Homosexuality and the Christian

Since I have recently written about sexuality and it has gotten some intense feed back, let me venture into the area of homosexuality. I want to address the moral issue here, not any political agenda about gay rights and such. But since many Christians consider homosexuality a sin let’s discuss it. I will prime the pump, so to speak.

Modern distinctions: There are homosexual/heterosexual orientations (for which people are not responsible), and then there are homosexual/heterosexual practices (for which people are responsible). Homosexual/heterosexual practices which are anonymous acts of self-gratification are different than practices that are expressive of authentic human love between two people. Both homosexual practices and heterosexual practices are judged by the same standards.

The secular challenge to the Christian: “Sex is essential to human fulfillment. To expect homosexual people to abstain from homosexual practice is to condemn them to frustration and to drive them to neurosis, despair, and even suicide. It’s outrageous to ask anybody to deny himself what to him is a normal and natural mode of sexual expression.”

The modern theological challenge: “No where in Scripture is there a clear condemnation of a loving sexual relationship between two gay persons.” “Scriptural authors never deal with homosexual orientation, and when they do treat homosexual activity, they never do so in a context of a loving relationship. They presuppose that they are dealing with a humanly destructive activity in the context of idolatry, prostitution, promiscuity, violent rape, seduction of children or violation of guests’ rights.” John J. McNeill “Homosexuality: Challenging the Church to Grow” in Christian Century (March 11, 1987: 246.).