Chapter Twelve: "The God I Worship is a God of Love"

This is my last post about Kevin DeYoung's What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? I still encourage you to get the book. (Click the title.)

Kevin DeYoung has a footnoted quote that well summarizes this chapter. Jean Lloyd, a former lesbian, said, “Continue to love me, but remember that you cannot be more merciful than God. It isn’t mercy to affirm same-sex acts as good…Don’t compromise truth; help me to live in harmony with it.” (Footnote #2, p. 127)

Chapter Eleven: “It’s Not Fair!”

“It’s not fair that God would give me these desires and then forbid me to act upon them. God wouldn't want me to be miserable.”

That’s the argument, at least. Author Kevin DeYoung is pastoral in dealing with it – he acknowledges the real anguish of people within his ministry who struggle with same-sex attraction. And he discusses the biological and behavioral roots of sexual orientation.

Chapter Ten: "You're on the Wrong Side of History"

In case you're a new reader, this is an ongoing review of Kevin DeYoung's What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? I'm trying to summarize his arguments chapter by chapter. Click the title to order the book.

Supporters of same-sex marriage claim the traditional view of traditional marriage is “on the wrong side of history.” That phrase is, as Kevin DeYoung says, an “attempt to win an argument by not having one” (p. 103).

Chapter Nine: "The Church is Supposed to Be a Place for Broken People"

Revisionists insist that the church’s traditional condemnation of homosexual behavior is wrong because it doesn’t emphasize the grace of Christ that we all need. We’re all sinners, we all need unconditional love, we’re all broken people.

Chapter Eight: "What About Gluttony and Divorce?"

In chapter 8, Kevin DeYoung lays out another argument of the revisionists: "You’re being selective about what sins you emphasize! How come you don’t condemn other sins – like gluttony or divorce?"

This is the “you’re a hypocrite!” argument. Supporters of same-sex marriage argue that the traditional view ignores other sins – like gluttony and divorce – and unfairly singles out homosexual behavior.

Chapter Seven: "Not That Kind of Homosexuality"

The last chapters of Kevin DeYoung’s What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? answer the most common objections to the traditional understanding of marriage and sexuality. (Click the title to order)

Chapter seven is focused on a favorite argument of the “revisionists” who try to reinterpret the Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality. Their contention is: “The Bible isn’t really condemning the loving, committed, same-sex relationships we have in our world today. What Scripture is denouncing is exploitation and violence which expressed itself in the ancient world in homosexual activity. It’s only a bad kind of homosexuality that the Bible is against.”

Chapter Six: “The Bible Hardly Ever Mentions Homosexuality”

The first five chapters of Kevin DeYoung’s What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? are devoted to the key biblical texts on the subject. The last seven chapters focus on the most common objections to the traditional understanding of marriage and sexuality. (Click the title to order)

The objection of chapter six is that the Bible has very little to say about homosexuality, so why make a big deal of it? DeYoung responds with six points. He says that “the reason the Bible says comparatively little about homosexuality is because it was a comparatively uncontroversial sin among ancient Jews and Christians." (p. 72) Scripture may devote more time to others sins (like idolatry) because these were more common. God’s word says even less about bestiality or incest, but nobody (so far) would argue that those behaviors are unimportant or ambiguous.

Chapter Five: A New Word from an Old Place

My ongoing review of Kevin DeYoung’s What the Bible Really Teaches about Homosexuality. (Click the title for Amazon purchase.)

This may be the most technical chapter in the book, but DeYoung writes so clearly that it’s easy to follow his logic and to see his conclusions borne out in the Scriptures. He focuses on two New Testament passages which seem clearly to condemn homosexual behavior.

Chapter Four: The Romans Road in the Wrong Direction

My ongoing review of Kevin DeYoung’s What the Bible Really Teaches about Homosexuality. (Click the title for Amazon purchase.)

In chapter four, DeYoung explains Paul’s argument in Romans 1, and shows how same-sex activity is an affront to God’s design. Paul's description of humanity's downward spiral into sin includes three “exchanges”: 1) Ungodly men exchange the glory of God for the foolishness of idolatry; 2) ungodly men exchange the truth about God for a lie; and 3) they exchange natural relations with members of the opposite sex for relations with those of the same sex.

DeYoung answers the arguments of “revisionists” who try to explain away the Scripture’s opposition to same-sex relations. Romans chapter one is about homosexual activity in general, and not just (as revisionists claim) sexual abuse of adults with youth or masters with slaves.