Does the Bible say that Homosexuality is Wrong? Homosexuality and the Bible
Yes. The Bible does suggest that homosexuality is a sin. But the Bible also says that drinking blood and eating lizards are sins.1 In Matthew 5:17, Jesus declares, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Much, if not all, of the Law of Moses is a celebration of the natural order of the cosmos. These laws and ceremonies are meant to prophetically symbolize the story of the Messiah, the sacred king. The most obvious example of this fact is the custom of the daily sacrifice. Here an unblemished lamb is sacrificed as a sin offering. This custom prophetically points to Jesus’ sinless life and his sacrificial death for the sins of his people. In this context, homosexuality is a sin. Although condemned by the Law, homosexuality is also regarded as sinful even in the New Testament so there is more to homosexuality than ritual impurity.
The Bible says that Homosexuality is a Sin: Why is doing what seems Natural a Sin?
But why would indulging in what would seem natural to someone be a sin? What is natural and what is ethical are not related. It would be natural for me to physically assault someone who insults me. That, of course, would not be ethical. Ethics and morality are the transcendence of what is natural to what is ideal and just. Homosexuality, if nothing else, is not ideal sexual behavior if the objective of sex is procreation. In the same way that indulging in greed, theft, drunkenness, adultery, and fornication are also sins. Most sins are natural human inclinations, at least to a small percentage of people. There are even people who admit to having an almost irresistible compulsion to murder. All people struggle with their own unique set of vices. It is human nature to sin. Homosexuality is one particularly challenging example of a natural human impulse shared by a small subset of men and a somewhat larger subset of women.
The Bible says that Homosexuality is Wrong: Did God make a Mistake?
Does this mean that God made a mistake when he created people attracted to the same sex? No. Did God make a mistake when he made children born with mental illnesses or born hermaphroditic? Many people who have had revelatory near-death experiences testify that each individual chooses their own strengths, weaknesses and general path in life before they are born. The goal is to design a life uniquely tailored to facilitate the next step in spiritual development. People who have been born with strong homosexual tendencies may have chosen or been given this path in order to learn to master their sexual appetite in order to move on to the next stage of their spiritual development.
Many people would regard suicide as a sin and an even higher percentage of people would regard adultery as a sin. A big part of the reason suicide and adultery are sins is because these acts hurt those do these acts as well as their loved ones. If a family member commits suicide or adultery it can cause a great deal of emotional distress to the participants as well as family members especially in one’s spouse or children. The same is true of homosexuality. The practice of homosexuality can cause a great deal of emotional distress in the homosexual themselves as well as with their loved ones. And it’s not just Christians and Muslims who regard this behavior as sinful that experience trauma by this behavior. Emotional distress over homosexuality is also prevalent all over the world in Confucian, Hindi, and Buddhist cultures to name just a few. Even atheists and agnostics report adverse feelings although, I would expect, to a lesser degree as atheists and agnostics tend to feel freer sexually and are less likely to regard homosexuality as unethical. And, of course, a Christian homosexual and their Christian family might feel greater distress over concern that they or their loved one may end up in Hell. If suicide and adultery are regarded as sinful at least in part because they cause emotional distress especially to loved ones and homosexuality also causes emotional distress to the homosexual and their loved ones, is it surprising if the Bible would regard homosexuality as a sin?
In an interview, Ariana Grande said, “The gayer the better.” This kind of promotion of homosexuality in modern feminist and progressive circles is, I believe, deleterious to society. Thus, I believe homosexuality should be marginalized, not promoted, especially in modern times. Homosexuality impairs fertility in obvious and not-so-obvious ways. One of the less-obvious ways homosexuality impairs fertility is in the marriage market. Sexuality is a spectrum and somewhere around 80% of people, especially women, are bisexual to varying degrees. Because homosexuality is promoted in many modern cultures many men and especially women are now engaging in this practice who would not have done so if the practice were still regarded as taboo. The practice of homosexuality is a problem for fertility not just because heterosexuality is required for childbirth, but those who have ever engaged in homosexuality are less valuable in the dating and marriage market. Men highly value virginity and homosexuality greatly lowers a women’s marriage value. Similarly, women generally find men who have engaged in homosexuality to be less masculine and, therefore, generally feel repulsed by them. Maybe part of the reason God forbids homosexuality is because of this biological revulsion or perhaps God programed people in this way so as to increase human fertility? God wants people to be fruitful and multiply. In modern times there is a fertility crisis impaired at least to a large degree by sexual sin including homosexuality.
The Bible says that Homosexuality is a Sin: Mastering your Appetites
According to Hinduism, a major purpose in life is to learn to control your appetites. By acquiring complete control over their desires, ancient Hindu sages expected to gain great power in this life and the next. Living a life free of sin is about learning to control your urges. An extreme example is Jesus Christ who according to the New Testament controlled his appetite for sin so well that he lived a sinless life. His life of self-sacrifice qualified him to once more inherit the Father’s kingdom after having emptied himself of his previous power in order to become a sacrifice for sin.2 Homosexuals struggle with a uniquely challenging example of an appetite that must be adequately controlled in order to qualify for heaven and the other higher afterlife realms (See How Can Papias’ View of the Resurrection be Reconciled with Preterism?). Though I believe that the unrepentant homosexual need not worry about eternal punishment because hell is not eternal, failure to sufficiently master this desire may hinder access to certain heavenly zones. See Is Hell Eternal?