What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality? by Kevin DeYoung
What does the Bible ReallyTeach About Homosexuality? Is a great new book by Kevin DeYoung. This book really breaks down into
four parts: 1) an overview of the big storyline of the Bible, 2) a quick
exegetical walk through of the passages in the Bible that deal with
homosexuality, 3) a look at the most popular objections to what the Bible says
about homosexuality, 4) and some appendices that deal with cultural issues in
and outside the church, as a well as a great bibliography with notes for further
research.
In
part one Kevin DeYoung walks through all of the passages in the Bible that deal
with homosexuality. These include: Genesis 1-2, Genesis 19, Leviticus 18, 20,
Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6, and 1Timothy 1. What the reader will find here is an
unapologetic and thorough exegetical study of these important passages.
DeYoung’s conclusion concerning the Bible’s message about homosexuality is
clear, “the Bible places homosexual behavior – no matter the level of
commitment or mutual affection – in the category of sexual immorality” (17).
But DeYoung also believes that all sexual sin, including homosexuality, is not
beyond the reaches of the redemptive powers of the Gospel.
If
you are a Christian or a non-Christian that wants to better understand what the
Bible says about homosexuality, Part I of DeYoung book is a great, quick
summary of the pertinent passages. This does not mean you will like what he has
to say, but he is unapologetic about what the Bible says. DeYoung affirms
“there is nothing ambiguous about the biblical witness concerning homosexual
behavior. Even many revisionist scholars acknowledge that the Bible is
uniformly negative toward same-sex activity” (73). Further more DeYoung boils the
arguments against the Bible down to brass tacks when he says, “no positive
argument for homosexuality can be made from the Bible, only arguments that
texts don’t mean what they seem to mean, and that specific texts can be
overridden by other considerations” (74).
One
exercise I have done with younger members in my congregation that are
struggling to understand this issue from God’s perspective is to walk them
through each passage that deals with homosexuality in the Bible and let them
tell me what each passage says. Unanimously they agree that the Bible speaks
negatively about homosexuality. It is plain and obvious. Many Christians and
non-Christians alike know this about the Bible. What DeYoung does in Part II of
his book is then to walk through the cultural arguments and objections to what
the Bible says. It is this section of DeYoung’s book that shines and is a must
read for Christians and non-Christians alike.
What
is so important with the second half of DeYoung’s book is that he answers many
of the popular objections to the Bible’s teaching on homosexuality, and he does
it by exposing the faulty thinking that these objections or questions spring
from. In Part II he deals with the following objections and questions: Chapter
6 - “The Bible Hardly Ever Mentions Homosexuality,” Chapter 7 - “Not That Kind
of Homosexuality,” Chapter 8 - “What about Gluttony and Divorce?,” Chapter 9 - “The Church Is Supposed to Be a
Place for Broken People,” Chapter 10 - “You’re on the Wrong Side of History,”
Chapter 11 – “It’s Not Fair,” Chapter 12 – “The God I Worship Is a God of
Love.” With each objection or question DeYoung shows us why we are even asking
these questions and why the Gospel meets us with a different and better
solution. If you are a Christian you need to read these chapters so that you
can actively engage in careful conversation with your friends on the issue. If
you are a non-Christian, you need to engage with these chapters to better
understand your own thinking and reactions to the teaching of the Bible,
whether at the end of the day you agree with the Bible’s teaching or not.
In
the short appendices that follows the two main parts of DeYoung’s book, he
gives a couple of pages to the issues of gay marriage and same sex attraction.
DeYoung does a good job pointing out that the issue of gay marriage is more than just
about who you can marry, but includes other issues such as the state suddenly
having the power to decide what is marriage, which is a ceding to the state
vast amounts of power that it has never had (137-140). The state has always
recognized marriage as an institution, but has never had the power to define
it. DeYoung’s second appendix
deals with the growing debate in Christian circles over whether same sex
attraction is a sin in an of itself. Sam Allberry deals with this issue some in his
book, Is God Anti-Gay? And OtherQuestions About Homosexuality, the Bible, and Same-Sex Attraction. I have a
review of Sam’s book HERE, that previously has appeared on entrustedwiththegospel.com if you would like to hear a little of what Sam has said. As a sidenote, Denny
Burk, has recently, published an article in JETS
on the topic entitled, “Is Homosexual Orientation Sinful?” You can read Burk's article HERE. DeYoung notes that all misplaced sexual desires are a product of the fall
and are in need of redemption. Finally in a third appendix DeYoung gives “Ten
Commitments” that the church should make as they deal with homosexuality. And
they are all good.
DeYoung’s
book is a great resource for knowing what the Bible says about homosexuality. But
more than that, it is a great resource for a careful look at the questions
Christians and the wider culture are posing as they wrestle with what the Bible
has said. The book by its own admission is not meant to be a pastoral resource
on how the church should gracefully deal with the issue, but wants to make the
underpinning of the issue clear. The debate in the church over homosexuality
and its acceptance is at its core a debate over biblical authority. Will the
church accept the Bible’s teaching or find a way around it to indulge in sin.
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