Biblical Writing : Paul And Sexuality Essay

In today’s Christian churches there has come about a very controversial subject, one that has been developing for many years, and is now at the fore front of controversial issues dealing with the church. The issue at hand is homosexuality and the Christian church. This controversy has caused there to be a split between the church into two different beliefs, liberal and evangelical, which one is right and which and which one is wrong? Issues such as should homosexuals be aloud in the church? If so how involved should they be? And most importantly what does God have to say about homosexuality? These are tough question brought about by a tough issue and the only way these questions can be

What was confusing for me, was starting to go to church with my family at the age of fourteen, but still witnessing my father’s sexual expression not change. From what I was being taught about the Bible, sex or sexual issues were only appropriate in marriage between a man and woman. The male was the leader of

The Christian religion implements the use of scripture as the highest command for the way in which sexual ethics is implemented. Christian teaching explores several issues in light of sexuality such as extra-marital and pre-marital sex, homosexuality and pro-creation and I will write about these in this essay.

Harris calls Paul “the most influential apostle and missionary of the mid-first-century CE church and author of seven to nine New Testament letters” (H G-33). It would be quite an accolade to receive such recognition, but what makes it even more remarkable is that Paul, or Saul, (Saul was his Judean name and Paul was his Roman name (footnotes B 1943)) originally persecuted the ekklesia or “church”. Paul went from persecuting the ekklesia or “church” to being its “most influential apostle and missionary”. Why and how did Paul make such a drastic change? The answer to the question can be found in various books of the New Testament including some of the letters that Paul wrote. This answer also aids in the explanation of how and why Paul

Writings of the Apostle Paul populate the canon of the New Testament. The rawness and earnestness found within spring from the pages igniting a wonder in the reader of who Paul the Apostle was. Paul went to great lengths to spread the name of Jesus and one cheers anxiously from the sideline waiting to see if he ever gets the upper hand. Attacked, insulted, beaten, discredited, and victimized are just a few adjectives that could describe daily life for Paul. He becomes a model of devotion and fervor to continue the cause. Today, the same occurs in a less physical form. An abundance of scholarship of Paul exists at the tip of any pupil’s hand. However, seemly, many authors do Paul a disservice by misinterpreting his teachings or marketing a

In recent years, Dale Martin has pioneered the idea that Paul did not, in fact, condemn the practice of homosexuality. Martin argues that Paul was too defamiliarized with the notion of “homosexuality” to pass a judgement on it. Thus, the apostle was neither supporting it, condemning it, or even taking a neutral stance on it. Paul was, according to Martin, completely oblivious to the concept. While Martin’s case is admittedly compelling, I would assert two major flaws in his argument. Traditionally, the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans has been used as evidence for New Testament condemnation of homosexuality. Scholars who argue against homosexual condemnation must interpret men who “gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another” as being something other than homosexual. Most commonly, such a scholar claims that Paul was speaking specifically on the issue of pederasty, not globally on the issue of homosexuality. This claim falls short when one comes to appreciate how well understood pederasty was in antiquity. Unlike homosexuality, pederasty was well defined in Greek thought as a relationship between an adult male (the erastes) and a younger male (the eromenos). If Paul were really condemning only pederasty, he certainly would have employed erastes/eromenos rhetoric in doing so. The second flaw in Martin’s claim about Paul is that Martin neglects to acknowledge Paul’s Greek/Jewish duality. Martin, who specializes in the social

It is important to note that while much is known about male sexuality of this time, relatively little is known about the feminine aspect of sexuality. This can generally be attributed to the fact that almost all feminine aspects are shrouded in mystery and female sexuality and sexual desires are overshadowed by their male counterparts. The ancient Roman civilization’s views paralleled those of the Greeks for the most part, but attitudes began to change prior to the beginnings of Christianity. While the New Testament writings upon the matter of homosexuality are relatively sparse, some scholars feel that the language used to describe these acts has been

