In CNN Belief Blog‘s “My Take” column, R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Seminary, addresses the charge that Christians inconsistently isolate and condemn homosexuality.
After all, the Bible forbids the eating of shellfish and the wearing of mixed fabrics, among other things. Mohler points out that such ceremonial laws were given to Israel for a particular purpose at a specific point in redemptive history.
“An honest consideration of the Bible reveals that most of the biblical laws people point to in asking this question, such as laws against eating shellfish or wearing mixed fabrics, are part of the holiness code assigned to Israel in the Old Testament,” he said.
“That code was to set Israel, God’s covenant people, apart from all other nations on everything from morality to diet.”
Mohler explains that the New Testament rescinds dietary laws for Christians (see Acts 10:15). However, the Bible speaks to sexual morality in a different, more unified sense. “When it comes to homosexuality,” he said, “the Bible’s teaching is consistent, pervasive, uniform and set within a larger context of law and Gospel.”
Still, why do Christians continue to place importance on homosexuality? Mohler explains:
In the first place, that question is answered by the simple fact that it is the most pressing moral question of our times. Christians must be concerned about adultery, pornography, injustice, dishonesty and everything the Bible names as sin. But when my phone rings with a call from a reporter these days, the question I am asked is never adultery or pornography. It is about homosexuality.
Mohler also deals with other “inconsistencies” people raise concerning the Bible’s witness to slavery and polygamy. He concludes by saying that Christian love requires nothing less than telling the truth about sexual sin.
“Christian love requires that we believe and teach what the Bible teaches and that we do so with both strong conviction and humble hearts,” Mohler said. “The Church must repent of our failures in both of these tasks, but we must not be silent where the Bible speaks.”
The entire article, “The Bible condemns a lot, but here’s why we focus on homosexuality,” is available at Belief Blog.