What is Unnatural?
The Pauline epistle to the Romans is one of the most used passages to create a case against LGBT+ committed relationships. The language that is used here may look straight forward, but there are many nuances that are involved in understanding these verses. But Romans 1: 26-27 reads:
For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error.
These verses are highly contentious. Often these verses are read with only a western ideology in mind, but we forget to take into account that what is considered natural or unnatural today is vastly different than what would be considered natural/unnatural during Greco-Roman times.
In Changing Our Mind, David Gushee, a notable Christian ethicist actually defends why he changed his position on committed same-sex unions. In chapter 15, Gushee discusses how, when we look at the practicality of the relationships between same-sex couples in churches today, there is more often than not, little comparison with the depravity that Paul is talking about in these verses. (Gushee, Changing Our Mind, Loc.1385 of 2228) It is also important to understand that Greco-Roman thought did not view sexuality the same as we do today. James Brownson discusses how the ancient world was devoid of the concept of sexuality orientation as we know it today, but they would speak and understand things in terms of sexual drives, which could be excessive. This in turn is where the idea of lust and unnaturalness comes into play which is described in Romans 1. (Brownson, Bible, Gender, Sexuality, 170-7)
Instead, many scholars note that what Paul is discussing here is within the context of idolatry, yet again. The problem that Paul is talking about here, is not same-sex committed relationships as we know them today, but rather Paul is talking about unbridled lust. A lust that involves serving one’s own self-seeking desires rather than worshipping the one true God.” (Ibid, 153) Brownson continues by noting that it was normal for Jewish rhetoric to link idolatry with perversion and corruption. (Ibid, 154) In essence, “it was believed that same-sex sexual behaviour resulted from an uncontrollable sexual appetite.” (VanderWal-Gritter, Generous Spaciousness, 162)
This unnaturalness that Paul is talking about is not describing a complementarity as is commonly assumed, but it is rather discussing an excess of lust which then leads, in Greco-Roman thought, to same-sex behaviours. This is vastly different than current understandings in modern psychology about sexuality. Essentially it is inappropriate and extremely dangerous to conclude that these same-sex erotic acts that Paul is talking about solely because they ‘violate’ physical gender complementarity. (Brownson, 35) Gender complementarity in and of itself is an inadequate, and dare I say western theological concept, that does not take into account modern ideas and understandings of sexuality and gender.
Romans 1:26-27 has become a weapon that the Church uses to marginalize and condemn LGBTQ+ people. These verses are ripped about from their context. Not only did the Greco-Roman Empire have very difficult views of of same-sex sex, but Paul is writing Romans as a subversive text against the Empire and all that it stands for. To take these two verses and use them to attack and dehumanize LGBT+ people is not only abhorrent, but it is also negating the Good News of the Gospel. While I personally hate the phrase ‘love wins,’ when we do what the Church has done with these verses we forget the fact that love, does in fact, win.
I think a more important conversation that needs to happen within the Church is about what it means to walk with God in our sexuality—gay or straight. The amount of male-female couples that I see on dating apps astounds me (yes, I’m on them. Don’t judge). They are looking for a ‘third’ to join them, or they have an open relationship. Yet, the Church doesn’t use Romans 1:26-27 to condemn them. They solely use these verses to condemn same-sex relationships even though Paul is talking about unbridled lust and sexual behaviour.
Christ welcomes everyone to His table, and He expects His followers to do the same. Whether you ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’ with same-sex relationships, we must remember that the Bible should never be used as a weapon against anyone. When the Church, and I include myself in this, uses the Holy Word of God as a weapon this is the view of God that people will have. As Christians, we are called to share His word and mission with those around us. Often when it comes to same-sex relationships, the Church has used their words. They say “I love you, but…” This is not the unconditional love that Christ taught us. This is conditional. How about instead of using words to condemn LGBT+ people, we walk alongside them and demonstrate love to them. Instead of speaking first, what if we listened to their stories. Their lives are part of God’s greater narrative. So, let’s practice this unnatural love that God has for all people instead of practicing what comes naturally to us—classifying people as ‘those people.’
Bibliography
Brownson, James V. Bible, Gender, Sexuality: Reframing the Churchs Debate on Same-Sex Relationships. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub., 2013.
Cleaver, Richard. Know My Name: A Gay Liberation Theology. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995.
Edwards, George R. Gay/Lesbian Liberation: A Biblical Perspective. New York: Pilgrim Press, 1984.
Gushee, David P. Changing Our Mind. Kindle ed. Canton, MI: Read The Spirit Books, an Imprint of David Crum Media, LCC, 2017.
Jordan, Mark D. The Invention of Sodomy in Christian Theology. University of Chicago Press, 1997.
Lee, Justin. Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays-vs.-Christians Debate. New York: Jericho Books, 2013.
Loader, William R. G. Making Sense of Sex: Attitudes Towards Sexuality in Early Jewish and Christian Literature. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2013.
Punt, Jeremy. “Sex and Gender, and Liminality in Biblical Texts: Venturing into Postcolonial, Queer, Biblical Interpretation.” Neotestamentica 41, no. 2 (2007): 382- 98. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43048642.
Robinson, Christine M., and Sue E. Spivey. "The Politics of Masculinity and the Ex-Gay Movement." Gender and Society 21, no. 5 (2007): 650-75. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27641004.
VanderWal-Gritter, Wendy. Generous Spaciousness: Responding to Gay Christians in the Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, a Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2014.