Homosexuality, Changing Times, & The Bible (Part 1)

In 1979, Francis Schaeffer wrote,

The thinkables of the eighties and nineties will certainly include things which most people today find unthinkable and immoral, even unimaginable and too extreme to suggest. Yet—since they do not have some overriding principle that takes them beyond relativistic thinking—when these become thinkable and acceptable in the eighties and nineties, most people will not even remember that they were unthinkable in the seventies. They will slide into each new thinkable without a jolt.¹

Schaeffer was referencing issues such as abortion, in the wake of the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. Abortion, which previously had been recognized as evil, was at the time rapidly finding acceptance in American culture. In light of shifting values concerning abortions, Schaeffer predicted similar devolution in other moral areas. Would he be surprised by today’s approval and promotion of all things homosexual? What was considered throughout most of human history as sinful behavior and, until 1961, declared a crime in all American states and more recently as a psychological disorder,² has now been embraced by people from all walks of life.

“State sanctioned” homosexual marriage, which was unimaginable a few years ago, and as recently as 2012 banned in 32 states, is now being framed as a basic human right. Blatant transsexual and transvestite activities are now regarded as natural and normal. And if anyone dares to express another opinion, even if expressed graciously and kindly, they are considered homophobic and risk serious ridicule as well as loss of job, position in society, family and friends.

In a culture where tolerance is paramount and each has a right to their own opinions, irrespective of their veracity, different views on homosexuality are seldom tolerated. People either toe the politically correct line or suffer the consequences. Moreover, being politically correct does not just mean recognizing homosexuality as an alternate lifestyle. It requires that we all espouse and enthusiastically promote the entire homosexual agenda.

Christians who believe in the Scriptures as their final authority are in a most difficult place. If we live in obedience to written revelation, we cannot accept homosexual behavior as anything less than immorality. Yet, if we speak against the homosexual lifestyle, we are accused of hatred, judgmentalism and homophobia.

Add to this the fact that most Christians have never seriously examined the biblical teachings on homosexuality and that issues are now arising that have rarely been seriously debated throughout church history, then we can readily see why the faithful children of God are being squeezed. They find themselves between the immoveable Word of God and its clear teachings on all forms of immorality, including homosexuality, and the changing Western culture, which now sees homosexuality as perfectly acceptable and normal, as it does most other forms of immorality. Christians are quickly becoming marginalized as ill-tempered, mean-spirited bigots who want to inflict pain on innocent people who just happen to be different from them in their sexual orientations and values.

A Little History

We are truly off the grid. There has never been a time in history in which homosexuality has been seen as an “orientation” or when homosexual marriage was considered acceptable and normal. The homosexual community has attempted to revise history (with much success) and make traditionalists appear to be the ones out of step with the past and “on the wrong side of history.” But even a brief glance into human history reveals that the homosexual movement of today is simply out of stride with how homosexuality has been viewed as far back as it can be traced.

To be sure, homosexual attraction and behavior has existed throughout antiquity but not in the forms we are seeing today. Glenn Stanton, in his book Loving My (LGBT) Neighbor, surveys some of the secular experts on the history of sexuality. These experts, who do not represent Christianity, are united in their view that the homosexual activity which is common today is much different from anything we have seen in the past. Quoting one scholar of Greco-Roman sexual behavior he writes,

In the ancient world, sanctionable homosexual acts were based on inequity: you were not supposed to desire somebody of the same age and status category as yourself. Therefore, young men and slaves are fair game, particularly your own slaves, who are your passive human property.³

Another historian, Michael Foucault, who wrote a three-volume set entitled History of Sexuality, states, “‘Homosexuality’ as a physiological or psychological category was not even present in the minds or languages of the ancient or even pre-modern worlds. It was not how one was but an action, something one did”.⁴ Yet a different scholar claims, “‘homosexuality’ as a category for understanding or identifying oneself is just about a century old.”⁵

This is not to say that homosexual behavior was uncommon in the past. Some believe 14 of the first 15 Roman emperors were homosexual.⁶ And Socrates and Plato both wrote of homosexual behavior and orientation in their days.⁷ But on a wide scale level, it was not understood as it is today. Later when homosexuality as an identity was first recognized, it was considered a disorder that needed treatment by the psychological community.⁸ It was not until the 1960s that the word “gay” was used to describe homosexuals. The word was developed in an attempt to describe something that had never been seen before in history: “A social/political movement of identity based on same-sex sexual relations and identity.”⁹

Today the homosexual community demands respect and full acceptance. The homosexual evolution to date has moved from:

• An act
• To a thing in itself, classified as a disorder needing treatment for healing/change
• To an orientation and, thus, a political movement
• To identity and, thus, a right.¹⁰

Add to all of this the fact that until very recently the universal church, taking its marching orders from Scripture, has recognized homosexual activity as sinful. Few, if any, in times past tried to use Scripture to support homosexuality. Nor did anyone try to explain away or revise the biblical texts that condemned it, that is until homosexual leaders put on the pressure. It becomes clear, purely from a secular and ecclesiastical historical basis, that the homosexual agenda of modern times is out of step with history. The accusation that traditionalists are on the wrong side of history is clearly not true. Whether homosexuality is right or wrong is another issue (and one we will presently address), but as far as history is concerned, we have never seen anything quite like this before now.

Defining Terms

Before we look at the biblical data, it would be good to define the many terms which have popped up in recent years. These can be confusing, and even those within the culture stumble over many of them, so it is good to get a handle on the terminology. Most terms are familiar to the LGBT (standing for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered) community. But to that list should be added other initials such as Q-I-A-A-P. What does all of this mean? Glenn Stanton, who is on staff with Focus on the Family and conducts lectures and debates on gender and sexuality, provides a good understanding of the initials and what they mean. Here is a summary of his definitions:¹¹

L – Lesbian, women who are sexually attracted to other women.

G – Gay, men who are sexually attracted to other men, although the term can be used more broadly to denote same-sex attraction in general.

B – Bisexual, someone who is attracted sexually to both male and female.

T – Transgender, a person born physically as a man or woman but who sees himself/herself as the opposite sex, and may have begun the process of transitioning to the gender he/she feels he/she is inside by surgical and pharmaceutical methods. Bruce Jenner recently gave massive publicity to transgenders.

Q – Queer “identifies one as challenging the moral value and hierarchy of most sexual expressions and identities,” but it is not a precise term and can mean different things to different people, even in the LGBT community.

I – Intersexed is a term used for those born with ambiguous genital or chromosomal issues, also called hermaphrodites.

A – Asexuals are those who have no sexual attraction at all.

A – Stands for ally which is typically a heterosexual who is on board with the LGBT agenda but not necessarily homosexual themselves.

P – Is not on Stanton’s list but could be added. It stands for pansexual and Miley Cyrus recently put this term on the map by claiming, “I am literally open to every single thing that is consenting and doesn’t involve an animal and everyone is of age. Everything that’s legal, I’m down with.”¹²

Understanding the meaning of these initials will help us going forward in dealing with the current culture. Throughout the remainder this article I will refer to the homosexual community as LGBT, as it is presently the popular handle for those promoting a non-heterosexual lifestyle in its numerous forms.