Dr. David Gushee on Being Christian and Homosexual

Dr. David Gushee joined me for a vigorous 30 minute discussion around Cathleen Falsani’s BeliefNet piece on the growing acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle on Christian college campuses.

The audio is here:

Dr_David_Gushee.mp3

5 thoughts on “Dr. David Gushee on Being Christian and Homosexual

  1. Allison,
    It’s absolutely amazing to me, how people who claim to worship A God who forgives everyone, is not judgemental, and extends grace and mercy to all, can in good faith, speak the way that you do.
    First of all, “DO NOT JUDGE, LEST YE BE JUDGED.” Who are you, a man of your stature , to stand in judgement?
    You walked away from a friendship because of their choices? How many times, in your life, has Christ walked away from you?

    May the God that I serve, extend grace and mercy upon you,

  2. Paul I have a question regarding the slavery issue.
    Strangely enough, I have just been in a conversation about this on Facebook with a professed Jew (who I don’t know personally, but I picked up on the conversation through an actual friend’s profile). I think he is questioning his religion and one of the basis for this is that God condones slavery.

    The verses he used for this is such:
    Lev 25:45 Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession.
    Lev 25:46 And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.

    Now, in the context of that passage, it is mostly talking about not forcefully enslaving other Jews and the rules for releasing the ones who have “enslaved” themselves every 7 years and at Jubilee.

    But, my question lies with verse 46 where it says that basically Gentiles of the Middle East and any Gentile sojourners are fair game to take as slaves and force into slavery that is not debt-induced.

    It seemingly endorses forced slavery in this situation.

    Now, we all know that the Middle East is the inheritance of the Jews, deemed by God and that the OT vs the NT doctrines were because of different periods of time. Anyone there was to either die or be subjugated (but usually killed) to root out external influences of culture. God destroys sin, pure and simple.
    Do you think the whole fact that Israel is a picture of the church and that Gentiles are the world is the reasoning behind this? Sort of another type of picture through slavery? And since we all know that is why God had the Israelites destroy Gentiles in the Middle East so as to eradicate foreign influence does this justify the act of slavery as another picture? Or, is this not referring to forced slavery at all (even though it seems to be).

    Also, as a side note, even though these Gentiles could be made slaves and were not allowed to benefit from Jubilee (hence saying they are slaves “forever”), they were allowed to be bought out of their slavery. So, they weren’t necessarily there forever, but they couldn’t benefit from Jewish law.

  3. Allison,
    Wow! Is there any room in your belief system (theology) for grace? Have you ever thought that there are other devout, saved, Christians who believe differently than you? What do you do with Galatians 3:28? Philippians 2:12-13? The God I worship is so much bigger than we humans can imagine.

    Grace and Peace.

  4. Let me just say that if you consider experience to be a better teacher than scripture, you are in trouble! Scripture is infalliable, but experience, emotionalism , on the other hand can EASILY lead us astray, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end leads to death”.(Proverbs 16:25) Scripture, in MANY places in the bible speaks very clearly about all forms of homosexuality being wrong, and is the result of a rebellious, unrepentant heart (one place is Romans 1:18-25). Studies have shown that 100% committed relationships simply do not exist within the gay community (The study asked homosexuals whether they had ever cheated on their partner – 100% said yes).
    I have several friends and family members who live the gay lifestyle. This does not mean that I need to condone it in order to be loving, In fact, if I did condone it, it would very unloving of me to do so, as that would not be leading them to the truth of God’s holy, infalliable Word. Case in point, if you had a son or daughter who had murdered someone, you would still love your child, even though you could not condone their behaviour. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I am under the direction and guidance of God through his complete written, revealed will expressed through the Bible. How arrogant to think that somehow we very falliable humans know more than the all-knowing, perfect King of Kings who created us!
    I have had to walk away from a friendship within the church because that friend announced she was gay, but still thought that she could follow Christ. Unbelievably, her PASTOR backed her up and said she could continue leading worship (!!!). He was glad she “found herself”and had to come to terms with “who she really was”. All of this stems from a view that would rather please man than God, and it is very sad that so many who call Jesus “Lord” care more about pleasing humans, than the God they profess to follow.
    Now, just for the record, I am not one of those supposedly out of touch forty five +, but I am in my early thirties and grew up in the performing arts. I was saved at 25…
    In conclusion, when God clearly outlines something in Scripture, what is needed is not a conversation, but OBEDIENCE. Live to please God, not man. “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul: but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell” (Matt 10:28 NASB)

  5. Leviticus 18:22 (King James Version)

    Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

    By its silence?l

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