From: Dr. Blake Nelson (bnelson301@yahoo.com)
Date: Tue Jan 21 2003 - 12:07:13 EST
Without going into all the details, since time does
not permit, I think the matter that Gordon touches
upon is actually a very good point.
The issue of homosexuality is so divisive in part
because it is taken out of context. I do not find any
good scriptural warrant to separate homosexual acts
from other types of sexual sins. It seems likely that
it is an error both 1) to assume that scriptural
comments about homosexual behavior should be
circumscribed to the greatest degree possible and
preferably ignored if possible, and 2) to treat
homosexuality issues separate from sexual sin issues
generally.
It is quite clear that lots of heterosexual conduct
that is acceptable in the modern west is not
acceptable from scriptural standpoint. Homosexual
conduct seems to be simply a subset of sexual conduct
issues that many churches now largely ignore. The
question of homosexuality and sin cannot be addressed
separately from heterosexuality and sin.
I have rarely seen arguments for or against
disapproval of homosexual acts put into the broader
category of sexual sin, other than for some
occasional, fuzzy referents to commited, loving
relationships (although even this is a step in the
right direction in discussing these issues). Sexual
sin can occur in committed, loving heterosexual
relationships, too.
--- gordon brown <gbrown@euclid.colorado.edu> wrote:
>
>
> On Mon, 20 Jan 2003, John Burgeson wrote:
>
> >
> You
> > and I, Michael, did not "choose" our heterosexual
> orientation, we acquired
> > it either by nature or by nurture. Likewise, my
> homosexual friends did not
> > "choose," but found themselves to be simply
> different from the norm.
>
>
> The fact that we did not choose our heterosexual
> orientation is no excuse
> for us to commit heterosexual acts forbidden by
> Scripture. In order to
> follow the Lord's commands and His will for our
> lives it may be necessary
> for us heterosexual Christians to practice celibacy
> for long periods of
> time, even in some cases all our lives.
>
> Gordon Brown
> Department of Mathematics
> University of Colorado
> Boulder, CO 80309-0395
>
>
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