Dr Paul Allen

A recent documentary claims that a “mistranslation” of the Bible is to blame for Christians believing homosexuality is a sin. Directed by self-identified “lesbian Christian” Sharon “Rocky” Roggio, the film asserts that the word homosexual did not appear in any version of the Bible until 1946. Translators for the Revised Standard Version (RSV) used it for the first time then, in their translation of 1 Corinthians 6:9. Rather than haggle over a specific word, I’d like to step back and consider the larger issue at stake, which impacts all of humanity: the issue of idolatry. The LGBT Movement is Based on Idolatry To define oneself primarily in terms of a sexual appetite or inclination is to make an idol out of sexuality and its expression. It is worshipping an aspect of creation rather than the Creator. It leads straight toward treating others as sexual objects for our own gratification or bolstering our ego. It’s one thing to love those we love or to have strong feelings toward those who ...

Sitting across from me at the kitchen table this afternoon, you poured out your heart. When you married your high school sweetheart at 19, you never once suspected you would be in this place. Now, at 39, after twenty years of marriage, you call yourself gay. In tears, you tell me that you have “come out,” and that you’re not looking back. You haven’t had an affair. Yet. But there is this woman you met at the gym. You work out with her every morning, and you text with her throughout the day. Even though you are a covenant member of a faithful church, sit under solid preaching, and put up a good front for the children, you have been inwardly despising your husband for some time now. Hearing him read the Bible makes you cringe. You haven’t been intimate with him for over a year now. You tell me you can’t bear it. Is Gay Good? You tell me that leaving your husband for a woman is not an act of unfaithfulness. You tell me that you are being faithful to who you really are, and...

Question 1: Aren't Christians being selective with Old Testament law when they appeal to it with respect to homosexuality, while ignoring Old Testament commands about clothing, food, etc.? In some sense, yes, because we are singling out the moral law, which is exactly what the New Testament trains us to do. The book of Acts distinctly separates the ceremonial and liturgical laws from the moral  law. The Lord told Peter not to distinguish between clean and unclean animals any longer (Acts 10:9-16). At the same time, the Jerusalem Council clearly confirmed the continuation of the moral law (Acts 15). Paul tells us the gospel is for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews, which obliterates that distinction in the holiness code. Nevertheless, Paul regularly returns to the moral law of the Old Testament to show and defend the character of righteous living in general and the commandments  against same-sex acts in particular. If we still depended on the Levitical code...