Let me start by making two observations. First, this is about God being mad: "For the wrath of God [orge</EM>] is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men...."
Second, there is a specific progression that leads to this "orgy" of anger. Men "suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (v. 18). They exchanged "the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator" (v. 25). Next, "God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity..." (v. 24). They "exchanged the natural [sexual] function for that which is unnatural (v. 26). Therefore, the wrath of God rightly falls on them (v. 18); they are without excuse (v. 20).
This text is a crystal clear condemnation of homosexuality by the Apostle Paul in the middle of his most brilliant discourse on general revelation. Paul is not speaking to a localized aberration of pedophilia or temple prostitution that's part of life in the capital of Graeco-Roman culture. He is talking about a universal condition of man.
Regarding the same-sex behavior itself, here are the specific words Paul uses: a lust of the heart, an impurity and dishonoring to the body (v. 24); a degrading passion that's unnatural (v. 29); an indecent act and an error (v. 27); not proper and the product of a depraved mind (v. 28).
There's only one way the clear sense of this passage can be missed: if someone is in total revolt against God. According to Paul, homosexual behavior is evidence of active, persistent rebellion against one's Creator. Verse 32 shows it's rooted in direct, willful, aggressive sedition against God--true of all so-called Christians who are defending their own homosexuality. God's response is explicit: "They are without excuse" (v. 20).
(skipping to important parts)
Born Gay
What if one's "natural" desire is for the same sex, though. What if his homosexuality is part of his physical constitution? There are four different reasons this is a bad argument. The first three are compelling; the fourth is unassailable.
First, this rejoinder assumes there is such a thing as innate homosexuality. The scientific data is far from conclusive, though. Contrary to the hasty claims of the press, there is no definitive evidence that homosexuality is determined by physiological factors (see "Just Doing What Comes Naturally," Clear Thinking</EM>, Spring, 1997).
There's a second problem. If all who have a desire for the same sex do so "naturally," then to whom does this verse apply? If everybody is only following their natural sexual desires, then which particular individuals fall under this ban, those who are not aroused by their own gender, but have sex anyway? Generally, for men at least, if there is no arousal, there is no sex. And if there is arousal, according to Boswell et al, then the passion must be natural.
Third, this interpretation introduces a whole new concept--constitutional homosexuality--that is entirely foreign to the text. Boswell himself admits that it was "in fact unlikely that many Jews of [Paul's] day recognized such a distinction," and that possibly even Paul himself was in the dark.
If Paul did not understand genuine homosexuality, though, then how can one say he excepted constitutional homosexuals when he wrote that they "exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural"? This argument self-destructs.
Further, if Paul spoke only to those violating their personal sexual orientation, then wouldn't he also warn that some men burned unnaturally towards women, and some women towards men? Wouldn't Paul warn against both types of violation--heterosexuals committing indecent acts with members of the same sex, and homosexuals committing indecent acts with members of the opposite sex?
What in the text allows us to distinguish between constitutional homosexuals and others? Only one word: "natural." A close look at this word and what it modifies, though, leads to the most devastating critique of all.
Natural Desire or Natural Function?
Paul was not unclear about what he meant by "natural." Homosexuals do not abandon natural
desires; they abandon natural
functions: "For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function</EM> for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function</EM> of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another..." (1:26-27)
The Greek word kreesis, </EM>translated "function" in this text, is used only these two times in the New Testament, but is found frequently in other literature of the time. According to the standard Greek language reference
A Greek/English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature</EM>,
[4] the word means "use, relations, function, especially of sexual intercourse."
Paul is not talking about natural desires here, but natural functions. He is not talking about what one
wants sexually, but how one is built to
operate sexually. The body is built to function in a specific way. Men were not built to function sexually with men, but with women.....
Stand to Reason: Paul, Romans, & Homosexuality <--- click for more
