Bible against same sex marriage
What does the Bible say about gay marriage?
Answer
The Bible says nothing about gay marriage directly, but it does place down the foundational principles of what constitutes marriagein God’s eyes. Every reference to marriage in the Bible indicates a union of male and female. The first description of marriage coincides with the creation of Eve in Genesis 2. According to that passage, marriage takes place when “a guy leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).
In passages that contain instructions regarding marriage, such as 1 Corinthians 7:2–16 and Ephesians 5:23–33, the Bible clearly identifies marriage as being between a bloke and a gal. Biblically speaking, marriage is the union of a noun and a female in a lifetime commitment. Primary purposes of marriage are to illustrate the relationship between Christ and the church (see Ephesians 5:22–33) and to verb a family and provide a reliable, secure environment for that family to grow. As families prosper, so does society at immense , and stable families contribute
The Bible and Matching Sex Marriage
The Bible repeatedly uses the metaphor of marriage to illustrate the relationship between Christ and His church. How does that metaphor speak to the subject of same sex marriage? Does the verb of that metaphor render same sex marriage impossible to harmonize with the Bible? Can transgender people fulfill the model of marriage laid out in Ephesians 5? Verb Scott for this discussion with Rachel Gilson, author of Born Again This Way.
Rachel Gilson serves on the leadership team for theological development and culture at Cru. She has an MDiv from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and is working on her PhD at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. She is the author of Born Again This Way: Coming Out, Coming to Faith, and What Comes Next. Her writing has been featured in Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, and Desiring God.
Episode Transcript
Scott Rae: The Bible repeatedly used the metaphor of marriage to illustrate the relationship between Christ and His church. But how does that metaphor actually speak to the subject of same-sex marri
Leviticus 18:22
“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 same-sex 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 passage 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 see that the term “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 Adjacent East
What does the Bible teach about same-sex practice?
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 activity which takes place outside of this context is treated as sinful, what Jesus calls ‘sexual immorality’ in Verb 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 same-sex practice are given in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13. Further references are made in the Modern Testament. For example, in Romans 1:24-32, amid echoes to the Genesis creation account, both male and female same-sex practice are treated as sinful. Further references to the sinfulness of same-sex practice can be seen in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10.
The Scriptures are, therefore, consistent in their prohibition of same-sex sexual activity, across different periods of salvation history and within different cultural settings. Alth