Does Gay Sex Violate Scripture?
All Bible verses in this document were taken from the Douay-Rheims Bible, considered the most accurate English translation of the Latin Vulgate.
In June 2003 a controversy in the Episcopal church caused some of its leaders to state "gay sex does not violate scripture". Let's see what the Bible has to say:
Genesis 1:27 - 28 - "And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. And God blessed them, saying 'increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth'". This doesn't say God created male and male or female and female. God commanded all living creatures to "increase and multiply", lets see two gay men or two gay women living as a "married couple" do that.
Genesis 2:18 - "And the Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone: let us make him a help like unto himself." God Himself sees that man needs a "help" (some Bibles translate this as "partner"). Genesis 2:24 - "Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh." God didn't give Adam a choice between "Eve" and "Steve", God made man for woman and woman for man.
Genesis 19:1 - 11 - These verses tell the story of the two Angels sent to Sodom by God to see if "they (Sodom) have done according to the cry that is come to me" (Genesis 18:21), for "their sin is become exceedingly grievous" (Genesis 18:20). Genesis 19:4 -5 says "but before they went to bed, the men of the city beset the house both young and old, all the people together. And they called Lot, and said to him 'Where are the men that came in to thee at night? Bring them out hither that we may know them'. Lot refused to bring the Angels out, offering instead his virgin daughters, but the men refused them, and were struck blind by God, and Sodom was destroyed." The phrase "that we may know them" is another way to say "that we may have sex with them". This is far from an endorsement of gay sex.
Jude 7 - "As Sodom and Gomorrha, and the neighboring cities, in like manner, having given themselves to fornication, and going after other flesh (gay sex), were made an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire." Gay sex merits the punishment of eternal fire (Hell).
Judges 19:22 - 23, 24 - "...the men of that city, sons of Belail, came and beset the old man's house, and began to knock at the door, calling to the master of the house, saying: "Bring forth the man that came into thy house, that we may abuse (have sex with) him". And the old man went out to them and said: "...I beseech you, commit not this crime against nature on the man". These passages plainly state that sex between two men is "against nature".
Leviticus 18:22 - "Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind, because it is an abomination." "Abomination" does NOT mean "its O.K.".
Romans 1:26 - 27 - "For this cause God delivered them up to shameful affections. For their women have changed the natural use into that use which is against nature. And, in like manner, the men also, leaving the natural use of the women, have burned in their lusts one towards another, men with men working that which is filthy, and receiving in themselves the recompense which was due to their error". These verses clearly state that gay sex is "against nature" and "filthy" and an "error".
1 Corinthians 6:10 - "Nor the effeminate, nor lairs with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor railers, nor extortioners, shall possess the kingdom of God". This verse is self explanatory.
1 Corinthians 2 - "Yes, it is a good thing for a man not to touch a woman; but since sex is always a danger, let each man have his own wife and each woman her own husband". No mention here of the option of two men or two women having sex together.
1 Timothy 1:10 - "For fornicators, for them who defile themselves with mankind, for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and whatever other thing is contrary to sound doctrine". Gay sex is "contrary to sound doctrine".
These verses leave no doubt that gay sex does indeed violate scripture. What Bible are those Episcopal church leaders using? What sins are they going to deny next? Why would anyone want to belong to a church whose leaders so blatantly ignore Sacred Scripture? Obviously that church isn't from God.
And this shows how far Satan will go to lead people away from God: In August of 2010 some gay "marriage" proponents even dared to claim that gay "marriage" was practiced in the early Church, citing saints Sergius and Bacchus as "proof". This claim was quickly dismissed by several historians, including Robin Young, David Woods, and Brent Shaw. The last historian is especially significant because he is actually sympathetic to same-sex "marriage", but he can't go along with lying about the past to support one's agenda.
Some Objections:
Jesus was silent on this issue. This isn't true. The Bible is the Word of God, and Jesus is the Word made Flesh, everything in the Bible is from Jesus, and the numerous verses quoted above are quite clear about this issue. In His short time on earth Jesus couldn't have possibly commented on every issue that would come up before the Last Judgment. Being God, He knew this, that's why He established a living, teaching Church, to continue His mission of leading us to the right path. Because God gave us free will we can either accept or reject His Church and It's teachings, but the Church is there for those who do want to do God's Will.
These verses have been "twisted" to support the Catholic Church's view on gay sex. This claim is false, these verses are taken directly, word for word, from the most accurate English translation of the Bible that exists, and they are used in context. You can look them up yourself. Some non-Catholic Christians accept these verses as proof that gay sex is wrong, others don't. That is the problem with the Protestant doctrine of Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone) which states that the Holy Spirit will guide anyone who reads the Bible in faith to the Truth. How can those who accept these verses and those who don't both be correct? Our non-Catholic brothers and sisters need to remember that the Bible came from the Catholic Church (this is a historical fact, not an opinion), and only the Catholic Church has the authority to interpret it. From Apostolic times the Catholic Church has always taught that these verses condemn gay sex, and the Apostles certainly knew what God's Will was. God doesn't change, if He said gay sex was wrong then its still wrong today.
The current gay sex issue is reminiscent of the contraception issue 70 years ago. Prior to 1940 ALL Christian faiths, Catholic and Protestant, considered contraception (artificial birth control) to be un-Biblical. In 1940 that changed with the Lambeth conference, and over the following years Protestant denominations followed the Anglican lead. Did the Bible change? No, people changed. They started wanting to do their own will instead of doing God's Will. Today the Catholic and Orthodox Churches are the only mainline Christian Churches that continues to teach that artificial birth control is wrong.
God made some people straight and some gay, and if God made them that way it must be OK. This sounds like a good argument, but it's flawed, and it's also hypocritical. Expanding on this statement we can say that everything God makes is good, and that's true, it says so in the Bible. God makes all babies, yet women want the "right" to abort them, and many are even encouraged to abort them, especially the ones with birth defects. If they are good why are they being aborted? The same goes for people inclined to violence. God made them that way, but we insist they be locked up. Is that fair? God made them, they must be "good". But they hurt people you may say. That may be true, but God still made them that way. God allows things to happen, he doesn't necessarily make them happen. God allows bad things to happen in order to bring good out of the bad, a perfect example of this is the Crucifixion of His innocent Son Jesus Christ. Everyone has crosses to bear. Assuming that people are "born" gay God could have allowed that as a means to strengthen them spiritually. God tests our faith, that is plain in the Bible. There are many gay people, women and men, who accept their gay "cross" and lead good Christian lives in spite of it.
We need to remember that people inclined to homosexuality are good people, they just have temptations that are bad. Some heterosexual people are inclined and tempted to commit fornication, adultry, and other sexual sins and they are expected by God to resist it. Gay people are expeced by God to resist their temptations also. Gay people are NOT bad people, they were chosen by God to bear a special cross. Crosses are hard, that's why they are called "crosses", but God never allows us to be tempted beyond our ability to resist. If we call upon Him He will help us.
Being against gay "marriage" isn't about "discrimination", being "homophobic", or being "intolerant", it's about morals. Morals matter. The ultimate decline of a country is always preceded by its moral decline. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, not because of environmental, economical, or tax issues, but because of their lack of sexual morals. Will America be next? The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the recent (2008) financial crisis are wake up calls, are we listening?
The people who continue to push for sexual immorality should consider the words of the Prophet Isaiah:
"Woe to you that call evil good..." (Isaiah 5:20)
SOURCES
Douay Rheims Bible
Saints Sergius and Bacchus on Wikipedia.org
Sergius, Bacchus, and the growing myth of "early Christian gay marriage" by Thomas Peters