What does Christianity actually say about homosexuality?

5,464 Views | 129 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by AggieHank86
Pylon Cam
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
As many of y'all know, I'm gay. I've considered myself an Agnostic-Athiest, but I'm giving Christianity and god another shot. I'm curious to know what's actually said about the subject of homosexuality. Is it a sin? Also, as I have a boyfriend, am I still accepted by god? Thanks for the replies.
unimboti nkum
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
You're not gonna' like it.
mesocosm
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
HSFootballAg24 said:

As many of y'all know, I'm gay. I've considered myself an Agnostic-Athiest, but I'm giving Christianity and god another shot. I'm curious to know what's actually said about the subject of homosexuality. Is it a sin? Also, as I have a boyfriend, am I still accepted by god? Thanks for the replies.


Jesus didn't say anything at all about it.
Dad-O-Lot
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
You could probably find it in here:

CCC

[url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM]2357[/url]
People of integrity expect to be believed, when they're not, they let time prove them right.
Marco Esquandolas
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Im sure all the gay christian posters will be super helpful
PacifistAg
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
HSFootballAg24 said:

As many of y'all know, I'm gay. I've considered myself an Agnostic-Athiest, but I'm giving Christianity and god another shot. I'm curious to know what's actually said about the subject of homosexuality. Is it a sin? Also, as I have a boyfriend, am I still accepted by god? Thanks for the replies.
If you want an affirming perspective on it, I'd recommend checking out Matthew Vines. If you're open to someone that isn't necessarily affirming, but approaches the question w/ a loving spirit, I'd highly recommend Preston Sprinkle's People to Be Loved.
Martin Q. Blank
How long do you want to ignore this user?







Rocag
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Does the word translated there as homosexuality have any other likely translations? I feel like I remember hearing that argument being made.
Martin Q. Blank
How long do you want to ignore this user?
In 1 Cor. 6:9


1 Tim. 1:10
PacifistAg
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Rocag said:

Does the word translated there as homosexuality have any other likely translations? I feel like I remember hearing that argument being made.
I believe I've read somewhere that the word "homosexuality" isn't found in the original text, but was translated as such. And didn't appear in English translations until the 1940s, if I'm not mistaken. At least w/ regards to the Greek text, it centers on how to translate the word arsenokoitai.
Martin Q. Blank
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Puritans got it right. No results in the AV. HSFootballAg24 is accepted by god.
chuckd
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Martin Q. Blank said:

Puritans got it right. No results in the AV. HSFootballAg24 is accepted by god.

RetiredAg said:

Rocag said:

Does the word translated there as homosexuality have any other likely translations? I feel like I remember hearing that argument being made.
I believe I've read somewhere that the word "homosexuality" isn't found in the original text, but was translated as such. And didn't appear in English translations until the 1940s, if I'm not mistaken. At least w/ regards to the Greek text, it centers on how to translate the word arsenokoitai.
Homosexuality was not an English word when the KJV was written. It started to appear in English translations in the 1940s because those were the first translations to exist with the word in usage.

"Sexual immorality" is any immoral sexual act outside of the design of sex including homosexual acts.
Rusty Aha
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Quote:

Jesus didn't say anything at all about it.

swimmerbabe11
How long do you want to ignore this user?
https://torreygazette.com/blog/2015/10/26/on-my-struggle-with-homosexuality

BlackGoldAg2011
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
RetiredAg said:

Rocag said:

Does the word translated there as homosexuality have any other likely translations? I feel like I remember hearing that argument being made.
I believe I've read somewhere that the word "homosexuality" isn't found in the original text, but was translated as such. And didn't appear in English translations until the 1940s, if I'm not mistaken. At least w/ regards to the Greek text, it centers on how to translate the word arsenokoitai.

