FACTS ABOUT FAQs

How can anyone deal with the tremendous amount of propaganda that is available today? No—not political propaganda, although substantial amounts of "news" items contain it. This article will examine spiritual propaganda which dates back to the serpent telling Eve, "You will not surely die" (Gen. 3:4). How did that malicious malarkey work out for mankind?

The ultimate answer to the question is to discern and stand with the Word of God. Eve knew what God had said. In verse 3 of the same text, she told the serpent, concerning the tree in the midst of the garden (the one under discussion): "You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die." Nevertheless, she allowed herself to be talked into eating from it.

The same thing happened to the man of God in 1 Kings 13. He told both King Jeroboam and the older prophet that the Word of Lord had told him not to eat bread or drink water in that place (verses 8-9 and 16-17). Yet he ended up eating there anyway. He lost his life as a result of it; Eve was spiritually separated from God and lost her earthly home in Eden. Both Eve and the man of God knew the Word, but they allowed themselves to be deceived.

Today we have the Word of God in written form. We can know what it says, but people choose rather to listen to propaganda than the truth. How many will be deceived by this document, "FAQs About Jesus, the Bible & LGBTQ+ People"? It is dated 2019 and made available by the "All Saints Church" in Pasadena, California. It is written by a woman with an impressive title, the Reverend Canon Susan Russell, who obviously has an attitude toward anyone who would dare disagree with her. Your congenial editor will risk her disdain, however, and not be intimidated by his lack of enormous credentials.

Question #1

The document consists of ten questions, beginning with: "Is being gay a sin?" Susan's answer is (not shockingly), "No." She affirms this sentiment three times, but she never cites a Scripture. In fact, although she may allude to a Biblical principle now and then, she does not tell the reader where it is located. Not one verse appears in any of the ten questions and answers. She simply presents propaganda.

She says rightly that sin separates us from God but does not cite Isaiah 59:1-2. However, she fails to notice Romans 1, in which Paul describes idolatry leading to homosexuality. When people resorted to the practice of idolatry, "God also gave them up to uncleanness" (Rom. 1:24). Doesn't that sound like separation? Again, Paul writes: "For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature" (v. 26). This is the Word of God; what Susan provides is propaganda.

Furthermore, she tries to deflect the discussion away from homosexuality by introducing other sins. Those who disagree with her do not love their neighbors as themselves, are bullies and hateful, and (wait for it) are judgmental. Even if those who believe the Scriptures were all those things, it would not demonstrate that homosexuality is acceptable; it would only mean that others are as spiritually bad off.

She makes an accusation against Christians (presumably). "Putting yourself in the place of God to judge others is a sin." Who has done that? God made the judgment in Romans 1—not Christians. No one has tried to usurp His authority or take His place; we simply recognize what He said. Susan does not. Besides, Jesus clarified Matthew 7:1 in John 7:24: "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." Susan frequently judges her opponents (both their actions and their motives), which is wrong (according to her own teaching). We just consider what the Scriptures teach and let God speak for Himself.

Question #2

The second question involves: "What did Jesus say about gay people?" Her answer, in a nutshell, is that God loves everyone, and so should human beings. We ought to love—not judge—our neighbors. Certainly, God does love all people, and Jesus died for the sins of all people (1 John 2:1-2). But Jesus did say something about homosexuals, adulterers, and others—that they need to repent. And He mentioned them in the Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus taught that the only cause for divorce was fornication (Greek porneia) in Matthew 5:32. Fornication ("sexual immorality" in most modern translations) includes sex between unmarrieds, homosexuality, and bestiality. If one's mate was guilty of any of these, a divorce may be obtained. (Would that involve judging one's mate?) Jesus loves all people; He died for all. But He also taught the necessity of giving up sin—of repenting (Luke 13:3).

Question #3

"Does the Bible really condemn homosexuality?" Susan asks. She says that the short answer is no. What a wonderful place to examine the Scriptures on this topic, but no such scrutiny is provided. First, she tries to minimize the force of the Scriptures by saying that only a handful of passages deal with the subject. So, how many passages must deal with a topic before we are required to pay attention to what God says? How many times, for example, do we read, "Buy the truth, and do not sell it…" (Pr. 23:23)? How many times does the word gossip appear? How many times must a word occur before we pay attention to it? The fact is that homosexuality is condemned in every context.

