Homosexuality – The Bible and the
Christian in the Crossfire of Culture
Ed Riddick, March 11, 2012
Important Commitments
• I hold to an orthodox, Judeao-Christian worldview
• There is a divine design and transcendent purpose
for our sexuality beyond temporal pleasure
• Male and female are created in the image of God
• As with many issues in human sexuality such as
fornication, adultery, lust, abuse, etc. I do not
believe homosexuality originates in divine design
but from our separation from God’s design
• I believe that spiritual direction, inner healing and
discipleship counseling are essential for those who
desire to deal with their sexual issues as Christ followers
Homosexuality is…
•
•
•
•
a theological, faith issue,
a cultural issue,
a political issue,
but never forget that (as with all human
sexuality issues) homosexuality is a deeply
personal issue that impacts individuals,
their families and their network of friends
I.
Embracing Truth
Secular mindset – Michelle Pfeiffer, actress
"I do not know what the big deal is with legalizing
same-sex marriage. I don’t understand the
problem people have with that. I can’t even wrap
my head around that way of thinking. I don’t
know if it’s judgmental, bigoted? I don’t know
how a person gets to be like that. I mean, who’s it
hurting, you know?"
Two Sources of Truth
Special Revelation
John 17:17 “your word is
truth”
Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers,
the flower fades, but the word
of our God will stand forever.”
Matthew 5:17-18 “Truly, I say
to you, until heaven and earth
pass away, not an iota, not a
dot, will pass from the Law
until all is accomplished.”
Natural Revelation
Psalm 19:1-4“The heavens
declare the glory of God, and
the sky above proclaims his
handiwork. Day to day pours
out speech, and night to night
reveals knowledge…Their voice
goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of
the world.”
Two Sources of Truth
Special Revelation
Natural Revelation
Romans 1:18-21 “For what can
2 Timothy 2:15, “Do your be known about God is plain to
best to present yourself to them, because God has shown
it to them. For his invisible
God as one approved, a
attributes, namely, his eternal
worker who has no need
power and divine nature, have
to be ashamed, rightly
been clearly perceived, ever
handling the word of
since the creation of the world,
truth.”
in the things that have been
made.”
“Ezra had set his heart to
study the Law of the
LORD” (Ezra 7:10)
Psalm 111:2 “Great are the
works of the LORD, studied by
all who delight in them.”
If you leave the realms of truth
Exegesis
Truth correlated
Essential Doctrine
Or Fringe / Lone
Ranger Theology
False teaching –
depart orthodoxy
Embrace lies
Spread Propaganda
God’s
W
O
R
D
Hypothesis
God’s Research
C
Theory
Repeated Testing
R
If not supported
E
but held to then
A
embrace illusion
T
Self-deception
I
Dogma
O
Propaganda
N
Impose ideology
Understanding Scripture
Originally featured as articles in the
ESV Study Bible, these eighteen essays
have been repurposed and
republished in a convenient format.
Covering a diverse range of essential
subjects, including how to read the
Bible well and why it is reliable, the
essays delve into specific topics such
as world religions, canon, and
archaeology.
Useful as both a general overview of
the Bible and as a tool for more
specific reference and training, readers
of this book will grow in their
understanding of Scripture and their
ability to apply the Bible to their lives.
Written by notable contributors,
including J. I. Packer, John Piper, David
Powlison, and Vern Poythress.
Understanding the scientific process
Thomas Kuhn is very well known in the
history of science and his book The
Structure of Scientific Revolutions
remains one of the most cited
academic works of the last century.
Kuhn’s use of the terms “paradigm”
and “paradigm shift” had a lasting
impact on the language, twisting a
term that had previously meant
“model” or “example” so that it
signified traditional structures of
thought, which sometimes change in
dramatic ways through innovation..
Science or Opinion?
“We can no longer simply consider ideas according
to rules of logic and evidence, but must now take
into account the political and polemical forces that
surround them and gave them form. Henceforth,
the history of ideas about homosexuality is at least
as much the history of opinion as it is of ideas.”
Kenneth Lewes, PhD The Psychoanalytic Theory of Male
Homosexuality
Christians Are To
“Speak the truth in love”
• Accurate
• Biblical – doctrinally sound and balanced
• Considerate
“I love you, and yes I think homosexual behavior is a sin.”
“I love you but I disagree with you.”
“Loving you does not mean approving everything you
do.”
“Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every
way into him who is the head, into Christ,” (Ephesians
4:15, ESV)
II.
Special Revelation – What God’s
Word Says about Homosexuality
A. Sex of any kind is no small matter
to God.
B. Be careful not to practice the
interpretive twisting God’s Word to
make is say what you want.