Some additional interesting info on this Greek word, Paul's writing of it in 1 Cor and 1 Tim is our first known record of this specific word being used, and is different from the normally used Greek words around homosexuality. Some scholars have even speculated that Paul coined the word by combining words from Leviticus 20:13 to as it's a combination of the Greek words for man (arsenos) and bed (koiten) used in the Leviticus verse in the Septuagint.
kurt vonnegut
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Based on MQB's post:

The Bible seems awfully specific on condemning men who are homosexuals, but not women who are homosexuals. I suspect that the church views it similarly, but wonder why references to homosexuality are so biased against it in men.
BlackGoldAg2011
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
HSFootballAg24 said:

As many of y'all know, I'm gay. I've considered myself an Agnostic-Athiest, but I'm giving Christianity and god another shot. I'm curious to know what's actually said about the subject of homosexuality. Is it a sin? Also, as I have a boyfriend, am I still accepted by god? Thanks for the replies.
It seems this part of the question has been mostly ignored so far so here is my attempted response to it. Different schools of thought may hold different stances, but the best I can tell and what I believe, is that this is entirely dependent upon whether or not you have accepted Christ as Lord and savior. For the purposes of addressing the question I believe we can make the assumption that we have established that practicing homosexuality is in fact a sin (otherwise the bolded question would be irrelevant). With that assumption in place, I would say that if you have accepted Christ then that would put you in the same boat as every other Christian who continues to struggle with sin until the day we die. We are accepted by God because Christ paid it all, and we are no longer guilty, but that does not mean we don't still struggle to live righteously and won't be disciplined for sin that remains in our lives. Now the other side to that would be, if you don't struggle with your sin but instead, willingly embrace it (and not just the specific sin you are asking about, but any sin), you have to ask have you really accepted Christ.
BlackGoldAg2011
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
kurt vonnegut said:

Based on MQB's post:

The Bible seems awfully specific on condemning men who are homosexuals, but not women who are homosexuals. I suspect that the church views it similarly, but wonder why references to homosexuality are so biased against it in men.
There is one (and i believe only one) verse that specifically includes female homosexuality:

Quote:

For this reason God gave them up to passions of dishonor; for even their females exchanged the natural use for that which is contrary to nature, and likewise also the males, having left the natural use of the female, were inflamed by their lust for one another, males with males, committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the recompense which was fitting for their error. -Romans 1:26-27
And this is just speculation but i would imagine the reason men are so biased towards would just be the time period, men would be more specifically addressed as the audience. same was as with the feeding of the 5,000 there are many that think the crowd was actually larger as the 5,000 mentioned would just have been the number of men.
Star Wars Memes Only
How long do you want to ignore this user?
kurt vonnegut said:

Based on MQB's post:

The Bible seems awfully specific on condemning men who are homosexuals, but not women who are homosexuals. I suspect that the church views it similarly, but wonder why references to homosexuality are so biased against it in men.


Strange, I too am repulsed by the thought of male-male homosexual relationships but have absolutely nothing against lesbianism.
Marco Esquandolas
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
It's almost as if the bible was written by a bunch of dudes in extremely patriarchal societies.
John1248
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
HSFootballAg24 said:

As many of y'all know, I'm gay. I've considered myself an Agnostic-Athiest, but I'm giving Christianity and god another shot. I'm curious to know what's actually said about the subject of homosexuality. Is it a sin? Also, as I have a boyfriend, am I still accepted by god? Thanks for the replies.


Short answer is yes, it's a sin. So is adultery, so is fornication. So I'm a straight man who has only had sex with my wife. Does that make me better than anyone else? Christ said if any man looks at another woman with lust, he's committed adultery in his heart. Hmm, I better not be throwing any stones.

So what makes the Christian right with God? Faith and repentance. I know I'm a sinner and I need a savior. I repent of my sins and try to turn away from them. Am I perfect? No. But I cannot change what God says is right and wrong. Or try to justify my sin as ok. That would be an unrepentant heart. Most folks do reject God because our flesh loves sin, whatever it may be, and do not want to turn away from it.

dermdoc
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Agree.
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
Marco Esquandolas
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
John1248 said:

HSFootballAg24 said:

As many of y'all know, I'm gay. I've considered myself an Agnostic-Athiest, but I'm giving Christianity and god another shot. I'm curious to know what's actually said about the subject of homosexuality. Is it a sin? Also, as I have a boyfriend, am I still accepted by god? Thanks for the replies.


Short answer is yes, it's a sin. So is adultery, so is fornication. So I'm a straight man who has only had sex with my wife. Does that make me better than anyone else? Christ said if any man looks at another woman with lust, he's committed adultery in his heart. Hmm, I better not be throwing any stones.

So what makes the Christian right with God? Faith and repentance. I know I'm a sinner and I need a savior. I repent of my sins and try to turn away from them. Am I perfect? No. But I cannot change what God says is right and wrong. Or try to justify my sin as ok. That would be an unrepentant heart. Most folks do reject God because our flesh loves sin, whatever it may be, and do not want to turn away from it.