Susan alleges that the Bible only condemns such sins as "cultic prostitution and gang rape." She affirms that God never condemns sexual orientation. Her claims would be more credible if she actually examined some of the passages in an effort to prove her point, but alas! she does not. What she, therefore, chose not to do we will devote ourselves to explaining. Pagan worship did often include cultic prostitutes (both male and female). Since we all agree on that point, we won't go into that subject at this time.

So, what about the allegation of gang rape? There are instances where that desire was expressed—once in Genesis 19 and another time in Judges 19-21. However, before they reached that point the cities involved first practiced voluntary homosexuality. In Genesis 18:20, God already had heard an outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah for their sin was "very grave." The men who accosted the visitors were "both old and young" and "from every quarter" (Gen. 19:4). In other words, the prospective rape was not accomplished by a small gang of perverted souls. Everyone was involved.

And it was not just these two cities; Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar also engaged in the activity. Who knows how many originally were homosexuals or how long it took to spread to these five cities, but God determined to punish them. Yet since young men practiced the sin, most of the male population must have at least been bisexual. Did God punish them for their "orientation" or their sexual abusiveness? Jude 7 comments on the situation:

As Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Notice that the reason they were punished was not because of the excesses they eventually practiced—but for homosexuality itself. They gave themselves over to it. They went after strange flesh. Paul described it this way: "For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful…" (Rom. 1:26-27). Neither Jude 7 nor the Romans 1 passage refer to "cultic prostitution and gang rape." They obviously deal with "orientation."

No one today is under the Law of Moses; it has been nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14). But verses from the Law do not have the context that Susan describes, either. Leviticus 18 described a number of sexual situations that are sinful. Verse 20, for example, says: "Moreover you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor's wife…." Verse 23 prohibits mating with any animal. In between those verse 21 forbids the sacrifice of a child, and verse 22 states: "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman." Homosexuality is not an orientation; it is a sin. Leviticus 20:13 repeats that the act of homosexuality is a sin; it is found in another list of sexual sins. None of these mentions cultic prostitution. No wonder Susan omitted them.

She adds that the Bible is not "a handbook on human sexuality." If this phrase means that the Scriptures do not divulge what researchers have learned over the years on various facts and techniques, that would be true. It does not serve as a "how to" manual, but it does say what not to do. Anyone who doubts that has never read Leviticus 18 and 20.

Her illustration regarding Galileo and geography comprises an invalid comparison. She says "using the Bible as a handbook on human sexuality makes as much sense in the 21st century as using it as a handbook on astronomy did in the 16th. The church got it wrong…." She has three problems with this analogy.

1. No one has claimed the Bible is a handbook on human sexuality. What we have claimed is that it defines certain sexual situations as sin.

2. The church? She means the Roman Catholic Church got it wrong. They had (and still have) a lot of things wrong, including the election of a pope, which is not authorized in the New Testament.

3. Catholic conclusions were erroneous; they insisted on making figurative language literal.

Christians are not interested in what manmade, denominational churches believe. They are interested in what the Bible teaches.

Question #4

Possibly people have asked her this question: "How do I respond when people say 'God hates __'"? The blank stands for a pejorative term for homosexuals. The response ought to be, "If you want to discuss the issue in a meaningful way, why are you using the language you are?" A Christian ought to have more respect for someone desiring an honest conversation on the subject.

Susan says that God's very nature is love and not hate. While it is true God is love, He is also holy (Isa. 6:3), and He therefore hates corruption and perversion (Pr. 6:16-19). He desires all people to be saved, and He forgives those who repent (Acts 2:38). However, it is an overreach, to say the least, that God does not care about people's sexual orientation; we have already shown from the Scriptures that He does.

Now comes a statement wholly unexpected: "We believe that what God cares about is not our sexual orientation but our theological orientation…." Whoa! Are we glad you brought that up? Can you explain why you have the title the Reverend Canon Susan—when Jesus taught that such exalted terms, such as Rabbi, father, and teacher, should not be used (Matt. 23:8-10)? And what is an "All Saints Church"? Do the saints refer to living Christians, as they do in the New Testament, or is the term applied to those who have died? Or is it intended to include both Catholics and Episcopalians? We would like to understand Susan's theology on these two matters, if she can explain it (to be continued).