Types of interpretation
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Normal interpretation
Literalistic interpretation
Allegorical interpretation
Devotional interpretation
Ideological interpretation - looking for what
fits your ideological bias (ideologies including
the feminist, liberation or gay activist
ideologies = reader-centered bias determines
the meaning of the biblical text. God’s Word
is made to say what it does not say. Credible
scholars outside the ideological group do not
agree with the interpretation made.)
II.
Special Revelation – What God’s
Word Says about Homosexuality
C. God’s Created Intent
Genesis 2:24 “For this reason a man shall leave
his father and his mother, and (cleave) be joined
to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”
Jesus repeated this template
Matt 19:4-5 “He answered, “Have you
not read that he who created them
from the beginning made them male
and female, and said, ‘Therefore a
man shall leave his father and his
mother and hold fast to his wife, and
the two shall become one flesh’? (see
also Mk 10:7)
Paul repeated this template
Ephesians 5:31 “Therefore a man
shall leave his father and mother
and hold fast to his wife, and the
two shall become one flesh.”
D. Specific sins that fall outside God’s
Created Intent
Romans 1:20-32
23 specific sins are listed
Homosexual behavior is listed as one of
these sins.
“The progression of human depravity in Romans 1 it
appears that the lowest step in our downward fall as a
human race is not homosexual relations but such things
as greed, envy, strife, gossip, slander, faithlessness and
heartlessness.”
Which is the greater sin?
“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God,
God gave them up to a debased mind to do what
ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner
of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They
are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness.
They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent,
haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to
parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though
they know God’s righteous decree that those who
practice such things deserve to die, they not only do
them but give approval to those who practice them.”
(Romans 1:28–32, ESV)
What the Bible says about
homosexual behavior
Genesis 19:4-9 - The destruction of Sodom
Leviticus 18:22 “You shall not lie with a male as
with a woman; it is an abomination.”
Leviticus 20:13 “If a man lies with a male as with
a woman, both of them have committed an
abomination; they shall surely be put to death;
their blood is upon them.”
What the Bible says about
homosexual behavior
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that
the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of
God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually
immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men
who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor
the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And
such were some of you. But you were washed,
you were sanctified, you were justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit
of our God.”
What the Bible says about
homosexual behavior
1 Timothy 1:8-11 “Now we know that the law is
good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this,
that the law is not laid down for the just but for the
lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and
sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who
strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the
sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality,
enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is
contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the
gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I
have been entrusted.”
E.
Jesus’ ministry of compassion
and healing
1. Jesus affirmed the Genesis standard
2. Jesus affirmed that all scripture is our
binding authority
3. Revisionist interpretations do not
pass the test of credibility
4. Jesus got involved as a compassionate
healer
III. Natural Revelation
What do we learn from the studies of
the natural and social sciences?
The Controversy About Change
• Ongoing public debate about causes and
changeability of homosexuality
• Mounting political pressures within some
professional associations and academic
environments if individuals do not embrace the
current politically correct dogma
• Raises the fundamental question about the place
for Christians in the mental health fields.
• From a Christian point of view, change should not
necessarily be defined as a complete cessation of
all SSA feelings or temptations.
There is a price to be paid for not
embracing what is “politically correct”
• In certain professional and academic
environments the only option for helping those
with Same Sex Attraction (SSA) is to offer gay
affirmative therapy.
See Dallas, Heche starting on page 44 for a partial list of the price people are
paying for standing up to political correctness.
The current politically correct claim:
“sexual orientation is inborn” but…
Homosexuals are “homosexually oriented by
learned preferences.” Masters and Johnson,
1979
“The idea that people are born into one type of
sexual behavior is foolish.” Dr. John DeCecco,
Editor of the Journal of Homosexuality, 1989
Dean Hamer, Ph.D
Is homosexuality rooted solely in biology?
“Absolutely not…From twin studies, we already
know that half or more of the variability in
sexual orientation is not inherited.”
Discredited 1991 Study
by Dr. Simon LeVay
• 41 cadavers, 19 allegedly homosexual men, 16
heterosexual men and 6 heterosexual women
• Study size of anterior hypothalamus (INAH3)
• INAH3 reported to be larger in heterosexuals
than homosexuals
• Flaws – measurements of INAH3 not taken
properly; results not consistent, etc.
Never repeated and not held to be credible
today.
1991 Pillard & Bailey Twin Study
• Both Pillard (gay rights advocate) and Bailey
(openly homosexual).
• Studied sets of twins, one of which was gay
• 52% of identical twins were both gay
• Only 22% of fraternal twins were both gay
• Problem: 48% of identical twins were not both
gay = something besides genetics; each set of
twins raised in same household = could be
environment and not genetic.