So, OP, you have to stop having sex for the rest of your life. Sucks to be you, man. But God's rules are a real bummer sometimes!
Marco Esquandolas
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
OP: here is what you have to figure out. The Bible says in a few places that doing gay butt stuff is a sin. On the other hand, the Bible has zero concept of such a thing as a Gay Person, because humans back in Bible times, who wrote the lists of abhorrent behaviors in the bible, didn't understand homosexuality in that way. It was a bad thing that people chose to do. They did lacked a concept of homosexuality that was not as a straight person who messes around with members of the same sex, but of people who fundamentally, inherently ARE gay just the way god made them. People like you.

You have to decide whether that distinction matters if you assent to let scripture be your moral authority. As you have seen, most of the posters here who care about such things think the distinction does not matter. They will defer to the letter of the law and argue history and the intent of the guys who wrote the bible are irrelevant for this particular topic (though as you will notice, these things are fair game for other topics). They are also all straight people who have no idea what it is like to deal with this issue the way you are now having to.
AGC
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Marco Esquandolas said:

OP: here is what you have to figure out. The Bible says in a few places that doing gay butt stuff is a sin. On the other hand, the Bible has zero concept of such a thing as a Gay Person, because humans back in Bible times, who wrote the lists of abhorrent behaviors in the bible, didn't understand homosexuality in that way. It was a bad thing that people chose to do. They did lacked a concept of homosexuality that was not as a straight person who messes around with members of the same sex, but of people who fundamentally, inherently ARE gay just the way god made them. People like you.

You have to decide whether that distinction matters if you assent to let scripture be your moral authority. As you have seen, most of the posters here who care about such things think the distinction does not matter. They will defer to the letter of the law and argue history and the intent of the guys who wrote the bible are irrelevant for this particular topic (though as you will notice, these things are fair game for other topics). They are also all straight people who have no idea what it is like to deal with this issue the way you are now having to.


Yes, the all-knowing God who inspired the Bible had no concept of being gay. But I guess the Christian who rejects God's sovereignty or the Holy Spirit's influence on scripture as ignorant of being gay probably doesn't care.
Marco Esquandolas
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Oh im sure God knows. He just for whatever reason picked a bunch of guys to write it down who did not and failed to clarify the issue too well. But that is true of many, many things in the bible that straight folks agree to disagree about.
Frok
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
The bible states it's position clearly, most just don't like what it says.
AggieHank86
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Frok said:

The bible states it's position clearly, most just don't like what it says.
Paul clearly thought that "arsenokoitai" were sinners. The problem is that "arsenokoitai" was not even a word until Paul made it up, which makes it somewhat difficult to know exactly what he was trying to say.
AGC
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Marco Esquandolas said:

Oh im sure God knows. He just for whatever reason picked a bunch of guys to write it down who did not and failed to clarify the issue too well. But that is true of many, many things in the bible that straight folks agree to disagree about.


And he didn't say anything about marijuana or abortion either! WTF straight olive complexed males?!
John1248
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Marco, the problem I have with your position is if you can throw out some, then you might as well throw out all. I mean, if I didn't believe the Bible was God inspired and completely true, then I wouldn't waste my time with any of it.

Now you are 100% correct in that many Christians like to pick and chose parts of the Bible. They're quick to condemn a gay person, but quick to defend the rate of divorce in the church.
Doc Daneeka
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Being gay is not sin. Having gay sex is sin.
Marco Esquandolas
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Just tryin to help you out, OP. Responses are as i predicted. My advice to you is go read some books, ignore the texags fundamentalist echo chamber and decide for yourself.
Zobel
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Fundamentalist as an epithet is odd. He asked what Christianity said about it. If you don't care and are simply looking for affirmation, yeah, a fundamentalist approach is silly. But in that case you're no longer interested in Christianity.
AggieHank86
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
k2aggie07 said:

Fundamentalist as an epithet is odd. He asked what Christianity said about it. If you don't care and are simply looking for affirmation, yeah, a fundamentalist approach is silly. But in that case you're no longer interested in Christianity.
A very fundamentalist position.
Zobel
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Oh come on. If there's anything the abrahamic religions and all of Christendom are pretty dang historically united on it's the issue of homosexuality. Until very recently it wasn't even a question of fundamentalism.
Last Page
Page 1 of 4
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.