Thinking Out Loud with Alan Shlemon - Pro-Gay Theology Follows a Pattern of Past Interpretive Mistakes

Episode Date: May 29, 2024

Alan points out how the interpretive mistakes made by pro-gay theology advocates today have been made in the past.

Progate Theology advocates claim that Christians are making the same kind of grievous interpretive error that past Christians made when they justified anti-Semitism and slavery using the Bible. But when you look closer at the details, it turns out they're the ones, the Progate Theology advocates are the ones, who are repeating yesterday's interpretive errors. And so that's what I want to talk to you about in this episode of my podcast, Thinking Out Loud with Alan Schliemann. Now, the push to normalize homosexuality within the church is not letting up. In fact, one of the arguments that pro-gay theology advocates make is that Christians have made grievous interpretive errors in the past and are making the same mistake with homosexuality today. Now, when you look closer

at the details of their claim, it turns out that pro-gay theology advocates are the ones who are repeating yesterday's error. Now, at Andy Stanley's Unconditional Conference that I attended in 2023, David Gushy, who is a pro-gay theology advocate, tried to point to past Christian support of anti-Semitism and slavery. And he argued that Christians have built incorrect theology on wrongly interpreted Bible verses, but that once believers sort of recognized how those interpretations had been hurting people, these Christians then revisited those verses and corrected their interpretation. So, for example, in the case of anti-Semitism,

pro-gay theology advocates point out that Christians helped spur Jew hatred during and after the Holocaust by citing Jesus' rebuke of the Jews in John 8, 44. And this is where Jesus says, you are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. And then also they cite Matthew 27, 25, where the Jews demand that Jesus be crucified and take ownership of the responsibility for his death by claiming, quote, his blood shall be on us and on our children, end quote. And so this Christian anti-Semitism was commonly justified by these two verses, but then it was later rejected once the verses were properly interpreted. Now, regarding the support of slavery,

pro-gay theology advocates claim that Christian slaveholders use Bible verses to justify pro-slavery theology. And their favorite New Testament text was in Ephesians 6.5. It says, Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ. And so David Gushie claims that after this faulty interpretation began causing harm to people by encouraging slavery, it led Christians to return to the Bible and to reconsider interpreting that passage differently. Bible and to reconsider interpreting that passage differently. Now, pro-Gate theology advocates claim that Christians are making the same mistake today. And just like Christians justified slavery and anti-Semitism with these Bible verses, Christians today, they suggest, are justifying homophobia by wrongly interpreting verses like Leviticus 18.22 and Romans 1.20.60.27

and 1 Corinthians 6.9. And we're wrongly interpreting these verses to condemn gays and lesbians. And because of the harm that, of course, this is causing the LGBT community, we're supposed to now reconsider the interpretation of these verses. So that's the way pro-gay theology advocates are claiming we're sort of, you know, making the same mistakes of the past. And therefore we need to, you know, not make the same mistake with homosexuality.

Now, here's the irony of their claim. It turns out that they, that the pro-gay theology advocates, are the ones who are making the same mistake that pro-slavery and anti-Semitic Christians made. What's that mistake? It's that they're caving to cultural pressure and then interpreting, reinterpreting Bible verses to accommodate that cultural pressure. So think about this. In the United States, anti-Semitism reached its peak in the early 20th century, right? And Christians were surrounded by anti-Jewish attitudes in the culture.

And so many of them adopted the same thinking as the culture, right? And so they found ways to sort of justify those beliefs using select Bible verses. And in the case of slavery, it was a legal institution for nearly a hundred years after America's founding. And during that time, Christians were influenced by the culture around them. And they try to find ways of justifying, you know, pro-slavery ideas using certain Bible verses. So notice what's happening today. Pro-gay theology advocates today are guilty of exactly the same mistake. Think about it. There's been this growing acceptance of homosexuality in the United States since the late 20th century. I mean, today, same-sex marriage is legal and resistance to its

normalization is met with legal action. And so there's a massive amount of cultural pressure on everyone to affirm homosexuality. And so unfortunately, many Christians are capitulating to that pressure and are finding ways to justify pro-gay beliefs by reinterpreting these Bible verses to suit their view. And of course, this reinterpretation is misinterpretation. And so therefore, if anyone needs to learn not to repeat the wrongs of the past, it's those who are attempting to reinterpret scripture to accommodate the pro-homosexual culture, right? I mean, if we were living in the third century or the 10th century or the 18th century, right, we wouldn't see progressive Christians or deconstructing Christians or other pro-gay theology advocates

trying to push to reinterpret the Bible to make it gay affirming, right? Because there would be no outside pressure to do so. Now, even though it's pro-gay theology advocates today who are repeating the mistakes of the past, it doesn't mean there isn't a lesson for faithful Christians today, right? Because ever since the inception of the church, Christians have faced the temptation to capitulate to culture. And so, yeah, we got to be mindful of cultural trends and remain vigilant to stave off the temptation to change our theology to accommodate secular culture. Remember that scripture warns us that friendship with the world is hostility towards God and that whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. That's James 4.4.

So there's no point in trying to adjust our theology so the world will like us. Besides, it'll never work, right? No matter how much theology you see to the world, it will never be enough, right? Only total surrender to society will make you loved by the world. But remember, what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and yet loses his soul, right? Mark 8, 36. He gains nothing and he loses everything. He gains nothing and he loses everything. So therefore, don't be seduced by the lure to be loved by culture, right? Don't conform to this world, Romans 12.1.2, right?

Instead, stand firm on God's word, his unchanging and true word. Well, that's all I have for you today. If you've enjoyed this episode, I encourage you to share it with a friend. And also don't forget to subscribe to my podcast so you don't miss an episode when it's released. And thank you for listening. I look forward to thinking out loud with you next time. Thank you.