Bailey, Dunne and Martin
Pioneers in the research of causal factors of
homosexuality later refuted their earlier findings
(their 1991 study) of fairly large concordance
rates (in twin studies) stated that they failed to
find a significant genetic influence on
homosexual orientation. (Jones & Kwee, 2005)
Bearman and Brucker
“Even if females were ‘masculinized’ by
androgen washing in utero, it is not clear why
this would lead them to prefer females as
romantic partners…The mechanism linking
hormone imbalance to same-sex preference
appears extremely weak.”
Article: Opposite-sex twins and adolescent same-sex attraction.
The American Journal of Sociology, 107(5), 1179-1205
Hallman / Satinover
“I do not believe that any single factor individually
determines or directly causes famale SSA.”
Hallman, p. 54
“We should stop asking simplistic questions such as
whether homosexuality is genetic or begin to ask the
much more realistic question, “To what degree is
homosexuality (or any other behavioral trait) genetic and
nongenetic, innate and acquired, familial and nonfamilial,
(etc.)…and after we’ve put these all together, how much
is left over to attribute to choice, repetition, and habit?”
Satinover, M.D. University, Prof at Harvard Medical School
American Psychiatric Association and
the 1973 change in the DSM
In 1973 a small group of the Board of Trustees of
the APA made a decision remove homosexuality
from the DSM. Usually this would require a
preponderance of scientific evidence. However,
throughout the committee’s deliberations no
conclusive scientific evidence was presented or
analyzed to prove that homosexuality was
inborn or unchangeable. In fact, studies
supporting the changeability of homosexuality
were deliberately overlooked.
D. Haldeman
“Psychology does not have the right to
interfere with individuals’ rights to seek the
treatments they choose…Psychology’s role
is to inform the profession and the public,
not to legislate against individuals’ rights to
self-determination.”
Article: The Implications of Sexual Orientation
Conversion Therapy, Professional Psychology, 33(3),
260-64
Elaine Siegel
Siegel reported that more than half of the
lesbian women with whom she worked
became fully heterosexual.
“The patient, not the analyst, decides what
is ‘good’ for him or her and what he or she
wishes to change, what to retain.”
Female Homosexuality: Choice Without Volition, p.xiii
Myths
• Male and female homosexuality are
essentially the same.
This list needs lots of additions
Issue of “cause” is complex
Nature
DNA, hormones,
neurons, inborn
personality traits
Impact of
Culture
Nurture
attachment patterns, relational
interactions + personal perceptions
and reactions, choices, decisions,
beliefs. Influences of parents,
siblings, birth order, relatives,
friends/enemies, neighbors,
teachers, pastors, youth leaders,
camp counselors, TV, radio,
movies, internet, politics
Development:
physiological, psychological
and spiritual
Innate (born that way) Influence
• Studies fail to link significant genetic
influence in homosexual orientation
• Link between hormone imbalance and
Same Sex Attraction preference is
extremely weak
Very important distinctions
Same-Sex Attraction
(SSA)
Though not inborn SSA
may not be something
chosen
Homosexual
Orientation
Gay Identity
Assessment of
Self-defining identity
inclination & sexual
label
arousal patterns,
Chosen alignment with
attractions,
gay community
Desire toward another of fantasies, yearnings,
SS in reality or fantasy and behaviors & identity.
may be emotionally
/psycho dependent and
May or may not
nonsexual
integrate these inner
inclinations with
Those who experience SSA
their broader
(The above 3 categories can be
may not embrace homoidentity or chose
perceived as levels of
sexual orientation or gay
homosexual
identification with homosexuality.)
identity
behavior.
Therapeutic Approaches
Reparative Therapy or
Reorientation Therapy
Sexual Identity Therapy (SIT)
Gay Affirmative Therapy
Treatment for those
with SSA who are in
conflict over the
sexuality.
Reparative Therapy for
Male Homosexuality
Dr. Joseph Nicolosi
Client-centered, identity-focused
helping reach congruence so that
people can live consistent with
their beliefs and values.
Counseling approach
that views homosexuality
as a normal variation of
human sexuality. The
inner conflict is the
problem, not the homo
sexuality. The therapist
seeks to enhance the
person’s comfort with
their presumed innate
sexuality.
SSA from unmet
emotional needs or
conflicts that need
repairing.
Assumes those who
experience SSA and
engage in homosexual
activity can choose to
feel and live differently
SIT consists of clients clarifying
their beliefs and values about
sexuality and bringing their sexual
behavior and chosen values and
beliefs into alignment.
Dr. Mark Yarhouse
Janelle Hallman
Assumes person is gay.
Therapist creates a “safe
place” to “come out”.
Predominate approach!
Therapeutic Approaches
Reparative
Therapy
Assumes those who
experience SSA and
engage in homosexual
activity can choose live
differently.
Sexual Identity Therapy
(SIT)
Gay Affirmative
Therapy
About identity, not orientation!
