Yarhouse How Should We Think About Homosexuality?

1. Auflage 2022
ISBN: 978-1-68359-524-3
Verlag: Lexham Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 136 Seiten

Reihe: Questions for Restless Minds

Gain an informed perspective on Christianity and homosexuality. There are many misconceptions about Christianity and homosexuality. Christians are often perceived as being simply reactionary or behind the times. We can sometimes speak where we do not understand. We can do better. Do you have an informed and biblical view on homosexuality? In How Should We Think About Homosexuality?, Mark. A. Yarhouse brings his expertise to bear on this question. If we are to speak with clarity and conviction, we must first be informed. Christianity has long held a sexual ethic regarding creation, family, and sexuality, and Christians must know how to relate to other views of sexuality. Yarhouse considers how to think about recent scientific findings and sexual identity language before suggesting avenues of fruitful discipleship for same--sex attracted Christians. The Questions for Restless Minds series applies God's word to today's issues. Each short book faces tough questions honestly and clearly, so you can think wisely, act with conviction, and become more like Christ.

Mark A. Yarhouse is professor and Dr. Arthur P. Rech and Mrs. Jean May Rech Endowed Chair in Psychology and director of the Sexual and Gender Identity Institute. He is author of Understanding Sexual Identity: A Resource for Youth Ministers,Understanding Gender Dysphoria: Navigating Transgender Issues in a Changing Culture, and Costly Obedience: Listening to and Learning from Celibate Gay Christians. D. A. Carson is the series editor of Questions for Restless Minds. He is professor emeritus of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, cofounder of The Gospel Coalition, and author of numerous books, including The God Who Is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Yarhouse, Mark A.

