away without a pos, off to find their next “interview.”
I sat there dumbfounded. What had just happened? And was it true that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality? And if not, why not?
Spoiler alert: Jesus really doesn’t ever address homosexuality specifically, and in our curre
.