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There are many commonalities and many differences between homosexual and heterosexual unions. For those who support the Bible basis for homosexuality as a sin, what specifically are the necessary differences between heterosexuality and homosexuality which they would say make one a sin, and not the other?

Is the fact that two people love each other, both spiritually and physically, a significant factor in this decision?

Is procreation a necessary factor? If it is a factor, then could that be offset by a homosexual couple who take care of the children that heterosexuals do not want? Also, if procreation is a factor, then would that mean certain acts by heterosexuals would be sinners as well, if they have sex without attempting to procreate?

Is it possible that the Bible basis that is often supported forgets to account for the context of the passages? Could they possibly be referring to lust instead of only sex, and if so, how would that change the this position?

Does Jesus mention homosexuality in the NT? If it is a sin, would Jesus not have mentioned it specifically?

These are several questions, but they represent common arguments from proponents of homosexuality and are points which are often discussed by Christian opponents of homosexuality. A single answer should be able to sum up the common arguments from the Bible that are commonly given by supporters of that position to answer these questions.

El'endia Starman
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Antonio
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    Again, I suggest that you ask a specific viewpoint on this subject. This site that you found, Christianity Stack Exchange, is not Answers.com. I assure you, that if you do not ask this question from a particular viewpoint; e.g. Catholic, Protestant, or another established viewpoint; you will encounter overwhelming frustration. Be specific to the relevant Christian view you would respect an answer from. Otherwise your question may not survive the moderation culling. I promise; I am trying to direct you to success in your inquiry. You're question can be answered on these terms.;) – Abstraction is everything. Aug 06 '17 at 06:18
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    @Antonio No your question is not sufficiently specific - there are different views propounded by Christians on this matter. You need to take that first comment more seriously. Check out guidelines in the help centre and Meta and rewrite if you want this to stay open and attract quality answers. – bruised reed Aug 06 '17 at 07:33
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    You need to take your answer out of the question. – curiousdannii Aug 06 '17 at 07:51
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    See under What topics can I ask about here? where it says " ...there are questions that are not constructive for the format of this site. These include questions asking for:..."Truth" questions that do not focus on what a specific group of people teaches"? Well, you are still doing that. Read we can't handle the truth for more info. – bruised reed Aug 06 '17 at 07:54
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    If you hadn't noticed, this question already exists on the site: What is the Biblical argument that homosexual attraction is sinful by itself? It's a little different to your question, but you may find it somewhat helpful - even if just as a model to further refine and differentiate your own question. – bruised reed Aug 06 '17 at 08:08
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    Even though that question was quite specific to start with, it still managed to spark an edit tug-of-war and associated Meta post - it's good to avoid those sort of shenanigans if at all possible. In answer to your previous question, this can be a good place to come and learn; but it's not a particularly great place for discussions as it says in the tour "This site is all about getting answers. It's not a discussion forum." – bruised reed Aug 06 '17 at 08:22
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    Your comment stating that you are trying to get a discussion going is evidence that you don't yet grasp the purpose of this site. It is not a discussion forum. – Kris Aug 06 '17 at 11:39
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    Possible duplicate of What is the Biblical argument that homosexual attraction is sinful by itself? – Lee Woofenden Aug 06 '17 at 23:17
  • @Lee Woofenden If you check that question out sir you will see he is asking only of attraction, not acting on that attraction. He was not asking if the action was a sin but just an attraction. Big difference, but good question. – Antonio Aug 07 '17 at 11:40
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    @SolaGratia and Antonio Please refrain from discussions in the comments about the topic (keep it focused on making the question more suitable to the site) – Peter Turner Aug 07 '17 at 13:14
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    @Antonio re: "not just discussed" doesn't make discourse OK here (especially in comments which exist solely to help you improve your question). If you want to discuss things, we have a chat room (but you need some more reputation points to access it). Answer a few questions with good supported answers, ask some good questions that fit the site and you can go in there and discuss to your heart's content. – Peter Turner Aug 07 '17 at 13:17
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    The problem I see with your question is that you seem to be arguing that homosexuality itself is not a sin according to the Bible in the guise of asking whether it is a sin according to the Bible. First off, people have different interpretations of the Bible on many different subjects, including homosexuality. The simplest way I see of making the question on-topic here would be to ask "What is the biblical basis for believing that homosexuality itself, not just the attraction, is a sin?" (Or whatever it is precisely that you want to ask.) – Lee Woofenden Aug 07 '17 at 18:59
  • If you want the other side of the question, see: Why do some Christians believe it is moral to be a homosexual? – Lee Woofenden Aug 07 '17 at 19:02
  • Antonio, if you truly want help in making your question on-topic and suitable for this site, please post about it on our meta site. As mentioned previously, comments are not for discussion and debate of theological issues, and I've already cleaned out a number of them. The moderators will continue to do so if more are posted. – Nathaniel is protesting Aug 07 '17 at 21:39

2 Answers2

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The specific Biblical reason that homosexuality is sin is that the Bible tells us that God specifically created woman to be man's mate. That is specifically God's plan and desire. Sin is anything that violates God's will or command. God's will is for man and woman to be joined together as mates, not for man and man or woman and woman to join. God created men with specific purposes, and God created woman with specific purposes. Those purposes are complimentary.

The OP states "Jesus never mentions homosexuality in the NT." Jesus did specifically state what God's intent is for marriage:

'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? (Matthew 19:5)

That is God's plan. God fully expects humans to want what he wants and to pursue his desires and not their own desires.

Lee Woofenden
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Paul Turner
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  • This is a pretty good answer, this issue is hard for people, because they usually bring an entire truckload of presuppositions with them. We already have ideas about what is a marriage, what is the purpose of sex, what is love. But to clearly understand what the bible teaches about issues like this, we have to throw out all our ideas about love, sex, marriage, and find out what the bible teaches about these things, then you can apply them to any situation. "Love" is not just desire, "Sex" is not purely for enjoyment, "Marriage" is a God ordained pattern for male/female relation via the family. – L1R Aug 07 '17 at 16:34
  • @Antonio I thought it was made clear to you that this is not a discussion forum. If you are here for an argument, you are in the wrong place. You will either find a given answer helpful or you won't, vote accordingly. – KorvinStarmast Aug 07 '17 at 21:15
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The Church Fathers (Augustine of Hippo, for example) basically thought that the act of creating life is holy, but any libido or sexual pleasure involved is sinful. Therefore, the early Christians were advised to have as few sex acts as possible. To become completely celibate would be the best in terms of spirituality.

In a Catholic/Orthodox point of view, the conscious lust for sexual pleasure leads to sin. The concept of Lust does not differentiate between heterosexual and homosexual desire.

'But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.' (KJV, Matthew 5:28)

Then, there is the spiritual marriage, which is related to the ceremonial marriage we are used to see. According to the Scriptures, marriage is a relationship created to exist between a man and a woman. A definition of homosexual marriage would not match the Bible.

'Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.' (KJV, Genesis 2:24)

Finally, at least exteriorized homosexuals could make Christians to doubt their trust in God. The Catholic/Orthodox Christianity refers to it as Scandal.

'For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.' (KJV, Romans 1:26-27)

  • @Antonio I thought it was made clear to you that this is not a discussion forum. If you are here for an argument, you are in the wrong place. You will either find a given answer helpful or you won't, vote accordingly. – KorvinStarmast Aug 07 '17 at 21:17