What does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality? Paperback – 17 April 2015

This book has an introduction, two main sections and some appendices.The introduction starts with the first chapters of Genesis and the first man and woman. The author explains that "This is a Christian book, with a narrow focus, defending a traditional view of marriage." (p. 15)Part 1: "Understanding God's Word" is a thorough treatment of all the Bible passages that are specifically on the subject, but again DeYoung starts with Genesis 1 and 2 and goes into more detail on "the divine design for sexual intimacy" (p. 26). He states, "Jesus himself reinforces the normativity of the Genesis account" (p. 30). Subsequent chapters in Part 1 look at each relevant passage, presenting it impartially and dealing with objections, misinterpretations and unjustified claims. Many Bible references are given, to enable readers to explore in more detail the points made.Part 2 is entitled "Answering Objections". It has chapters on many commonly-heard objections: "The Bible Hardly Ever Mentions Homosexuality", "Not That Kind of Homosexuality", "What about Gluttony and Divorce?", "The Church Is Supposed to Be a Place for Broken People", "You're on the Wrong Side of History", "It's Not Fair" and "The God I Worship Is a God of Love."DeYoung's style is respectful, calm and considered, and he presents opposing views and arguments fairly. In consequence, readers from a variety of backgrounds and standpoints will be able to read the book and focus on understanding what the Bible says, rather than getting involved in an emotional argument.There are three appendices and the first one, "What about Same-Sex Marriage?" is very orientated to the legal and political situation in the USA, the only point in the book where this was obvious. Even so, most points made are of universal application, regardless of the reader's country.The third appendix has "Ten Commitments" for "The Church and Homosexuality". These are very balanced and compassionate, revealing the author's pastoral experience with real people with a range of backgrounds and convictions.The book concludes with a helpful Annotated Bibliography that will help those who wish to pursue the subject in greater depth, and a very comprehensive Scripture Index.Even readers who already have good familiarity with the Bible are likely to find a lot that is helpful in this book. Recommended.

What does the Bible really say about homosexuality? Well… who cares? The Church of England certainly don’t. Nor do some other Christian denominations. As for contemporary society, it naturally enough, could care less. The Bishops, Archbishops, most of the clergy and the laity too, do not believe that the Bible is capable of providing a clear cut answer to this most emotive of present day issues. The reason is the post modern one. There is no ‘absolute’ truth, we all believe and interpret texts differently. Christians simply disagree, so we decide how to react to homosexuality in a new way: by recourse to how we think a ‘nice’ person would react. Jesus was a nice person, therefore Jesus would attend a gay wedding. Since God is love it all seems straightforward enough. The Church has got it wrong again, just like they did on slavery, racism, women priests, papal infallibility, a celibate priesthood etc etc. And if the church didn’t get it wrong, it has now changed its mind; as it has done on heliocentricity, polygamy, patriarchy etc etc etc.The Bishops, who are paid to think less superficially, believe that it is better to interpret the deeper meaning of the Bible, the overall trajectory of God’s purpose and come to a ‘reasonable’ conclusion on the matter, rather then get caught up in a few ‘clobber texts’ in the Old Testament; a book that quite frankly embarrasses most Clergy with its rather ‘unchristian’ brutality.So, they will ignore the repetitions of homosexual condemnation in the New Testament; best, surely, not to become too enamoured of literal meanings or particular words, better to see the bigger picture of a loving and gracious God.Enter Kevin DeYoung! Many have tried to say what DeYoung has said, DeYoung has simply done it more comprehensively and accessibly than anyone else. His brief is confined to what the Bible ‘really says’ and what it really doesn’t say. It’s a masterclass in clear thinking and honest endeavour.DeYoung skilfully navigates the complexities, the false trails and presents, in the end, that penny dropping moment, when one realises that the motivation in all this really is love not homophobia.This is a book that focuses on a theological question. It avoids, for the most part, the pastoral issues. It is not sentimental and it doesn’t worry about upsetting people. It tells us what God expects of the same sex attracted person and why these expectations, because they are God’s expectations, will not be disappointed. This book connects with what real Christianity is. A life of glory transcending suffering. It’s the gospel of Christ, not the cloyingly sweet 'gentile Jesus' claptrap trotted out in most English churches.