The church that Paul had established in Corinth was all sorts of controversies and divisions such as division among themselves, lawsuits before unbelievers, moral disorders etc… Paul addressed the Corinthian believers but also it seems his letter is relevant to all followers of Christ up to this date. I therefore would like to choose one issue which is moral disorder—sexual immorality happened in Corinth. Besides other issues, Paul also had to deal with the problem of sexual immorality (1Cor. 6:12-20). Clearly that some of the Corinthians were going to prostitutes. It seems like the Corinthians wanted to justify themselves in saying, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food” (6:13)—or just simply say when you are hungry, you eat. However, in regarding to this, Paul addressed that the body is the members of Christ (6:15) and the temple of the Holy Spirit (6:19); not to be used for immorality, but for the Lord (6:13). He also argued that “For “the two,” it says, “will become one flesh (6:16). This implied to the human marriage where the love of husband and wife reflect the love of Christ for his Church. No one is allowing separating them. Also, he asserted that our bodies no longer belong to us but to Christ. Then we should not do anything to harm them for if we are united to prostitutes are actually harmful to the body.

The Apostle Paul was originally named Saul; it wasn’t until he listened to the voice of God and became a true believer in him that he became Paul. In the beginning Saul couldn’t understand why anybody would follow Jesus; he asked “how could anyone profess to follow a crucified Messiah?”(Shelley 19) Saul found the answer to the question that he had asked one day while outside of Damascus. Saul confronted the Lord, and was blinded by a light, he had to drop to his knees and yield to the voice of that called his name.” Saul, Saul” the voice said, “why are you persecuting me?” (Shelley 19) It was in that moment that Saul became a believer and understood Stephen’s argument. (Shelley 19) Saul was changed to Paul.

Similar to the ancient Greeks’ way of thinking, homosexuality in Christianity was considered taboo because of the way the homosexual acts (specifically sodomy) were considered to degrade one partner to the status of a female. An encyclopedia article in the Encyclopedia of Gender and Society, titled “Christianity and Homosexuality”, talks about how the way a person interprets the different lessons of the Bible can influence how they view homosexuality. Using the historical-critical way of reading the text, you put the reading into its historical context, taking into consideration what was happening at the time, what the words would have meant in that time and so on. The article argues that “the complexity of the issue is often over-simplified either because of an inadequate appreciation for the diversity of positions promulgated about homosexuality among Christian denominations today or because of long-held cultural taboos and religious biases about the root ‘causes’ of homosexuality”(O’Brien). I somewhat agree with the article when it talks about how it is assumed that Christianity is automatically against homosexuality. I think that Christianity hadn’t really thought out its view on homosexuality until it started to become a widespread issue in society, but at the same time, they are inherently homophobic, starting with Adam and Eve and their heterosexual relationship. I also believe that, while the article doesn’t mention it, one of the “religious biases about the root

In the text to the Corinthians, Paul is angered by the sexual immorality practiced in the Christian community. The word porneia is interpreted differently over the years, and one can trace its beginning back to the Hellenistic period, “The usual translations-“fornication” and “sexual immortality”-reflect the breadth and flexibility of the term’s meaning. But they obscure its actual content and connotations” (Harper 383). Around the first century, a majority of the world was Hellenized. With the prominence of Greek culture, it affected the way of life in the Hellenized areas. The Greeks explored all types of sexual activities, which was strictly prohibited by Jewish customs. Everyone except for the Jews in the Hellenized world act on their sexual desires.

Society today, through explicit movie scenes, magazine pictures, and marketing, depicts sex as an everyday activity that has no special importance or value. Society is also starting to deviate from marriage by teaching younger generations that a person does not have to be married in order to live with, have sex with, or even have a child with someone else. However, the Bible teaches us that sex is a sacramental, sacred act between a married couple that does in fact have significant importance. Pope John Paul II, through a series of teachings rooted in the Bible and based off of the theology of the body, reveals God’s plans today for human sexuality. This paper aims to show why culture today emphasizes explicit sexual content and promiscuity,

Taking a gander at our past, there have been emotional changes in the way people view sex. Much sooner than the 1900s people confined their perspectives in view of the religious organization. Because of the way that they unequivocally focused their concept of sexual thought

“Everything is pure for someone whose heart is pure. But nothing is pure for an unbeliever with a dirty mind. That person 's mind and conscience are destroyed.

Homosexuality is defined as “sexual desire or behavior directed towards a person or persons of one’s own sex” by dictionary.com. Although there are many people who don’t support equal rights for homosexuals, and many that do, the church’s stance, though, seems to be split as well with many conflicting views. The paper will address homosexuality from the Church’s point of view going through both sides of the argument.