Tupper’s ‘Homosexuality and the Church’ option (1of4)
By Dr. Frank Tupper • Jul 2nd, 2009 • Category: thinkingOption 1. The Rejection of God’s Design for Creation: Homosexuality as a “Perversion”-
The proponents of this historic but fundamentally negative understanding of homosexuality demonstrate the complete rejection of homosexual activity as well as the homosexual person, because a person is bound together with and cannot be distinguished from his or her behavior. Since God’s design for creation is the marriage of one man and one woman for life, marriage is a relationship of covenantal union that endures until death. (Genesis 1-2).
Since male and female are complementary physically and otherwise, such sexual complementarity essential for the blessing of the children through the union of marriage, same sex relations are contrary to the intention of God in creation and must be repudiated as an abomination (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13).
Human rejection of God in idolatry occasions innumerable kinds of depravities, but the lust for sexual gratification through the manipulation of homoerotic coupling remains the most obvious and vivid (Romans 1:18-32).
Homosexual behavior is contrary to nature—God’s natural design for human sexual relationships in creation. It is not a variation in creation, but contrary to creation. This unnatural behavior abrogates God’s purpose in the creation of marriage between man and woman. It is a rejection of the goodness of human creation as male and female as well as a perversion of the complementarity between male and female (Romans 1:26-27).
Some forms of sexual activity violate the integrity of personal relationships, e.g., adultery, incest, bestiality, and homosexuality. Since all these forms of sexual expression undermine the goodness and sanctity of marriage and constitute a perversion of healthy interpersonal relationships, they are evil and must be repudiated in the life of the church (1 Corinthians 5:1-13, 6:9-10, 12-20).
The form and content of the traditional prohibition of any homoerotic or homosexual activity is well-known. However, one other factor must be noted in the contemporary discussion: The Bible speaks with different voices on the role of women in the church, but the Bible speaks with one clear voice on the question of homosexuality.
NOTE: each of the four options posted are attempts to artuclate the perspectives on thier own terms and do not represent any particular individual’s view. Details can be found here.
Dr. Frank Tupper is an ordained Baptist minister and Professor of Theology in the founding faculty of the Wake Forest University School of Divinity. In 1973 he began a distinguished career teaching theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary before coming to Wake Forest University where he would get to have both Chad and Tripp in his theology class at the same time!!!
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[...] 1. Rejection of homosexual persons: the norm of heterosexual marriage [...]
Wow that sounds just like my parents. Good job writing their perspective which I assume isn’t yours or else you would think talking about the issue is a slippery slope into theological abomination.
I love this very complex book called The Holy Bible but wow some of it is very hard to take. The scripture referenced was so hard for me to hear again and try to process. While pondering each one I could not help but feel sorry for anyone who is reading the bible for the very first time. Without fellow knowledgeable and wise Christians to help or guide the new comers their minds would probably be blown away by these particular scripture verses. It is hard for me and I have been reading the book for many, many years. Paul is one of my favorite writers but let’s face it, what he wrote is so old and what he said was based on his knowledge at the time. Christianity was new to the world. Paul was really trying to do the best he could without having any prior knowledge or writings to help him, on Christianity. It is my belief that homosexuals are born that way and nothing can change it. My very simplistic belief is that everyone who is born on this earth is a child of God not just those who have become Christ followers. It is my belief that God loves everyone and so should we. Everyone should have the same rights and priviledges under the government law. There is certain behavior that we should all live by and that includes homosexuals, and one thing we should all do is to love God, love others and love ourselves. We should be allowed to take a partner that we love and respect and join with them in a committed relationship and that may lead to marriage or a union that has been blessed by God. As most of the US does not grant a marriage license to male and male couples or woman to woman couples I think they should seek a Blessing by God and be faithful to the union they create for themselves. All unions should be a “love pact” and each should treat the other as something very rare and special. Our sexuality is such a wonderful gift from God and we should honor our partners and embrace the wonder of becoming one with another. Sexual activity with your loved one is a time of showing each other the great love you share and should not be just a time to procreate. Love is a splendered thing !!!!
[...] can find the opening post here and the 4 different views presented (1,2,3,4). Big Daddy Weave, Pop Theology, and Baptimergent have also blogged about this [...]