Paul and Homosexuality

Joe Meier

Intro to the New Testament

Professor Benjamin Lappenga

October 24, 2012

Position Paper: Paul and Homosexuality

The topic of homosexuality has been a very heated debate in contemporary society, especially in the realm of Christian ethics. It seems as though the Catholic Church has gone through a few phases on how they view homosexuality as time has progressed. In ancient Greek and Roman times, as Paul expressed in the certain letters that he wrote which are contained in the Bible, homosexuality (at least for males) was not condemned or frowned upon, but was actually openly accepted. Since then however, homosexuality has been widely viewed as immoral and unacceptable by society. Groups within our Catholic religion all have their own thoughts and views about the controversy of homosexuality and it is still a touchy subject even today. The Catholic Church’s view has been somewhat confusing for me as they seem to have been wavering on the issue and many people within the church cannot agree on how to view homosexuality. But after reading the three handouts of Ratzinger, McNeil, Hayes, and thoroughly researching the letters of Paul, some of this confusion has cleared up for me.

Biblical scripture needs to be read in the context of their time as it can be interpreted as quite critical of homosexual desires and behaviors. The letters within the Bible such as Paul’s letters for example, can be easily misinterpreted to be seen as homosexuality being a rebellion against God and going against His divine plan. Reading the letters this way, the reader can easily make the common mistake and agree with many others by listing off homosexuality as immoral. But what the reader doesn’t know is that homosexuality is more of a discovery of their orientation rather than a choice. What Paul actually says is immoral in the Catholic Religion in the book Liviticus is that “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination” (Lev 18.22). A more...