A clear, concise and scholarly defense of the historical/non-affirming/conservative interpretation of the Christian teaching on homosexuality. Mercifully short as it contains almost no 'fluff', but this brevity is achieved without compromising quality. An excellent reference text for those researching this very contemporary and contentious topic.

The first half (about his reasoning for opposing same sex intercourse) was very well structured, his explaining of the theology was clear and the depth was the best I've read on this topic. It presented a clear and strong argument that wasn't too long. The second half was good, but I think this book lacked a pastoral approach, particularly in comparison to Sam Allbery's 'is god anti-gay?' Book. But overall, if you are looking for clear theology then this is a very good choice.

DeYoung looks at the passages of scripture that address homosexuality and addresses the main arguments against the traditional view of sexual morality. The book is readable by the lay person and written in warm compassionate tone. He also gives a comprehensive bibliography to aid further study. I feel he could possibly have spent longer critiquing counterarguments, how ever I think the scriptures he cites are clear and the lay person could easily access the counterarguments on the net and critique them having read this book. I highly recommend it.

Written with warmth and compassion. Theologically robust. An excellent book. Warmly recommended.

An excellent,very readable book,with clear, authoritative and compassionate teaching.

well written

Many people are interested in what the Bible says about homosexuality. Many revisionists insist that either the Bible doesn't really say anything about it, or even encourages committed, monogamous same-sex relationships. Yet, traditional Christianity has historically rejected the practice as sinful. So which is it?DeYoung presents a good introductory summary of the biblical teaching on homosexuality. While you will not be an expert on the subject after reading this book, most people do not wish to be experts. They want only a solid understanding. DeYoung's book fills this niche well. Equally as good is the second part of his book where he interacts with common arguments for homosexuality. I can see that DeYoung has interacted with people on this subject. His writing here is knowledgeable and very relevant.With any book that attempts to be an introduction to a subject, my main criteria for my rating is whether I would be willing to give this book to someone who knows little about the subject but wants some basic, solid understanding. I would have little reservation recommending this book to such a person.

