So I started my Bible reading plan today which starts in Genesis. As I was reading I came across this passage.
Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him...So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man." Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Italics mine) Genesis 2:18-24
Before I go any further I want to stress once again that I am not "homophobic, bigoted, or intolerant." I know and love people who live the homosexual lifestyle. I can have a mutual and/or working relationship with a homosexual. I speak against the lifestyle of homosexuality because I believe the Bible forbids it. I look at the act of homosexuality as any other sinful act. I am just as guilty in my sin as the homosexual is in their sin. Even with having said this I know that there will be intolerant individuals who will continue to label me.
I look at the above mentioned passage and see two things. Both are in italics. First, when God created man he created one sex (now I assume he created both sexes of animals though it is not stated in the passage). Knowing that this man would experience loneliness (from what we can see there is not an animal that has the same reasoning power or social dependency that man has). God could have created a companion for Adam, but he chose to wait. When it became evident to Adam that he was missing something God created a "helper fit for him." Here we find a very small word. Adam was the only man living at this time. God created woman who was "fit" for him. What does this really mean? It means that God created woman to compliment man.
Now one might argue "Okay, you are only talking about Adam though. Adam was obviously a heterosexual. You can't apply this to every person though." I would have to argue the contrary. It is the second part italicized that leads me to say that God created man and woman expressly for one another.
You see, after Adam saw woman he realized what God had done. Not only had God created a helper for him (physically, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually and yes, sexually compatible), he created all of this beautiful companion from his very body. They both were an inseparable part of one another created expressly for one another. It is for this reason that Genesis 24 says "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." Only a man and woman can become one flesh because woman was created from man. Therefore the author makes this note (or observation) under the guidance of the Holy Spirit concerning God's intention for man and woman.
The sexual union between man and woman is ordained by God within the context of a hetero-monogamous relationship. To have it any other way is to distort God's design. Any action which distorts God's original design is sin. Therefore the act of sex between two who are not married and/or two who are of the same sex is wrong.
As I sit here and continue to contemplate this I also realize that marriage should never be for selfish reason, but unfortunately it is all to often the case. Heterosexuals and homosexuals commit the same sin in that they marry or have a relationship with someone for purely selfish reasons.
I know that a major argument against what I am saying is the one from the subjective perspective. I cannot, nor will I ever be able to, know exactly what a homosexual feels or thinks. I cannot argue against a subjective argument, but I believe that Scripture supersedes the subjective argument. After all, we are human beings wrought with sin. Our nature is such that we constantly try to gratify our selfish desires. We can do so to the point where we fool ourselves into thinking that our motives are not selfish when in fact they are. I can listen to the subjective argument, but I will never be able to accept it based on my own subjectivity. All to often God says things that I would rather he didn't, but I know that God knows best. When I do as he says I find that I am much better off.
2 comments:
" I can have a mutual and/or working relationship with a homosexual."
yeah i know and some of my best friends are black.
why dont you qualify that it is not what scripture says but what you interpret scripture to say, an interpretation that leans heavily on the old testament writngs, and is unknowledgable of the principles of the new covenant.
its also interesting that you hold your position without any acknowledgement of this culture's(anglo saxon) 600 years of making being homosexual illegal, and christendom's 2000 years of declaring it a sin, all this handled down generationally.
of course christendom also practiced 2000 years of antisemetism, that culminated with most the historically heightened level of worldwide antisemetism in the 40's and 50's that provided for a halocaust that was conducted in a christian country, that at the time was 50% lutheran and catholic,(germany the 1st country to get the bible translated in its own language(1500's), translated by its national hero martin luther, whose later writings were so antisemetical that hitler used them to validate his treatment of the jews.
Please enlighten me from Scripture what the principles of the new covenant are.
Also, as I commented in the previous post, I am willing to look at the evidence, but when there is no references to your inferences then I cannot make a logical decision based upon the information you are giving. I want to be able to do the reading and research myself. Just point me in the right direction.
As I have stated. I welcome intelligent discussion and the challenging of my beliefs as long as it is done in a logical way. So far hear your challenges with little evidence. I, on the other hand, feel that I have given a logical argument for both the condemnation of homosexuality in Scripture and what how the old and new covenants interact.
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