On exegesis, theology, and homosexuality

Q: I am a Christian and came across this documentary recently.  Like most everyone these days, I’m interested in the issue of same-sex relationships, especially since this is a “lightning rod” issue within global Christanity right now.  I know the traditional view of the Church, and I have read and continue to research the matter.  I would like to deepen my understanding of this matter and apply it to how I live my life as a Christian.  May I ask how you see this issue, and how did you come to that understanding?

Thank you for asking!  I’m honored that you would ask for my opinion about this, I do not take it lightly.  I hope that my response will demonstrate equal honor to you.  First of all, before going any further, let me affirm you that I think you are wise to “deepen your understanding of the matter and apply it to how I live my life as a Christian.”  Regardless of whether you are personally convinced one way or another about the issue, to approach conversations from a strident and rigidly dogmatic approach will probably not fulfill St Paul’s admonition to “if it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all people” (Rom 12:18).  And especially for people like myself who move in theological circles, we probably need to do much more listening than talking in any conversations we are involved in.  Actually, that’s probably not bad advice for Christians as a whole.

I have watched the documentary, and I thought it was very well done!  Although, certainly the video was advocating a particular position on the issue at hand.  Homosexual expression within the Christian tradition is a very difficult issue, for all of the reasons that are given in the documentary.  Most all of the exegetical points raised are valid, in my opinion.  However, I would say that none of the arguments presented necessarily mean that the conclusion is correct.

To answer your question directly, I myself hold a traditional Christian view of sexual expression.  Having said that, let me also say that I know people who are practicing Christians and practicing homosexuals.  Personally, I am friends with astute theologians on both sides of this issue.  I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this topic, as have many Christians all around the world.  I would add that this issue (as a theological issue, at any rate) is fairly confined to Protestant expressions of Christianity.  In Catholic and Orthodox expressions of Christianity, there is very little discussion here (as far as I know, at least).  According to my present understanding, both of those fellowships would denounce homosexual expression as not in accordance with God’s will, and would do so unapologetically.  [For a brief description of the Catholic position, see Laudato Si, III.155 (pg. 115).  You can visit this webpage to read a brief description of the Orthodox position.]  My point here is that worldwide, I’m not sure there is quite so much movement to bless same-sex romantic relationships as often seems portrayed in Western culture(s).  Yes, there are Christians who have changed their minds about this issue, but there are many Christians who have not.

Q: Are there any scholarly works that you feel help the modern church understand what Scripture says about this?

I personally have not come across much theological scholarly material on this topic, although I’m always looking for more, and I’ll gladly accept any and all referrals!  I suppose that theological publishers are hesitant to publish books that deal with this issue, but that’s merely a guess on my part.  This is a legitimate issue of theological debate right now, especially within the global Anglican communion.  And there are some books that have been published about the issue of homosexual expression within Christianity, both for and against. Two popular books that were published a number of years ago are Wesley Hill’s Washed and Waiting and Matthew Vines’ God and the Gay Christian.  Both of those books were written by Christians who identify as gay and come to different conclusions about homosexual expression within the Christian faith.  But I would not regard either of these books as serious theological or exegetical works, nor do I think they were intended to be.  Fundamentally, I think those are books about Christian spirituality and Christian living.  Two other books that are more thorough are Karen Keene’s Scripture, Ethics, and the Possibility of Same-Sex Relationships as well as Sarah Coakley’s God, Sexuality, and the Self. However, I would venture to say that neither side has dug deep enough yet into the presuppositions of their own arguments.  I think the global Church has a lot more work to do on this issue before it can be considered theologically “settled” to the satisfaction of modern Christianity.

Q: Hmmm…what do you mean by that?

