If the Bible is indeed the Word of God, perfect and without error, then the issue is settled. Homosexuality is a sin and we must condemn it's practice. However, if the Bible is the writings of men who were only capable of seeing dimly, as if in a mirror, the way Paul described it, then we have a long way to go before we settle the question.
John's teaching concerning the third person of the trinity, God's Holy Spirit, has that person leading us into truth, and not a book...even if that book is called "the Holy Bible."
I maintain that the conservative doctrine that the Bible is the express Word of God, perfect and without error, is a heresy. This doctrine is a heresy as the ancient Greeks used the word, a teaching or attitude which us used to cause divisiveness in the community. It is used by the conservatives to separate out those who do not accept a divinely inspired Bible, in the same manner as Jesus describes the shepherd separating out the sheep from the goats. It is also a heresy in the manner that the church uses the word, a false doctrine which might lead to the worship of a false God. It elevates the book into the status of God.
If, as I believe, God is leading us to openly accept and affirm those with differing sexual orientations and gender identities that the "norm," the doctrine of an inerrant Bible must be destroyed. Not only must we object to this doctrine when we find it among the conservatives, the Fundamentalists, the Orthodox, the Pentecostal and the Charismatic, but we must also object to this doctrine when we find it in those Churches and believers which do support the claim of the gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgendered and transvestite, that God accepts them on equal status with the straight.
There is much debate over the accuracy and the inerrancy of Scripture. Pertaining to this debate there exists an underlying question as to whether or not the New Testament is considered part of the canon or for that matter if it is actually given by the inspiration of God. How did the books that are in the New Testament get there? Who decided which books should be added or taken out? Do we have all the books that we should have? Many ask these questions, but Christians are ill equipped to give an answer. For centuries, Christians have claimed that they have the absolute truth, are saved only by faith, and claim the Scriptures as inspired by God. In spite of these claims many Christians are not able to clarify the origins of what they place all of their faith upon. The questions asked above are profoundly significant since they have eternal consequences. They have consequences because in order to trust and obey God there must be certainty in the accuracy of God’s Word. This testament will attempt to answer the question: How Do We Know The New Testament is God’s Word?
The Greek words used to describe homosexual people and behaviors are mistranslated. The main words used to label someone as gay in Paul’s Letters to the Apostles, especially in Corinthians and Romans, are the Greek words: arsenokoitēs and malakos (Boswell, 338). Arsenokoitēs actually means homosexual, however malakos translates to ‘effeminate.’ Both words are used in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.” Though Corinthians seems to explicitly say that members of the LGBT community will not be accepted into heaven, it is shown through the works of ancient writers thatt the w...
According to biblical texts, in the beginning, God created the first man, Adam and made him a woman, Eve. He gave Adam a woman, not a man, so that the human race can maintain a man/woman relationship. For thousands of years homosexuality has been misconduct or in the church’s case, sin. We are continuously beset with this controversial topic and have since reached a point where homosexuality is more open and more accepted than ever. Now, gay men and women fight for the right to be legally married in the United States. In Christianity, marriage is a lifelong commitment under God and many Christians believe this is a “major sin.” However, no matter the relation of man and woman or man and man, Homosexuals should be allowed to have a lifelong
Even in the Old Testament of the Bible, the issue of homosexuality has already been talked about. An example of a quote from the Bible would be: "...
Who wrote the Bible? I can assure you that not many people have ever really asked themselves this question and really looked behind it to find out the answer. Several people have probably never wondered who since when they think of the Bible, they think of God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” I can personally say I have never really thought about who wrote it, since I have always believed it was God himself. For me the Bible is more than just a book, it is a word of God. God may not have written the Bible psychically but was a huge inspiration for it. There’s the Old Testament and New Testament, both written by different people. You have Moses who wrote the old and the four gospels; Matthew,
According to Janet Chismar, of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, the Bible is a “collection of books, written by dozens of authors over many hundreds of years…. But in spite of their diversity, when you examine them, you discover they all have a common theme: God’s relationship with the human race.” The Bible is believed to be the inspired word of God. Chismar continues to explain the Bible’s significance by stating, “The Bible isn’t just a collection of men’s ideas about God, nor is it a guidebook for living that people developed over the centuries. It is the Word of God–and that makes all the difference. This means the Bible is our authority in everything it touches. This means the Bible is our guide to show us how to live. Most of all, this means the Bible is our instructor, teaching us about God and His plan of salvation in Christ.” Those of Christian faith believe that the Bible is God’s definitive doctrine.
Leviticus is even more prominent in the debate against homosexuality in Christianity. At its core, Leviticus is a handbook on how to live righteously as a citizen of Israel. These laws apply only to followers of the Jewish tradition, but are still used to disenfranchise homosexuals who choose to identify as Christian. The two verses mentioning homosexuality in this book are Leviticus 18:22 stating, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.” and Leviticus 20:13 which states, “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.” These are both found in the King James Version of the Bible.
"[I]t seems appropriate to understand sexual orientation (heterosexual or homosexual) as a deep-seated dimension of one's personality and to recognize its relative stability in a person. Generally, homosexual orientation is experienced as a given, not as something freely chosen. By itself, therefore, a homosexual orientation cannot be considered sinful, for morality presumes the freedom to choose. The teachings of the Church make it clear that the fundamental human rights of homosexual persons must be defended and that all of us must strive to eliminate any forms of injustice, oppression, or violence against them"(Pastoral).
