Lovers, Not Lawyers

HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE BIBLE?
Part 7

[[Okay, so let me get this straight. You have concluded the following things:

(Part 2) the creation account in Genesis is really 2 creation stories that contradict one another

(Part 3) the Bible never identifies homosexuality as the sin which caused Sodom and Gomorrah's destruction

(Part 4) Christians are often incredibly inconsistent with the laws in the Torah that they choose to apply to their lives

(Part 5) Jesus said nothing on homosexuality, nor offered a definition of marriage

(Part 6) Paul's views on homosexuality were informed by an outdated understanding of the natural world, and were responding to homosexual practices that were often associated with pedophilia and prostitution

That's all well and good, but where in the Bible does it say that homosexuality is okay?]]

It doesn't. There are no verses in the Bible that explicitly support homosexuality, even in marriage. For those solely interested in the historical contexts of the Bible verses frequently used in the Christian debate over gay marriage, this is where I leave you. I have shown to the best of my ability that the Bible was not written with gay marriage in mind, and as such did not speak for or against it. Do with this information what you will.

However, I find that when I read blogs about controversial topics such as this, I want more than just the cold facts. I want help making sense of them. So for this article, I will do exactly that. This is a controversial topic within Christianity, so I will forgo my usual academic perspective, and instead write from the perspective of my own tradition. I will switch my point of view from the third-person to the first, no longer merely describing what "Christians" do, but will rather comment on what I would like to see "us" do as Christians.

The Jesus Card

HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE BIBLE?
Part 5

As is the case with most theological debates among Christians, it isn't long before people start quoting Jesus to back up their views. I call this tactic "playing the Jesus card," and it is certainly not an invalid method of arguing. For Christians, Jesus is seen as the top authoritative figure on Christian teaching, and so if you can show that Jesus agreed with you, your views earn stock in Christian communities.

It's not shocking, then, that Christians on both sides of the homosexuality debate try to play the Jesus card when arguing their position. However, this can be awkward since the gospels never mention Jesus saying anything about gay marriage or homosexuality.

Often times Christians who don't think homosexuality is a sin use Jesus' silence on the matter to their advantage. Many have argued that because Jesus didn't say anything on homosexuality in the gospels, he must not have considered it a sin. However, this argument of silence doesn't go very far by itself. After all, the gospels don't record Jesus teaching on many modern issues, such as alcoholism or pollution, but that doesn't mean he would approve of them if he was walking around with us today.

Other Christians who think homosexuality is a sin claim that while Jesus was silent on the matter, he wasn't silent about God's definition of marriage, which contradicts homosexuality. For evidence, these Christians quote Jesus' teachings on marriage found in Mark 10 and Matthew 19.

For this article, we will look at Jesus' teachings found in Mark and Matthew to see if they really define marriage in a way that excludes homosexuality, and determine if the Jesus card can be legitimately played in the debate over gay marriage. We will start by looking at what Jesus is saying in Mark 10 and Matthew 19, and then discuss what Jesus is not saying in those passages.