Thanks for asking!  Well, to explain myself there, I’ll need to back up a bit.  So please bear with me on what might seem like a long-winded detour, but I’ll bring it back around.  As the documentary points out very well, I think we should avoid drawing simplistic conclusions about a difficult issue and minimizing others with expressions like, “The Bible says that…”. I feel like Christians (especially in the evangelical world, where the Bible is held very highly) often don’t like to admit it, but the actual truth of the matter is that no one ever reads Scripture from an unbiased perspective.  I suggest that EVERYONE is ALWAYS interpreting when we read the Bible.  The Scriptures were written in languages that no one has spoken for centuries!  We all come to the Scriptures as non-mother-tongue exegetes, so all of us are “second-language speakers,” at best.  This necessarily means that there is a vast interpretive gulf between us and the original author/audience.  We absolutely must acknowledge that if we are to handle the Scriptures responsibly and with any kind of intellectual honesty and integrity.  So rather than saying things like, “The Bible says,” I think we are much wiser to say things like, “My understanding of the Scripture is…” or “I believe that the biblical author here means…”. Statements like these are much more honest about what is actually happening when we read and teach the Scriptures.  And certain interpretations are more sound than others, to be sure.  We should layer our theology accordingly.

But here’s the thing.  The task of exegesis itself is not neutral.  That is, we actually do bring our theology to bear on our exegesis, and we have no other choice in the matter (whether we admit it or not).  For example, the Gospels record that Jesus held up a piece of bread and said, “This is my body” (Matt 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19).  How do you interpret what Jesus meant by that?  Try as anyone might, I do not think there is any truly neutral way to exegete that statement.  I submit that, in the end, a person must choose what they believe Jesus meant.  Which means that it is not really an exegetical matter at all.  It’s a theological matter.  We believe what we choose to believe.  And the same is true about exegesis as a whole.  We interpret the Scripture according to whatever method(s) that we believe is the best, and that method affects our conclusions.  We should not pretend to be more than we are as exegetes.  Yes, our exegesis is, in fact, informed by our presuppositions about God and about truth.  We are wise to own up to that from the very beginning, and then get on with doing the very best exegesis that we can.

Now, I’m not going to delve deeply into the Scriptural passages at play here.  You (along with other Christians) can study the Scriptures for yourself and conclude what you believe in fellowship with the Holy Spirit and in accordance with Holy Scripture.  But I will say this.  If you read 1 Corinthians 6, which is perhaps the Pauline passage that deals most explicitly with sexual ethics, you should notice that St Paul does not treat sexuality as a moral code.  That is, St Paul does not appeal to some moral law that condemns certain sexual practices but allows others.  Rather, his entire moral argument proceeds something along this line: “You have been made one with Christ, so why are you sleeping with a prostitute?” (1 Cor 6:15).  In other words, his sexual ethic is derived logically from our new identity in Christ and not strictly prescriptively from textual evidence.  I think we are wise to pay attention to this.  St Paul could have quoted OT passages to say that sleeping with prostitutes is wrong.  But he did no such thing.  Rather, he said (paraphrasing): “Hey, you’re one with Christ now!  Why are you making yourself one with a prostitute?”  Almost as if the expected reply is: “Of course! That’s just silly!”  The fact that St Paul NEITHER appeals to prescriptive Scripture (as does the “heterosexual” camp, usually) NOR appeals to science or culture or knowledge (or any of the other things that the “homosexual” camp does) should be instructive to us, I think.  That’s what I’m referring to when I say that I think the global Church has a lot more work to do on this issue before it can be considered theologically “settled.”  I have yet to see theological or exegetical studies that (I think) sufficiently take into account the way that St Paul treats sexual ethics in Holy Scripture and then work it out in what I would consider a satisfactory way in modern Christianity.

Q:  I’m not sure I fully understand yet.  When you say, “We believe what we choose to believe, and the same is true about exegesis as a whole,” are you referring to situations where people choose material, techniques and sources to back up what they want to believe?  Wouldn’t that deem this a futile exercise, especially when it comes to matters that are gray?