Kevin DeYoung is a really smart guy. I don’t just mean that he knows a lot of things really well, but also that he understands how to deliver his message in the most clear, straight-forward and winsome manner. Over the years, he has consistently proven that he is a masterful writer, cogent thinker, and orthodox Christian teacher. This book continues in that same line of well-conceived, carefully-delivered books on this controversial topic.With the recent cultural landscape lighting up like a blowtorch, this book couldn’t have come at a better time. While it is not surprising that the church is facing opposition regarding its stance on homosexuality, the real challenge has come due to the infighting among those who bear the name of Christ. These days, everyone has a blog, therefore everyone has an opinion. With so many words and feelings zipping around cyberspace, it can be hard to wade through the issues.Enter Kevin DeYoung.While others have written convincing and valuable volumes on the topic (no doubt the most definitive of those being Robert A.J. Gagnon’s The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics), DeYoung enters into the discussion with a potent overview—a summary book, if you will—that is faithful to Scripture and church history, yet it written and packaged for all audiences. He proves that you can bake your cake and eat it, too.The book is short; only 158 pages, and it is divided into chewable chunks, marked out by three sections. Now, he breaks it down into “Part 1: Understanding God’s Word” and “Part 2: Answering Objections”, but if you follow the flow of the book, the three appendices feel like a new section.In his introduction to the book, he is careful to state, “This is a Christian book, with a narrow focus, defending a traditional view of marriage.” (15) But then, he identifies his potential audience: the convinced, the contentious, and the confused (17-19), and appeals to each of them reasonably. I found his tone to be tender yet firm, loving yet definitive.In Part 1, he addresses five main texts (Gen. 1—2; Gen. 19; Lev. 18, 20; Rom. 1; 1 Cor. 6, 1 Tim. 1) dealing with the topic of homosexuality. In chapter 1, he approaches the Creation narrative of Genesis 1—2, discussing God’s original design for human sexuality and marriage between one man and one woman. He rightly argues that this is the starting place of this discussion. He makes no bones about referencing a healthy amount of Scripture, and while a disagreeable reader might shrug it off, DeYoung is careful to present the position carefully and scripturally.Chapter 2 deals with the infamous cities of Sodom and Gomorrah; cities which have the reputation for sexual immorality, and he argues that biblical history maintains a wholly negative assessment of the cities (38). This is an opposition to the contention that the city of Sodom should only be stigmatized for abuse and rape, not sexuality in general.He approaches the ever-challenging book of Leviticus in chapter 3, dealing specifically with the two explicit verses regarding homosexuality: 18:22 and 20:13. Leviticus is difficult for Christians, let alone non-Christians, and DeYoung does a good job of explaining the Holiness Code and why sexual purity was so essential. He successfully deals with the various functions of Old Testament law, noting the relaxing of some of the more civil commands (e.g. eating shellfish), while the commands for sexual purity remained unbroken throughout the New Testament (46-47).Chapter 4 deals with the famous first chapter of Romans, in which DeYoung does a light passage-by-passage exposition for the reader, ushering them into an understanding as to why God brings about judgment for sin, and in this context, represented by homosexual behavior.Chapter 5 deals exclusively with two Greek words: malakoi and arsenokoitai. One would never expect to find a Greek word study in a book with this intended audience, but DeYoung is careful to show that words matter, especially Bible words! In the end, he is able to identify that the words used in Scripture of homosexuality are not specifically describing abusers, but all persons who practice homosexual acts.Part 2 deals with seven common objections, which DeYoung addresses fairly and faithfully:“The Bible Hardly Ever Mentions Homosexuality”“Not That Kind of Homosexuality”“What about Gluttony and Divorce?”“The Church Is Supposed to Be a Place for Broken People”“You’re on the Wrong Side of History”“It’s Not Fair”“The God I Worship Is a God of Love”Without rehearsing and exhausting a discussion of his treatment of each of these, it’s important to note how DeYoung is so effortlessly able to weave in biblical theology to answer each of these questions. (His exploration of theology proper during the last objection is very well done.)The three appendices are worth mentioning: a brief discussion of the same-same marriage issue, an approach to counseling those with same-sex attraction, and a word about how the church should believe and act toward the issue.While this is a book that not only every Christian should read, but any reasonable, thinking non-Christian curious about the Christian position should read as well. But through it all, Kevin DeYoung maintains a firm stance. In the closing pages, he issues this entreaty:“Now is not the time for fuzzy thinking. Now is not the time to shy away from careful definitions. Now is not the time to let moods substitute for logic. These are difficult issues. These are personal issues. These are complicated issues. We cannot chart our ethical course by what feels better. We cannot build our theology based on what makes us look nicer. We cannot abdicate intellectual responsibility because smart people disagree. And we certainly cannot keep our Bibles closed. We must submit ourselves to Scripture and let God be true even if it means every man a liar (Rom. 3:4).” (126)In the end, you will find Kevin DeYoung’s book clear, helpful, charitable, light-hearted, and biblical.

Kevin deYoung's book is biblical, balanced and brilliant. It is well researched and well presented. An excellent treatment of a difficult but pressing subject.

A few years ago, I laboured my way through half of Robert Gagnon's book and wondered why no one else has written something just as compelling but more accessible for a lay person like me. Someone has now. Thank you Kevin DeYoung for this very focused and yet comprehensive piece of work. Comprehensive in terms of issues to be addressed, not depth of discussion which may be warranted. For that one can always turn to Robert Gagnon. Starting with God's word - showing how from the creation narrative itself heterosexual monogamy is what the Bible mandated, to addressing common objection threads to its conclusion and appendices, this book provides a very accessible lay person's "ready reckoner "on this issue that would surely not go away.

Excellent scripture- based information written by an engaging author. We really need to love one another, just like Bible says.