A Call for the Acceptance of Homosexuals within the Christian Community
rather live according to the Spirit.
These two Biblical references are not the end of our discussion. There are verses that deal with Homosexuality in the Bible’s New Testament as well. The Apostle Paul makes this statement in Romans 1:27: “the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.” Commenting on this verse, one individual believed that specific medical consequences are the penalty received literally “within” gay men. Namely, AIDS is referred to as a direct punishment on homosexuals because of their “sin” against God (St. Paul 1). Walter Wink would be in direct opposition to this idea of divine judgment though. He makes the following comment:
“Some people assume today that venereal disease and AIDS are diving punishments for homosexual behavior; we know it is a risk involved in promiscuity of every stripe, homosexual and heterosexual. In fact, the vast majority of people with AIDS the world around are heterosexuals. We can scarcely label AIDS a diving punishment, since nonpromiscuous lesbians are at almost no risk” (Wink 3).
Continuing with the discussion of Romans 1:27, Paul may have been referring to the pagan temple orgies which occurred in the Greek culture of this time period. It’s quite possible that he was speaking out against “the fertility cults involving sex among priestesses and between men and eunuch prostitutes such as served Aphrodite at Corinth, from where he was writing this letter to the Romans. Their self-castrating rites resulted in a bodily ‘penalty’” (ECWR 3). Paul was not a witness of mutual love and commitment between two gay people; he also knew
Webber 5
nothing about the psychosexual and scientific research concerning a person’s inborn sexual orientation. He witnessed the indecent acts of Greek paganism, and made condemnation against exalting the body of a person over the Spirit of God.
Homosexuals attempting to live within the church community are faced with overwhelming emotions of guilt and fear at times. These emotions result from uncertainty and the belief that gay people will be separated from God and forced to spend an eternity in hell.
Even I Corinthians 6:9-10 states the following: “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” This is another verse that can be used to discourage a homosexual lifestyle. Read the verse. It doesn’t seem to be confusing. It says that homosexual offenders will not inherit the kingdom of God. Read the whole verse though. It also says that a sexually immoral person along with those who are greedy and drunkards and anyone who places anything at all above God will also not inherit the [next page]