Leseproben

2 SCIENCE, HOMOSEXUALITY, AND THE CHRISTIAN SEXUAL ETHIC Christianity affirms that God created people to be in relationships, in families (Gen 1–2).3 Creation teaches and Jesus, Paul, and others in the New Testament affirm that God intends people to be born into families with heterosexual marriage. This is important because it is in this context that God also places genital sex. Genital sex involves full sexual intimacy and its behavior expression. Christianity affirms that sexuality in general and genital sex in particular are good things, but it does not reduce human sexuality only to genital sex or behavioral expression. Christianity teaches that lifelong heterosexual relationships are God’s revealed will for full genital sexual intimacy, for the specific expression of our sexuality through behavior. Christians understand sexuality to be a gift from God, an integral part of what it means to be human. Genital sexual activity is the means of procreation, which not only brings about life and reflects the divine act of creation but also is the basis for family life in all cultures throughout history. But sexuality is more than genital sexual activity. A Christian understanding of human sexuality is that it reflects who we are as much as or more so than what we do.4 Our sexuality instructs us of our need for God as we experience in our sexuality a longing for completion in another (eros). Indeed, a Christian understanding of sexuality focuses more on affirming this longing for completion as something that exists regardless of marital status or sexual experience; it is fundamental to what it means to be human. We long for the other, for completion, and even marriage, the context in which genital sexual behavior is completed, only points to the eternal or transcendent reality of completion in another. The marriage relationship, Scripture explains, reflects the relationship between God and ancient Israel5 and between Christ and the church, the bride of Christ (Eph 5:22–33). Christianity, then, affirms that sex in marriage is a “life-uniting act”6 that is both physical and tied to transcendent purposes. That is why Scripture compares the intimacy of Christ’s relationship with the church to the marital relationship.7 This connection to transcendence contrasts with what commonly occurs in our contemporary culture. Take, for example, the “hook up” culture on many college campuses today.8 Christianity teaches that even hooking up is much more than just an exchange of bodily fluids, even if the two people engaged in the act insist otherwise. The act itself is tied to transcendent meaning that exists quite apart from the intentions of the people involved. Sex has a spiritual dimension to it such that any sex outside of the context of a life-union of a man and woman violates the meaning and purpose of sex. How does homosexuality fit into this discussion? Perhaps this will come as a surprise, but homosexuality is not the focal point of the Christian sexual ethic. Rather, same-sex behavior is one of many sexual acts that fall outside of the context of a life-union between a man and a woman, including pre-marital and extra-marital sex, pornography, and so on. Christianity begins with a broader sexual ethic that affirms the good of physical creation and the good of our inherent sexuality.9 Christianity then moves to an understanding that God locates people in families and identifies the union of a man and woman as the relationship in which complete genital sexual intimacy is to occur. Sex can occur outside of that context, of course, and such acts will continue to point to a purpose beyond itself, but they occur and exist outside of God’s revealed will for genital sexual expression. The Catholic and Protestant or Reformed Christian traditions have reflected this biblical understanding of life-long heterosexual marriage as the place or location for genital sexual behavior. Although the church has witnessed many attempts to change historical Christian teaching on sexual ethics, the Christian sexual ethic is grounded in Scripture, and Christians have held it throughout church history. Indeed, it would be a radical departure from church tradition for Christians to bless or sanction same-sex behavior and relationships today. Those Christians who are making this shift seem to be doing so based on reason and personal experience rather than the teachings of Scripture or church tradition. This brings us to our brief overview of the current understanding of reason and its use today in the church’s moral debates. The four main areas are prevalence, causes, status as a pathology, and change of sexual orientation. I will briefly review our understanding of these four areas and their relevance to the church’s moral debate. THE PREVALENCE OF HOMOSEXUALITY About 2–3 percent of the US adult population reports a homosexual orientation.10 Those who argue that prevalence rates should affect how the church thinks about the moral debate often point to older studies, such as those conducted by Alfred Kinsey in the 1950s that suggested higher prevalence estimates. More recent research has confirmed these percentages as likely holding rather stable over time,11 although it will be interesting to see if there is an increase in the self-report of attraction or orientation given a more open and permissive sociocultural context.12 In keeping with this line of thought, homosexuality is more prevalent in urban settings than either suburban or rural ones. These differences are likely due both to people moving to urban settings to be with others who have similar experiences and to a kind of dis-inhibition toward sexuality and sexual expression that can occur in urban settings. But taken together the national averages are about 2–3 percent of the population. Would higher prevalence estimates affect Christian teaching in this area? Some argue that it should, but Christianity has not historically considered how prevalent a concern is. Some might argue that an increase in the rates of some behaviors might reflect greater or broader acceptance of expressions of the fall that Christians should not endorse. For example, sexual addiction is now much more prevalent in the United States, yet Christians do not relate the prevalence of sexual addiction to the morality of sexual addiction. Many Christians see it as reflecting a culture that emphasizes individual interests and a hedonic worldview in which personal pleasure is pursued at the expense of others, particularly women, who are objectified in ways that further the interests of others. The cultural dis-inhibition toward sexual expression that supports and facilitates sexual addiction is not an improvement. So prevalence is not logically related to the moral argument. Christians recognize that some patterns of sin may be more common, such as envy, while other patterns may be quite rare, such as necrophilia. How common or how rare a pattern of behavior is has not historically determined its morality. Its prevalence and morality are separate issues. CAUSES OF HOMOSEXUALITY The debate about what causes homosexuality has also figured prominently in the church moral debates. Those who argue for changing the Christian sexual ethic claim if homosexuality is the result of biology then same-sex behavior is not outside of God’s will for sexual expression. As I have met with families struggling with this question, they seem to be asking, “Does God make people gay?” More accurately, the question is whether God makes a person attracted to the same sex or whether God makes a person with a homosexual orientation. However, the reality of same-sex attraction or a homosexual orientation does not speak to whether it is from God or not. This points to the broader topic of a theology of sexual identity, including theodicy.13 It is a question of how to make sense of experiences that may result from the fall. Just as we do not interpret the existence of predispositions toward depression or anxiety as God making a person depressed or anxious, we want to be cautious about jumping to the conclusion that the existence of an experience or condition reflects God’s intention for that person. Even non-pathological concerns, such as variations in normal human temperament or personality, can be understood with reference to God’s intentions for persons. People may be predisposed to neuroticism (or emotional instability) but still have to think beyond “God made me this way” to “How does God want me to grow in Christlikeness such that I display the fruit of the Spirit in my life and my relationships?” The biological hypothesis for the origins of homosexuality has been forcefully advanced for two decades now. Studies have been published on a number of supposed connections, including research on twin studies,14 fraternal birth order and handedness,15 and animal models (in which homosexual behavior is either observed in nature or the result of genetic, hormonal, or other manipulations).16 Some of the most recent research has considered genetic scanning17 and brain symmetry and neural connections.18 Someone interested in the research on the causes might ask whether any research is being conducted on environmental contributions to homosexuality. As I mentioned earlier, the biological hypothesis has been advanced for years now and remains the primary focal point. Studies...