Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender History in the United States

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Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender History in the United States
Introduction
The book written by Kevin DeYoung delves into the Bible to find teachings about homosexuality based on the teachings of Jesus about marriage. It focuses mainly on three books for the teachings of Jesus about marriage; Romans Chapter 1, Genesis and Leviticus. These books focus on the meaning of marriage, the nature of same-sex relationships in the past and whether personal fulfillment and the nature of personhood are fully based on the sexual expression. It also focuses on what human beings can change, and what they cannot change, as well as the themes of holiness, love and justice. The writer also writes about fears, hopes, personal hurts, duties and desires of human beings. He also covers the theme of faith and repentance, as well as, heaven and hell. The book seeks to answer one key question: “Is homosexuality a sin that must be repented of, forsaken, and forgiven, or, given the right context and commitment, can we consider same-sex sexual intimacy a blessing worth celebrating and solemnizing?”
The writer starts the book off by going back to the very beginning in the Bible. In the book of Genesis, he introduces the beginning of everything; the world and everything in it stating that God was in existence even before the world came into existence. God then created everything including humans; the man and woman who ended up disobeying God. This angered God and he drove the man and woman out of the Garden of Eden.

However, the time that God drove the Israelites to The Promised Land, he was giving human beings a second chance to go back to Eden. However, human beings only angered God again proving to be covenant breakers. Once again they sinned and went against the will of God. This is what made God send his son Jesus who came to rebuild the temple that had been destroyed by the people, and die to cleanse the sins committed by human beings. Thus, human beings seek a consummation of the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Life and the Temple which will take things back to the way God intended for them to be at the beginning. There will be no chaos, no tears, no conflicts, no death or mourning, no pain or crying, and no single detestable thing. However, human beings will have to prove to be Holy before God and fully follow his teachings and commands before they can attain this perfection in life.
This, according to the writer, is the story of life according to the Bible. Homosexuality is not a single topic covered fully in any part of the Bible, but it is the story of holiness and a path that is meant to lead Christians back to the way of life that God wants or expects of them; that is free from sin. Homosexuality is only one out of the numerous sins that human beings or Christians should avoid in order to inherit the Kingdom of God as promised. The Bible talks about various forms of sins including murder, idolatry, and sexual immorality, among numerous others. Homosexuality falls under sexual immorality. This is based mainly on the traditional view of sex and marriage in the Bible which advocates for one man and one women joining to form one body before the eyes of God. The Bible does not talk of one man and another man joining together in matrimony. However, the writer does not view this issue so simply and states that the issue of homosexuality is not the only white elephant in the room among Christians or human beings in general. The other issues include whether or not people are convinced that homosexual behavior is in fact wrong, some find the issue contentious while others are confused and do not know whether it is right or wrong. These are some of the issues that the writer also seeks to cover in the book.
Going back to the beginning of the world, the writer writes about the way that God would do things if he wanted men to marry women and not other men. He states that perhaps God would begin by creating a man and seeing that the man was lonely he would proceed to create a woman out of the man’s rib or flesh to make him a suitable partner. This is in fact what God did. After this, God would give them the instruction to multiply and fill the earth, and this is where sex comes in. This is where the institution of marriage come in as a man and a woman have to get into a covenant relationship bound by an oath and sealed by the physical union of the body which can be reflected in the form of children. God did not create a man than another man to make him a partner and multiply or recreate to fill the world. If marriage was to be between two men, then there would be a different creation story; one of two men getting together in holy matrimony to become one, but that is not the case in the Bible.
There are two infamous cities in the Bible that probably every person that has read the Bible knows about; Sodom and Gomorrah. These two cities are synonymous with great sin and that is the reason God punished them by raining down fire and sulfur. As much as these two cities were not punished openly for homosexuality, God states in Ezekiel Chapter 16 that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah did an abomination before Him. The word abomination is also used in the book of Leviticus where a man lying with another man is also called an abomination. One of the things the Lord punished the two cities for was the abomination, and homosexuality is also an abomination meaning that it is wrong before God.
The writer also quotes two verses from Leviticus that speak of homosexuality directly; Chapter 18 Verse 22 states “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” Chapter 20 verse 13 states, “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.” One of the reasons for these strong prohibitions was that men were created and designed to have sex with women and not with other men. In addition, there is no victimization in Mosaic Law and if two men engage in Homosexuality, both of them are to be put to death.
The book that talks about the treatment of homosexuality in the Bible is detail is Romans 1. Homosexuality is described as a serious sin and a great violation of the order created by God. In Romans Chapter one, Paul argues that the wrath of God is revealed to humans against all unrighteousness and ungodliness. Paul gives an example of the Gentiles whom God gave up because of their dishonorable passions. It started with their women who exchanges natural relations with other women and men who followed the same path and instead of women they were consumed with passion for other men. They committed shameless acts with other men and in return they received due penalties for their actions.
In the end, the writer touches a little on the legal, scientific, political and cultural controversies that surround homosexuality, apart from just what the Bible says about homosexuality. He focuses on the way the state treats marriage and same-sex unions stating that the state is not against same-sex unions, but that the line is drawn on the kinds of unions that the state can recognize as lawful. This implies that the state lacks the competency to construct the essential relationships in the society, thus it cannot control homosexuality.
Conclusion
In concluding the book, the writer states that humans do not get to choose the age they live in or the struggles they face in life. Instead, humans only get to choose faithfulness. The beginning of this is the acceptance that homosexuality is a sinful behavior as it is sexual immorality. It places the integrity of Christian sexual ethics, as well as, the authority of the Bible at stake. The writer quotes scholars who have written about this controversial issue, stating that human beings should realize that by supporting same-sex unions, they have rejected the straightforward commands of the Bible, and instead appealed to a different authority. Finally, he states that the grand narrative of the Bible is also at stake as the spirit that befogs human minds from accepting the doctrine of creation, the miracles performed by Jesus, his second coming and the reality of hell is the same spirit that prevents some people from abiding by the biblical sexuality.