Christians considering how to
respond to the Supreme Court’s creation of “same-sex marriage” face
a challenge from within – those who call themselves “gay Christians” and
contend the Bible does not condemn homosexual behavior.
One of the most conspicuous figures
in the movement is Matthew Vines, who has written a book arguing Scripture does
not condemn same-sex sexual relationships. Vines has also produced a video
presenting his evidence, “The Biblical Case
in Support of Same-Sex Relationships,”
which has accumulated 750,000 views.
Vines’ organization, The Reformation
Project, explains it “exists to train
Christians to support and affirm lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)
people.”And he recently boasted
in Politico of the “embrace” he is finding at
some churches.
Vines believes the next step for Christian churches is
determining the “kind of peace conservative Christians can make with the LGBT
community” with the help of self-defined homosexual and transgender Christians.
Vines’ assertion that Scripture does not condemn homosexual behavior is also being
championed by other individuals, media outlets and even church leaders.
Prominent liberal publication the
Huffington Post hosted
an article by pastor Adam Phillips of Christ
Church in Portland, Oregon, attacking Franklin Graham for defending traditional
marriage. After presenting his interpretation of Scripture, Phillips told
Graham to “read your Bible better” and focus more on “addressing America’s
original sin of racism” instead of sexual sin.
But evangelist and filmmaker Ray Comfort share’s Graham’s
view that self-described Christians who accept homosexual behavior are ignoring
the clear teaching of Scripture. Comfort is producer of the pro-life sensation “180″and author of many books, including the “God
and the Bible” series, which explored the impact of
Christianity on several world-changing historical figures. In his new
movie “Audacity,” Comfort argues for a traditional
view of human sexuality.
He noted Vines, who he found to be a “gentle and likable
person,” inspired some of the material in “Audacity.” While doing research for
the movie, he watched a video of Vines teaching at a church about homosexuality.
He recalled Vines arguing eating shellfish and homosexual acts were both called
an “abomination” in Scripture, concluding the bans are not relevant today.
“He said that Sodom was judged because it was inhospitable
rather than guilty of the sin of sodomy,” Comfort said. “It was because of
Matthew’s influence that our movie contains one of the most powerful discourses
in the movie, where some of these questions were addressed.”
Comfort accuses Vines of not telling the full story of what
Scripture says about homosexuality. “Matthew was recently featured on the
Religious News Service where he listed ’40 questions for Christians who oppose
marriage equality.’ However, he showed his hand when he asked, ‘Did you spend
any time studying the Bible’s verses on the topic before you felt comfortable
believing that the earth revolves around the sun?’ The Bible often speaks of
the sun moving across the sky and rising and setting. That is supposedly a
mistake, because we now know that the earth revolves around the sun,” Comfort
said.
“Even though we know that the sun stands still, the whole
world still says that it moves across the sky and rises and sets each day. It’s
a ridiculous argument that atheists often use to try and discredit Scripture.”
Comfort said that when Vines argues for homosexual marriage,
he uses emotional arguments rather than pointing to the authority of the Bible.
“Any time he does quote Scripture, it’s Paul’s rather than
God’s Word – as Scripture claims it to be: ‘All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God.’ (2 Timothy 3:16).”
Other Christians are also confronting Vines. Michael Brown,
a Messianic Jewish scholar and talk-show host who has written books on
homosexuality, including “Can
You Be Gay and Christian? Responding With Love and Truth To Questions About
Homosexuality,” has directly addressed Vines’
challenge by answering
his “40 questions for Christians” at
the invitation of the Christian Post. Brown, who has debated Vines, noticed in
their confrontation “he did not quote a single Scripture in clear support of
homosexual relationships.”
Comfort noted 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says: “Do not be
deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals,
nor sodomites, nor thieves … will inherit the kingdom of God.”
He points out that the word “idolaters” is “strangely
sitting among the sexual sins of fornication, adultery and homosexuality.”
“‘Idolatry’ is the sin of making up your own god, and it’s a
violation of the First and the Second of the Ten Commandments,” he said. “We
gravitate toward idolatry like moths to a flame, because it means we can
snuggle up to a god who doesn’t mind the sins of fornication, adultery or
homosexuality.
“Matthew Vines would do well to take notice that the verses
begin with ‘Do not be deceived.’ There’s a reason for that. We mustn’t be
deceived of the fact that fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals and
thieves will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Or to put it more soberly, they
will end up in a terrible place called ‘hell.’ That’s something I wouldn’t want
to happen to my worst enemy,” he said.
“So let’s summarize. There is no such thing as a fornicator
Christian, an adulterer Christian, a homosexual Christian or a thieving
Christian. Those who call themselves Christians but continue to cling to their
beloved sins will see their great deception on Judgment Day.”
Comfort hopes homosexuals and those who consider themselves
supporters of homosexuality will see “Audacity.”
“We think that they will be pleasantly surprised,” he said.
“There’s not an ounce of hatred or stereotyping in it.”
However, the film is already being
targeted by
LGBT activists who are down-voting it on film-ranking sites such as IMDB. As the film does not formally premiere until Aug. 19 and
paid downloads are currently the only way to watch it, Comfort believes many of
the negative reviews are by people haven’t actually seen it.
Comfort believes many who watch the film will find it
enjoyable as well as instructive. Yet he says any treatment of homosexuality
must remain true to biblical principles.
“Two homosexuals cannot enter into the covenant marriage
relationship before God – which the Bible defines as being between one man and
one woman,” he said.
“Homosexuals have a legalized union between two people of
the same sex, but they are not married,” said Comfort. “Redefining the word is
like redefining my VW Beetle as a Lamborghini. It may be a pleasant thought,
but I’m only deceiving myself.”
http://www.wnd.com/2015/07/christian-homosexuals-plot-churchs-transformation/
No comments:
Post a Comment