Re: accepting gay as normal
The Bible
The Bible generally teaches against any sexual relations except between husband and wife. The Bible specifically mentions sexual intercourse between persons of the same sex as among the forbidden acts. Homosexual acts are mentioned in seven Bible passages: 1
2 refer to rape (Genesis 19:5, Judges 19:22)
3 refer to intercourse between men (Leviticus 18:21-22, Leviticus 20:13, Romans 1:27)
1 refers to intercourse between women (Romans 1:26)
1 refers to prostitution and possibly pederasty (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
1 is general in nature (1 Timothy 1:8-10)
New Testament
Jesus never mentioned homosexuality, but He did condemn all forms of sexual immorality:
What comes out of you is what defiles you. For from within, out of your hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile you. (TNIV, Mark 7:20-23)
The apostle Paul, in one of his letters to the Corinthians, wrote the verses most often quoted on this subject:
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (NIV, 1st Corinthians 6:9-11)
These verses have been translated in many different ways. The word translated here as "male prostitute" is the Greek word malakos which literally means "soft to the touch." However, it was used metaphorically to refer to a catamite (a boy kept for sexual relations with a man) or to a male prostitute in general. The word translated here as "homosexual offender" is the Greek word arsenokoites which means a sodomite, a person who engages in any kind of unnatural sex, but especially homosexual intercourse5. Some believe this use of arsenokoites referred specifically to the men who kept catamites6, but that is not certain.
There are two other New Testament mentions of homosexual acts, in Romans 1:25-27 and 1 Timothy 1:8-10. In this passage from Romans, again in the context of idolatry, Paul mentions women who "exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones." This is the only mention of lesbian acts:
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-- who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. (NIV, Romans 1:25-27)
