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"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them."
Corinthians 6:9:
"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,"
Corinthians 7:2:
"But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband."
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There are more but I thought it was unnecessary to post them. I think it's quite clear that the Bible condemns homosexuality.
dictionary.com defines "condemn" as "to express an unfavorable or adverse judgment on; indicate strong disapproval of; censure." for one of the definitions.
I think the real question here is how does this not condemn homosexuality?
Homosexuality, as defined in modern times, is that of being attracted to the same sex. The practice of homosexuality is that of doing homosexual acts on a regular basis. The Bible only condemns the latter, not the former. This means that a person who is straight, but who practices homosexuality (maybe he or she is a porn star), is not going to inherit the kingdom of heaven. However, likewise, a gay person who does not practice homosexuality can very easily inherit the kingdom of heaven (maybe he became a Christian and wanted to live a Christ-centered life). Hence, the question of whether a person is born gay is irrelevant to the morality issue, in accordance with the Bible. In fact, I personally think that people are - thinking this due to Biblical theology and scientific research - born gay.
Therefore, we can all take hope in Christ, even though we might be born differently. We are all born into a nature of sin, and we all have a sin that clings ever close, as Hebrews says. We must all grapple with these tough issues; for example, I was and am very much so lustful and prideful. This is who I was born as, but I don't desire to practice it. I try to wrestle with those things. Christ came to save the sick, not the well. Hence, homosexuals are more than welcome to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Praise be to God!
So what you're saying is homosexual acts are wrong, but homosexual thoughts are ok if you don't act on them, while at the same time, heterosexual thoughts can get you an eternity in hell even if you don't act on them.
Not at all. I am saying that lust, in any form, is wrong. I am saying, also, that any sexual relation outside of marriage is wrong. However, the actual orientation is not wrong: one can have an orientation but not sexual meditate upon sexual relations, while not having the sexual relations themselves.
The practice of homosexuality is that of doing homosexual acts on a regular basis.
Maybe, but if you look closely at the verses given then it says that if two men are discovered to have sex then they must be killed.
You may claim that having homosexual sex once isn't an element of homosexual practice (I don't know why you would introduce this contradiction), you are still wrong in saying that the Bible doesn't condemn doing a single homosexual act.
Are you sure that, as the Bible is written, homosexual thoughts are ok as long as they aren't acted on?
Matthew 5:28 states "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
Wouldn't it be a logical extension of all of these passages to interpret them so as to mean that a man who looks at a man lustfully has already engaged in homosexual activity in his heart? True, it's not printed exactly like that per se, but still. And this is from the New Testament, one of the Gospels even.
I'm not a Christian myself, and I have no problem with homosexuality either- I'm somewhere between heterosexual and bisexual myself- but it would seem that the writings condemn even simply having lust for another man...
Sorry, I don't buy it. You can't be attracted to someone without having some kind of thoughts about it.
And the verse I quoted specifically referenced looking at someone lustfully, so even if it's possible to do it without thinking, simply looking at someone you feel lust towards would seem to qualify anyway.
If you lust about it, then you are thinking about it. However, this is not equivalent to saying the following: if you are thinking about it, then you lust about it. Do not equivocate lust and thought.
No. The Bible speaks of David valuing Jonathan's love over the love of women in 2 Samuel 1:26, and before you get mad, the same Hebrew word "ahab" is used in both cases, but lets not stop there. Luke 17:34 refers to two men laying in one bed, you do the math. 1 Samuel 18:1 shows David and Jonathan falling in love (the Hebrew language again indicates a romantic partnership), verse 3 shows them making a covenant, verse 21 in some translations says that David was already Saul's son in law, but he did not marry any of his daughters yet, so that indicates that David married Jonathan. Matthew 19:10-12 shows Jesus affirming eunuchs and before you whine, Isaiah 56:3-5 show that women can be eunuchs too, so one need not be castrated to be an eunuch. 1 Corinthians 7:7-9 shows that it is better to marry than to burn. 1 Corinthians 6:9 is not about gays, but about temple prostitution. 1 Samuel 20:30 makes a reference to nakedness which in Biblical times indicated something sexual. 1 Samuel 20:41-42 show them kissing. I think we have a clear case in favor of same sex marriage.
Also, I would just like to point out that if what you say is true, (and I am assuming it is), then we have a very clean-cut example of another contradiction in the Bible.
There are no verses in the Bible that speak of homosexuality being wrong. The only questionable one is Romans 1:26. However, that has some debate surrounding it, since the logical structure seems to be that of homosexuality being a secondary component to dishonorable passions. However, one could sway be either way.
