Christian gay marriage

What Should Christians Believe about Same-Sex Marriage?

Why This Issue Matters

I’m a pastor. My concern is with the church — what she believes, what she celebrates, and what she proclaims. Achieving some legal and political end is not my primary calling and yet, I’m concerned that many younger Christians — ironically, often those most attuned to societal transformation and social justice — do not notice the connection between a traditional view of marriage and human flourishing.

Many Christians are keen to resurrect the old pro-choice mantra touted by some Catholic politicians: personally opposed, but publicly none of my business. I desire Christians to glimpse why this issue matters and why—when same-sex marriage became the law of the land—the ethics of the family was weakened and the freedom of the church was threatened.

I know this is an increasingly unpopular line of reasoning, even for those who are inclined to admit the Bible’s instruction about marriage. Perhaps you believe that homosexual behavior is biblically unacceptable. And yet, you wonder what’s wrong with supporting same-sex marriage as a legal and political right. After all, we don’t have laws against gossip or adulte

The Great Divide: Same-Sex Marriage And The Evangelical Christian

The Great Split, as geologists call it, is a rocky ridge that runs from the mountains in Alaska all the way through South America. The water on the west side of the Split runs into the Pacific Ocean; the water on the east side finds its way toward the Atlantic. Water that at one time was flowing in the same river is now separated, and never again the twain shall meet.

The decision of the Supreme Court to legalize gay marriage in all 50 states has confronted us with our own great divide: on the one side are those who hold to a biblical definition of marriage, and on the other are those who are “same-sex affirming,” insistent on providing a loving and welcoming stance toward these now-honored unions.

As one conservative law professor said, after the backlash regarding the March 2015 RFRA ruling in Indiana,

Cultural pressure is going to radically reduce orthodox Christian numbers in the years to come. The meaning of what it means to be a faithful Christian is going to come under intense heat, not only from outside the churches, but from within. There will be serious stigma attached to standing up for o
What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?
What Does The Bible Utter About Homosexuality?
Introduction
For the last two decades, Pew Research Center has reported that one of the most enduring ethical issues across Christian traditions is sexual diversity. For many Christians, one of the most frequently first-asked questions on this topic is, “What does the Bible say about attraction to someone of the identical sex?”
Although its unlikely that the biblical authors had any notion of sexual orientation (for example, the term homosexual wasn't even coined until the slow 19th century) for many people of faith, the Bible is looked to for timeless guidance on what it means to honor God with our lives; and this most certainly includes our sexuality.
Before we can skip into how it is that Christians can maintain the authority of the Bible and also affirm sexual diversity, it might be helpful if we started with a terse but clear overview of some of the assumptions informing many Christian approaches to understanding the Bible.
What is the Bible?
For Christians to whom the Bible is God’s very written word, it is widely understood that God produced its content

Same-sex marriage
Facts
The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Operate 2013 introduced gay ‘marriage’ in England and Wales.
The 2013 Act specifically excludes same-sex weddings within the Church of England.¹ It also states that no church or church minister can be compelled “by any means” to carry out a same-sex wedding.²
The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 introduced same-sex ‘marriage’ in Scotland, with similar protections for church ministers who disagree with homosexual marriage.
The Northern Ireland Assembly has opposed the redefinition of marriage on three separate occasions. The most recent vote, in April 2014, saw MLAs voting 51 to 43 against redefining marriage. MLAs rejected a similar motion in 2013 by 53 votes to 42, and in 2012 the plans were voted down 50 to 45.³ However in January 2015 a legal action commenced in Belfast seeking to force same-sex marriage on Northern Ireland.
Biblical arguments
The Bible clearly teaches that marriage is the exclusive and lifelong union of one man and one woman. Genesis 2 records that marriage was instituted by God from the very beginning and hard-wired into human socie