May 5, 2014

The following excerpts are from the blog “Assessing Matthew Vines “God and the Gay Christian” Part II: Homosexuality and Leviticus” on Joe Dallas’s website: … “Today, let’s look at God and the Gay Christian‘s take on the Book of Leviticus, and consider its merit. – Abomination in Fact — ‘You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination.’ (Lev. 18:22) ‘If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death.’ (Lev. 20:13)”

“A plain reading of these verses leads to an obvious conclusion: men ought not to sexually partner with other men. And a plain reading of these chapters in their entirety underscores that conclusion. Leviticus 18 is primarily about sexual practices forbidden to the Israelites and, in fact, forbidden to believers as well in the New Testament, and Leviticus 20 is largely, though not exclusively, about similar behaviors.” …

“But after carefully and pretty accurately explaining the Old Testament Law’s nature and use, he [Vines] then introduces an argument no doubt borrowed from John Boswell’s Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality: that the word “abomination” (toe’vah in Hebrew) refers more to something ceremonially impure, rather than something inherently wrong or abominable.” …

“What, then, are we to say about the adultery, incest and bestiality prohibited in these chapters as well? Are they, too, only forbidden if they’re practiced in the context of idol worship, but allowed otherwise? We can’t have it both ways – if homosexuality is condemned if expressed in a cultic ritual but commended otherwise, it becomes hard not to make the same claim about all sexual practices in these chapters. This is one my main complaints against Matthew’s reasoning here: he imposes contingencies on these verses where contingencies do not in fact exist.” …