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homosexuality
Homosexuality as divine punishment in Romans 1
Wed, 04/21/2010 - 13:22 — James McGrathRomans 1 is one of the most frequently-cited passages in the New Testament when it comes to the topic of homosexuality. I considered simply reposting one of my earlier posts on the subject, but it seemed worthwhile taking the time to focus instead on one specific aspect of the passage. In Romans 1, Paul talks about homosexuality not as a sin, but as a divine punishment for sin. He never says "Because people lusted for people of the same gender, therefore..." they were punished. It is consistently that people have glorified the creature rather than the Creator, or done other such things, and therefore God gave them over to homosexuality.
If we look carefully at the language Paul uses, we notice that the terminology Paul uses for such intercourse not that of sin but that of shame and dishonor. Looking at the background to this language may help us understand why Paul could think of homosexuality as a punishment from God.... READ MORE.
The authority question
Mon, 01/05/2009 - 12:59 — Bob CornwallThe debate over homosexuality, which is tearing at the fabric of what was once mainline Protestantism and beyond, is rooted in questions of authority. Although I do believe that much of the debate is rooted deep down in questions of one's own sexuality, it also has major theological corollaries.
In reading Phyllis Tickle's The Great Emergence (Baker, 2008), I discovered this important statement, one that I do think gets at the
