Homosexuality -- The Biblical Viewpoint

Why Is Sodomy So Offensive to God?

The starting point for understanding both human sexuality in general and homosexuality in particular should be the account of the creation of man and woman in Genesis 1 and 2. Chapter 1 deliberately notes that the man made in God’s image was created male and female, connecting this with the command to reproduce (Gen. 1:27,28). In Chapter 2 sexuality is also related to companionship; the loneliness of man is remedied not by the creation of another man, but by the addition of the woman (Gen.2:21,22). The Lord emphasises this repeatedly in both the Old and New Testament. “Have ye not read that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female? For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh.”–Mat.19:4,5.

The creation of male and female, of husband and wife who bear children together, was meant to be a beautiful physical illustration of the Lord’s relationship with His Bride, the Church, out of which would come new souls for His Kingdom. A homosexual relationship, on the other hand, negates the great illustration God has ordained, and is totally sterile. Couples are ideally to “be fruitful and multiply,” since “children are an heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward” (Gen. 1:28; Psa.127:3). A homosexual relationship is totally against God’s plan for man and His Church.

Church Leaders Speak Out on Sodomy

St. Augustine said in his “Confessions”: “Those shameful acts against nature, such as were committed in Sodom, ought everywhere and always to be detested and punished. If all nations were to do such things, they would (equally) be held guilty of the same crime by the law of God, which has not so made men that they should use one another in this way.”

Thomas Aquinas said homosexual practices “…are always an injury done to the Creator, whether or not any offence is at the same time committed against one’s neighbour, since they violate His creative intent for human behaviour and destroy the beauty of His work.”

Luther considered the prevalence and toleration of homosexual activity among the clergy as one of the worst symptoms of decay in the church, a product of human failure to know and honour the true God. In his “Lectures on Romans,” Luther observes on Romans 1:24: “From this text we may therefore deduce that if someone surrenders to these passions, it is a sure sign that he has left the worship of God and has worshipped an idol, or he has turned the truth of God into a lie (Rom.1:25). Those who do not `see fit to acknowledge God’ (Rom.1:28) are branded in this way, that they are permitted to fall into all kinds of vices.”

Billy Graham has commented: “No matter how we may rationalize the practice (of homosexuality) as a viable alternative to heterosexual relationships, the reference in Romans 1 makes it clearly the product of a reprobate mind.”

God’s Judgements on Sodomy Throughout History

Homosexuality is almost as old as Man. The first specific mention in recorded history (other than that implied in the story of Noah, Ham and Canaan) concerns Lot and the well-known cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, over 4,000 years ago. The Bible tells in graphic detail how the men of Sodom tried to sexually molest the angelic messengers of God, who looked like men, as they came to warn Lot to flee the city before its impending destruction. God was so furious that not just Sodom, but the entire civilisation in the 100-square-mile Valley of Siddim was annihilated! The word Sodomy (men practicing sex with men) has since become a byword for homosexuality and is obviously derived from that ancient evil city.

Another Bible example of the terrific judgments of God upon a whole people because of homosexuality is found in Judges 19:15-30; 20:1-11, 37-46. After some years, the Israelites forgot the severe warnings given in Leviticus 18:22-30, and multitudes of the tribe of Benjamin began to indulge in Sodomy. A wayfaring stranger lodged overnight in one of their cities and, as happened in Sodom, the Sodomites surrounded the house, demanding to have intercourse with him. They sexually abused his concubine (female slave or mistress) all night long, leaving her for dead. The tribe of Benjamin then refused to hand over these wicked Sodomites for judgment, and as a result, almost the entire tribe of Benjamin–25,000 men–were slain by the sword.

By the 8th century B.C., the Prophet Isaiah spoke out against the leaders of Israel just before their captivity, warning that they had incurred the wrath of God because they not only practiced the sin of Sodom but were flagrantly open about it (Isaiah 3:8,9). He culminated his prophetic indictment by proclaiming, “Woe unto their soul! For they have rewarded evil unto themselves.” In other words, the fall of Israel and its subsequent scattering was caused by their Sodom-like sins–including homosexuality. In fact, verse 12 states, “As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.” The Hebrew word for women, who ruled Israel at that time, is most interesting. Some dictionaries translate it “womenlike men,” or “effeminate,” while others render it “men who act like women.” In other words, Israel’s government had been invaded by homosexuals, thus invoking the judgment of God on the nation.

Judah, the southern tribe under the leadership of King Hezekiah and the preaching of the Prophet Isaiah, turned to God and repented of their national sins; consequently, they were spared the captivity that befell the ten tribes of Israel, but less than 150 years later they again turned to the sins and corruptions of the nations surrounding them until Jerusalem was destroyed and they were led into the Babylonian captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar. In the sixteenth chapter of Ezekiel, he condemns Judah for being a sister to “Sodom” (verses 46-48) and accuses them of being even worse than Sodom. Evidently, one of the rampant sins of the Hebrew people at that time, like that of Sodom before her, must have been homosexuality.

Historians are well-versed in the bisexuality of Grecian culture just three and four hundred years before Christ. Socrates was a practicing homosexual, as were most of the Greek leaders and philosophers. Plato penned an entire section in his Symposium exalting homosexual “love.” Even Alexander the Great, often thought to be the greatest military leader of all time, had both male and female lovers. Because Greece was a small country with enormous expansionist ideas, childlessness was made illegal but homosexuality was widely accepted. The Greek warriors spent much of their lives away from home–with their lovers at their side. They felt that homosexuality helped to produce battlefield valor since they fought so fiercely to protect their lovers. This didn’t keep the Grecian empire from falling to Rome, of course.

Historians verify that homosexuality was rampant in the days of Rome, particularly in the upper echelons of leadership. Sutonius, in his book The Twelve Caesars, indicated that fourteen out of the first fifteen emperors of Rome were homosexuals. The book chronicles the lives of these Caesars in detail, revealing their homosexual lifestyle and demonstrating how it permeated the empire. King Nikodimes had none other than Julius Caesar as his bed partner, exulting on one occasion that he was “the queen’s partner and rival in the royal bed.” Caesar Augustus, it is charged, sold his services for 3,000 gold pieces. He even softened the hair on his legs so he would be more desirable to his lovers. Tiberius, a sadist, adopted young boys and used them cruelly. Nero seduced little boys; one, it is said, particularly met his fancy, so he had him castrated, put a bridal veil on him, and married him in an official ceremony. After the death of Nero, the next Caesar adopted the lad and continued the relationship. The baths of Caracalla in Rome were not significantly different from homosexual baths of today; you could get a bath, sex, or both. No wonder both Gibbon and Toynbee concluded that homosexuality was one of the moral sins that contributed to the decline of the Roman Empire. Part of that deterioration included a population decline due to homosexuality.

Homosexuality has found its way, however secretly for fear of discovery, through many cultures and civilizations. During the last three decades there has been a tremendous increase in homosexuality; now some of its advocates claim there are 20 million in the United States alone. They say that being a homosexual or a lesbian is completely natural and normal, and that everyone opposed to it is “homophobic” or suffering from “homophobia.” Let’s examine what the “natural and normal” homosexual lifestyle entails.