(Yarhouse, Hallman, others)
4 Central Concepts:
1. Three-tier distinction
2. Weighted aspects of identity
biological sex, gender identity,
attractions, intentions, behaviors
(i.e. chastity), beliefs and values
(Christian morality)
Assumes person is gay.
Therapist creates a “safe
place” to “come out”.
Projects onto the person
that they are discovering
who they have been all
along.
3. Attributional search for sexual
identity – the meaning of their
SSA
4. Congruence – Helping people
line up (integrate) their
behavior/ identity with their
beliefs and values
Therapeutic Approaches
Reorientation
Therapy
Sexual Identity
Therapy
Gay Affirmative
Therapy
Client-centered, identity-focused
helping reach congruence so that
people can live consistent with
their beliefs and values.
Benefits include: enhanced selfawareness, emotional growth and
stability, increased trust, hope and
belonging, renewed belief
structures, increased assertiveness
and self-confidence, improved
coping skills, improved
relationships with people of the
same sex and opposite sex, a
decrease in compulsive thoughts
and behaviors, decrease in SSA
and a stronger belief in God
Commonly held to be
effective
No comprehensive
research that proves or
disproves efficacy or
harm of
Why do people experience SSA?
“Why do I have these feelings?”
Two polarized views – which side are you on?
Christian (Evangelical)
Society
Environment
Homosexuality is innate
Family dynamics
Media fueled, pre-natal explanation
Deficits in relationship with the same-sex
parent early in life
And sexual molestation as a child
And/or homosexual encounter as an
adolescent or young adult
Bottom line: the “why” is complex and there is no
consensus
My personal goal…
Is to continually renew my commitment to do
whatever it takes to live my life free from the
ultimate control of my life being that of my
sexual struggles!
To living my life under the liberating, joyous
control of God’s Word and God’s Spirit
Important Acknowledgements
• Same Sex Attraction is an extremely complex,
multi-dimensional biological, cognitive,
emotional, behavioral and relational dynamic
Resources, not recommended to you
casually
Hellman, J. (2008). The Heart of Female Same-Sex
Attraction, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Dallas, J., & Heche, N. (Eds.). (2010). The complete
Christian guide to understanding homosexuality:
A biblical and compassionate response to samesex attraction. Eugene, OR: Harvest House
Purblishers.
Yarhouse, M.A. and Throckmorton, W. (2002).
Ethical issues in attempts to ban reorientation
therapies. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research,
Practice, Training, 39 (1), 66-75.
Resources, not recommended
to you casually
Yarhouse, M.A. (1998). When clients seek treatment for samesex attraction: Ethical issues in the “right to choose”
debate. Psychotherapy, 35, 248-59.
Eliot, L. (2009). Pink brain, blue brain: How small differences
grow into troublesome gaps -- and what we can do about it.
Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
(Lisa Eliot is a medical research scholar. She is a professor at
the University of Chicago. Her book explores both the innate,
prenatal gender differences between female and male infants.
She devotes some 30 pages to the issue of the origin of
homosexuality. Lisa is not an evangelical Christian. She is a
medical scientist. Her research almost completely dismisses
any innate origin of homosexuality. )
Resources, not recommended
to you casually
Jones, S.L., & Yarhouse, M.A. (2007) Ex-gays?: A
longitudinal study of religiously mediated
change in sexual orientation. Downers Grove,
IL: InterVarsity Press.
Jones, S., & Yarhouse, M.A. (2000). Homosexuality:
The use of scientific research in the church's
moral debate. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity
Press.
Resources, not recommended to you
casually
Throckmorton, W., & Yarhouse, M.A. (2006). Sexual
identity therapy: Practice framework for
managing sexual identity conflicts.
Webb, W.J. (2001). Slaves, women & homosexuals:
Exploring the hermeneutics of cultural analysis.
Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Conflicted, developmental areas in SSA
• Attachment (emotionally very close … or emotionally
distant or unavailable)
• Formation of self
• Gender identity
• Socialization
(VIP to note: not necessarily due to poor environment
or abusive experiences – read Hallman)
Attachment – A definition
“an emotional relationship that develops
gradually from daily contact, conversation, care
giving and cuddling. It is the enduring
affectional relationship between child and
caregiver designed to provide protection and
nurture for the child. The “style” or “patterns”
of attachment in early childhood casts a long
shadow into childhood, adolescence, young
adulthood and throughout adulthood.”
Bio-neural processes can be
shaped through behavior
“The neocortex is the of the brain that we might
consider as the seat of the will…It is also the part of
the brain whose connections between the neurons will
be slowly modified over time, strengthening some
connections, weakening others, and eliminating some
entirely – all based on how experience shapes us. This
ongoing process embeds the emerging pattern of our
choices ever more firmly in actual tissue changes.
These changes make it that much more likely for us to
make the same choice with less direct effort the next
time – and that much more difficult to make a different
choice.”
Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, Harvard Medical School