"If a man practices homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman, both men have committed a detestable act. They must both be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense."
The Bible says that those who have homosexual relations are condemned. There are many homosexuals who have realized that they are going against the Bible, which makes them try to not have any relations; some of them start families even. However, the reciprocal is that straights who have homosexual relations are just as guilty as any homosexual who has homosexual relations.
This is a civic law of the nation of Israel. It is similar to the Constitution of America, or any other legal code of a country. These laws were based in how criminals should be treated, how the populace should be presented, etc. Homosexual relations are sinful, according to the Bible, which means that it deserves death. However, as was revealed, we are all sinful and incapable of keeping the law. No one can keep it; and everyone deserves death, including I. This is why Christ came, though! He came so that sinners may be healed and restored to the full acceptance of God, being seen as righteous; for Christ took upon Himself our sin so that He may take our punishment, death.
Sin is inevitable. However, that does not mean it should go unpunished. Should a judge not sentence a man to prison for having done evil? By all means! A just judge recognizes that the act of sinning, in of itself, regardless of the circumstances surrounding it, is evil ontologically. This being said, Jesus has already borne the punishment for sin! There is no fear! And now, I have been lavished with unfathomable and unsearchable riches of the finest quality and quantity, in Christ, my Lord and Savior; for when Eve was in the Garden, the serpent was able to trick her into thinking that what God had promised was not as good as that which rebellion entailed, which the serpent inferred was to be like God, while that which God had promised was already to be like God! We are His workmanship and His image so that we may walk in His ways and live in love and relation forever. Therefore because of these things, and because of the love of God, we do not have to bear the punishment for sin, and be separated from God forever.
What gives God the authority to decide what is right or wrong other than the fact he can supposedly kill everybody with magic? It seems to me you've simply subscribed to the primitive idea that might is right.
But according to the bible thinking about committing the action is as bad as the action itself and obviously all Gay people at some point would think about committing the action.
You did actually: Provided that you don't act on it, no . In this statement, you infered negativity on acting on it which includes dating and marrying the same sex.
Two can play that game parenthesis added by me: 2 Samuel 1:26 I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love (ahab) to me was wonderful, passing the love (ahab) of women. 1 Samuel 18:1 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit (qashar) with the soul (nephesh) of David, and Jonathan loved (ahab) him as his own soul. 1 Samuel 18:3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved (ahab) him as his own soul )nephesh). 1 Samuel 18:21 And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son in law in the one of the twain (for the second time, but he had not married any of Saul's daughters yet, so this means that he married Jonathan). 1 Samuel 20:30 30 Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother’s nakedness (in the Biblical times, references to nakedness often symbolized sexuality or something sexual)? 1 Samuel 20:41 And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another (sounds romantic to me), and wept one with another, until David exceeded. 1 Samuel 20:42 42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city (this goes with the previous verse). Matthew 19:10 His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. 11 But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. 12 For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it (the next set of Scriptures will elaborate on why the word eunuch sometimes refered to gays). Isaiah 56:3 Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. 4 For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant (this includes marriage); 5 even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters (if women can be eunuchs, that shatters the theory that only castrated males can, meaning that gays can be eunuchs): I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. Luke 17:34 34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed (self explanatory); the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. 1 Corinthians 7:7 For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. 8 I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. 9 But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn (self explanatory).
Even if you don't consider it relevant to Christianity (it isn't), it's still in the bible, Christianity just doesn't follow those bits of the bible anymore.
No. The Bible speaks of David valuing Jonathan's love over the love of women in 2 Samuel 1:26, and before you get mad, the same Hebrew word "ahab" is used in both cases, but lets not stop there. Luke 17:34 refers to two men laying in one bed, you do the math. 1 Samuel 18:1 shows David and Jonathan falling in love (the Hebrew language again indicates a romantic partnership), verse 3 shows them making a covenant, verse 21 in some translations says that David was already Saul's son in law, but he did not marry any of his daughters yet, so that indicates that David married Jonathan. Matthew 19:10-12 shows Jesus affirming eunuchs and before you whine, Isaiah 56:3-5 show that women can be eunuchs too, so one need not be castrated to be an eunuch. 1 Corinthians 7:7-9 shows that it is better to marry than to burn. 1 Corinthians 6:9 is not about gays, but about temple prostitution. 1 Samuel 20:30 makes a reference to nakedness which in Biblical times indicated something sexual. 1 Samuel 20:41-42 show them kissing. I think we have a clear case in favor of same sex marriage.
