Bible verses for and against gay marriages
The Case Against Christians Attending a Gay Wedding
The case against Christians attending a gay wedding is relatively straightforward. We can lay out the case in three premises and a conclusion.
The Argument
Premise 1: Queer “marriage” is not marriage.
No matter what a government may sanction, the biblical definition of marriage (see Gen. 2:18–25, Mal. 2:13–15, Matt. 19:4–6; Eph. 5:22–33) involves a man and a woman. I won’t belabor the point, because I assume in this post that I’m speaking to those who accept with the Westminster Confession of Faith when it says, “Marriage is to be between one dude and one woman” (WCF 24.1). Gay “marriage” is not only an offense to God—sanctioning a gentle of sexual activity that the Bible condemns (Lev. 18:22; 20:13; Rom. 1:24–27; 1 Cor. 6:9–10; 1 Tim. 1:9–10)—gay “marriage” does not actually exist.
Premise 2: A gay wedding celebrates and solemnizes a lie.
Whether the service is done in a church or in a reception hall, whether it is meant to be a Christian service or a secular commitment ceremony, a male lover wedding declares what is false to be real and calls evil good.
Premise 3: Attendance at a gay wedding bears common witness to t What Does The Bible Speak 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 matching 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 spring 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 little 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 As Australia faces a postal survey on homosexual marriage, we are seeing a steady stream of articles arguing the Yes or No case. Many on the No side are prone to citing the Bible or appealing to "biblical values". But what does the Bible actually say about human sexuality and homosexuality in particular? What follows represents a summary of critical biblical scholarship on the issue. Critical biblical scholarship draws on a range academic disciplines including literary criticism, archaeology, history, philology, and social science to propose the most plausible, historically grounded interpretation of the Bible. It is not simply a matter of personal belief or citing official church doctrine. Australian scholars are among leaders in the field when it comes to sexuality and the Bible. William Loader has written several books on the matter and this Anglican collection of essays is also excellent. When it comes to homosexuality there are, at most, six passages of the Bible that are relevant. So what do these passages say? The story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19 is well established. The Bible defines marriage in Genesis 2:24 as a union between one man and one woman. Jesus Christ upholds this definition of marriage in Matthew 19:5, as does the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:31. Any and all sexual action which takes place outside of this context is treated as sinful, what Jesus calls ‘sexual immorality’ in Label 7:21. Further to this, same-sex practice is specifically highlighted as sinful a number of times in Scripture. In God’s Law, for example, condemnations of gay practice are given in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13. Further references are made in the Novel Testament. For example, in Romans 1:24-32, amid echoes to the Genesis creation account, both male and female lgbtq+ practice are treated as sinful. Further references to the sinfulness of gay practice can be seen in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10. The Scriptures are, therefore, consistent in their prohibition of queer sexual activity, across different periods of salvation history and within different cultural settings. Although the Scriptures are unmistakable on sexual principles, they also relate us that the prospect of forgiveness and eterna “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”[1] It is not a surprise that this verse seems to say that gay male sex is forbidden in the eyes of God. The dominant view of western Christianity forbids gay relations. This verse is one of the clobber passages that people cite from the Bible to condemn homosexuality. This essay first looks at the various ways the verse is translated into the English Bible and then explores some of the strategies used to create an affirming interpretation of what this corridor means for the LGBTQ community. More specifically, it presents the interpretation of K. Renato Lings in which Lev. 18:22 refers to male-on-male incest. While Lev. 18:22 is used to condemn homosexuality, we must perceive that the word “homosexuality” was only recently coined in the English language. So did this term exist in ancient Israel? Charles D. Myers, Jr. confirms that none of the prophets in the Hebrew Bible mention homosexuality.[2] He also contends that in ancient Israel same-sex relations were viewed as an ancient Neighboring East problem. The ancient Near East tradition included pederasty and relations between an older gentleman and What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?
Same-sex marriage: What does the Bible really have to say?
Genesis 19 and Leviticus
What does the Bible teach about same-sex practice?
Leviticus 18:22