The Book of Ages, which is known as The Bible, has been Christianity’s handbook since the early days of the Church. It is a book that has guided many souls through perilous storms of life and has given priceless instructions concerning every facet of life, and like its author, it is no respecter of persons. Anyone who ventures therein can be helped and encouraged immensely by what they find, or they may be cut deeply and killed by its law. It has been attested that this book is THE INERRANT WORD OF GOD. However, many have not realized that this "inerrant word of God" has also guided large numbers of people down the road to spurious beliefs and grave deceptions. Therefore, the question might be, WHICH BIBLE is THE INERRANT WORD OF GOD? Is it
Even though humans wrote the text, translating it and passing it down from generations to generations, God’s truth is unchanging. Debates of the inerrancy of the bible cannot usurp God as the King of grace. Instead of focusing on the inerrancy of the Bible, individuals who wish to seek a life of faith should focus on the inspiration God is showing them in his word. These revelations should move them into applicable, daily life changing implications from what they have learned. God shows revelations of himself through the Bible, and his character is revealed time and time again throughout scripture. Any faulty facts or discrepancies in grammar or data, should not take away from the value that scripture holds. When we read scripture we bring new meaning of interpretations of the truths God shows us, since new eras and environmental factors will be influential on how we process information. The bible is not just a fact book, telling humans stories of the past, but instead the bible is inspired instructions for how we can deal with spiritual and ethical encounters we
Homosexuality is no exception. Twisted enough, and mistranslated enough, the Bible can create grounds for many opinions, however far out they may seem. What is important to understand is the fact that not a single person is completely rid of bias. The opinions of important figures, from preacher to presidential hopeful, are influenced by more than just the Bible. Culturalism plays a huge role, if not the largest role, in creating popular opinion when it comes to the Conservative Christian community and topics such as homosexuality. There are over 30000 verses in the Bible, yet only seven verses are believed to mention homosexuality, and of these, all seven have explanations as to why viewing them as God’s hatred of homosexuals is wrong and even ignorant is some cases. Conservative Christians used the Bible to justify slavery decades ago. Now they use it to justify the hatred of homosexuality. While the fault does not lie with each individual Conservative Christian, the community, and particularly its leaders, are responsible for recognizing the effects of culturalism and the influence exerted by religious leaders. Until the community takes responsibility for it, there will be no change when it comes to homosexuality, or future controversial
Those who believe that homosexuality is wrong do so by quoting certain phrases from the Bible. For example:
The nature of Scripture and the authority of Scripture are two characteristics carefully entwined in such a way that creates an impossibility for them to not affect each other. They directly influence each other. Evangelicalism, Liberalism, and Neo-Orthodoxy all have differing views of the nature and authority of Scripture. Evangelicalism takes up the view that the Bible, Scripture, is infallible (Lane, 2006, p. 255). Scripture is God’s word and is therefore fully truth (Lane, 2006, p. 256). People under Evangelicalism equate Scripture with God’s spoken word, and they believe that though God and humans are both authors, the human author was divinely prepared by God to write out His word (Lane, 2006, p. 257). They believe that “the Bible is the supreme authority for faith and practice” (Bingham, 2002, p. 162). Liberalism takes a different view on the Scripture. In Liberalism, religion is “nothing but feeling and experience” (Lane, 2006, p. 238). This reduces the authority and value of Scripture. Scripture is not seen as God’s word or His revelation but as a written record of the experiences of humans, which takes away from its divinity and authority (Lane, 2006, p. 239). Schleiermacher, the father of Liber...
The Bible is the Word of God. It is God’s message for all of humanity. The Bible is divine revelation, breathed by God, written by men, and is applicable for all of humanity. In today’s world, there is controversy over if the inerrancy of the Bible and inspiration of the writers; however, there is little controversy over the simple fact of the New Testament, as a whole, itself. The Bible is not one long book, but rather, the Bible is a book consisting of various letters and manuscripts from throughout the history of mankind. A human being wrote every book of today’s Bible during various times in history. However, there is a classic divide in the books—Old and New Testament. The Old Testament is considered the Jewish Bible. This Bible was the original Scriptures during the time of Jesus and was the original Scriptures for many years. Therefore, not much controversy has risen over the assembly of the Old Testament.
Many Christians have never fully read the bible and base their understanding of it on word of mouth. Looking at it closer, one would notice that many parts of the bible are not of any use or are mostly rejected in today’s society, which is why we should reevaluate its teachings and revoke any that are no longer needed. Even the Pope has gone against scripture that is unacceptable in our world today. “If they accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them?” This is a quote from Pope Francis, stating that as long as a person does good, who is anyone to judge them. In the Old Testament it says, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.” (NKJ, Leviticus 18:22) and “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.” (NKJ, Leviticus 20:13) Not only do these quotes condemn homosexuality they illustrate the lack of equality due to the lack of representation of women in the law. In the New Testament, Jesus never directly mentions homosexuality, but instead condemns all forms of sexual immoral behavior. “What comes out of