Right, I think you have understood me correctly.  I’m suggesting that a person can start with a certain set of presuppositions about God and about truth and then exegete their way to concluding that homosexual expression is OK for Christians.  Another person can start with some other presuppositions about God and about truth and then exegete their way to concluding that homosexual expression is NOT OK for Christians.  If this is true (and I would say that is what is happening right now in the global Church), then the corollary that can reasonably be drawn is that perhaps this issue is not really about exegesis (i.e. what Scripture means) at all, but is rather about theology (i.e. what is true about God and about truth).  If you listen carefully to the arguments presented in the documentary both for and against homosexual expression, I think you will find that they are not arguments about what Scripture means, but arguments about the nature of God and the nature of truth.

I further suggest that St Paul himself does not try to exegete his way to sexual ethics.  In contrast, we should note that he DOES exegete his way to salvation theology in the book of Romans.  So St Paul uses exegetical arguments sometimes, and sometimes not.  And if he does not try to exegete his way to his sexual ethics, perhaps we shouldn’t try to do it, either.  Essentially, he builds his sexual ethics by saying, “You’ve become one with Christ, so now what?”  Perhaps we should do the same.  Rather than approaching the issue from textual exegesis or from adherence to moral codes, perhaps we should approach the issue from the perspective of our new identity in Christ.  I suggest that we should be asking, “Now that your body belongs to Jesus, what does He want you to do with your body?”  The scary thing about this approach is that Christians might come to different conclusions, but that is happening already anyway.  Regardless, I think Romans 8:5 (and surrounding context) is helpful here.  I think it is clear that God wants Christians to live according to God’s Holy Spirit and not live according to their own flesh.  And I think that advice is applicable to all Christians at all times in all places.

Q:  OK, I think I’m beginning to understand, but I’m still not sure I’m following you completely.  You mention that Paul does exegesis in the book of Romans, and one of the most difficult passages on this topic is Romans 1:26-27.  By what you are saying, do you think Paul is exegeting sexual ethics?

No, I do not believe that St Paul is exegeting his sexual ethics in Romans 1.  I would say that he is theologizing his sexual ethics.  That is, he is assuming certain practices are “natural” and “unnatural” based on his presuppositions about God and about truth.  St Paul is not exegeting an OT passage and saying on the basis of that passage, “Look!  This OT passage means that homosexuality is unnatural and heterosexuality is natural.”  I don’t think St Paul really starts exegeting OT passages until chapter 3, and he continues well into chapter 11.  Again, I’m drawing a distinction between exegesis (i.e. what Scripture means) and theology (i.e. what is true about God and about truth).  This is what I mean that I think sexual ethics in the church is not so much an exegetical issue as it is a theological issue.  Or to say it another way, I’m not sure sexual ethics within the Church is rightly determined by what Scripture means so much as by what is true about God and about truth.  Does that help?

Q: Yes, I see now, thank you for that.  One final question.  I know that there are some places in the world where civil laws are being considered to ban the practice of “conversion therapy” (that is, therapy with the goal of changing someone’s sexual orientation).  Do you have any thoughts on that?

That is a very difficult question theologically, for many reasons.  My general position is that I think it is usually a bad idea for the Church to get involved in political causes.  In my opinion, it is almost always a distraction from our mission to preach the Gospel and to proclaim Christ and Him crucified.  Also, I think it is wise for Christians to abide by civil laws when we can do so in good conscience.  I am not a pastor, so I don’t have any specific pastoral experience with this issue.  My personal experience is that I have seen examples of conversion therapy that appeared to fail and conversion therapy that appeared to succeed.  Again, I think as ministers of the Gospel (as all Christians are) we can always encourage each other along the line that St Paul uses in his sexual ethic: “Now that your body belongs to Christ, what does God will for you to do with your body?”  And in answering that question, I think we can always appeal to what St Paul writes in Romans 8, to live according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.  As a Christian and a scholar, I think that is the best perspective I can offer.

Q: Thank you for your thorough, considered, and very helpful responses.  

It’s only a pleasure!  Again, I’m honored that you would ask me.  There’s no two ways about it, these are difficult issues with no easy answers.  I pray that you and other Christians will be guided by the Holy Spirit of God as you minister the Gospel of Jesus to those around you.