Home Forums All Things Catholic Homosexuality in the Bible Reply To: Homosexuality in the Bible

#2508
Anonymous
Inactive

Paul’s letter to the Roman Churches. It is considered to be the best and most concise compendium of Christian theology ever done by one man and published in one work. And as such, Paul goes to great lengths to lay out the ground work for his system of theology. Naturally, just as John does when he describes Jesus Christ as the Word Incarnate, Paul begins by describing the state of humankind, from the creation to the incarnation. Paul’s Bible was the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Septuagint, which contained the Apocrypha. He, being a trained Pharisee in the law and Scriptures, would have been very familiar with the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon, especially the 13th and 14th chapters which have close parallels to the 1st chapter of Romans. Keeping in mind that Paul is not far away from the consciousness of the real world he resides in, his basic understanding of the human condition is one of idolatry, and all human moral activity revolves around the worship of the gods. Paul is not writing about human beings, in their rebellion and wickedness, willfully and voluntarily converting themselves from heterosexuals into homosexuals; rather, he is talking about idolatrous ritual worship practices in the temples of the civilized world he knows only too well. He is most certainly not condemning an innate homosexual orientation that he could not have conceived. He probably would not have approved of “paiderastes,” but we do not have his thoughts on the subject. We don’t know what he would have thought about homosexuality as it is understood by most of the medical and psychological practitioners of today, other than those who are also evangelicals and wear permanent blinders.