Clarifications on homosexuality in the Bible.

Fr. Jean-Baptiste Edart, a French biblical scholar, in an interview with Zenit news agency, explained three Old Testament and three New Testament passages in the Bible referring to homosexuality. He examined the linguistic and cultural meaning these verses had at the time of their writing.

Fr. Edart demonstrated that homo-sexual acts are considered extremely grave, a direct offence against the divine law. Homosexual activity is listed in the company of terms such as "abomination," "wickedness," "idolatry" and "degrading passions." Further, he said, this teaching is perfectly consistent with traditional Judaic mores at the time of its writing.

The exegete from the John Paul II Institute in Rome pointed out that the discussion of homosexuality in the Letter to the Romans is meant to illustrate several key points. First, that homosexual acts are a sign of God's anger at the infidelity of His people.

Second, the phenomenon of homosexual activity is the inversion of nature and order as willed by God. Through this natural order and by the use of reason we can perceive God's will. God has clearly given humans visible manifestations of complementarity that ought to lead to true communion. This sexual complementarity also serves as a type, or characteristic example, of the love of God for humanity. This is a chief demonstration of why the Church, in fidelity to Scripture, teaches that homosexual acts cannot be good for the human person.

Comment:

Some readers will ask, "Is it worth the effort to address such an obvious subject as homosexuality in the Bible?" The answer is "yes." The need to clarify these Scripture verses is due directly to a generation of homosexual propagandists who have used their positions and influence to distort the clear and traditional meaning of these verses. Certain earlier American propagandists, such as (Rev.) Troy Perry and Paul Varnell, identified Christian churches as the main source of opposition to their lifestyle. They decided to open their own (Metropolitan) "church" and re-interpret key homo-sexual passages in the Bible to refer to a condemnation of inhospitality or rape.

More recently, the rift among Anglicans over same-sex "marriage" has led men such as the Anglican bishop of the Greater Vancouver Diocese of New Westminster, Michael Ingham, to call For a complete remaking of Christian theology, including the teaching on homosexuality (Globe & Mail, Mar. 8, 2007). Professor Edart's observations would also refute the notion that the homosexual controversy does not pertain to Christianity's "core" doctrine.

Editor's note: For a thorough non-Catholic refutation of blessing same-sex unions, see Dr. Robert A. J. Gagnon, Associate Professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and his 30-page paper, "A case not made" ([e-mail], June 19, 2007) or see www.lifesite.net/idn2007-does/ThorpCanadaResp.pdf. The paper was written on the occasion of the Anglican Synod in Winnipeg in June 2007 (see "Canadian Anglicans continue to risk unity for homosexuality," NIB, p. 42).

Britain