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According to my current reading of the Bible using First-Order Logic, yes homosexual acts are sinful. As usual, I could be wrong. FOL isn't the be-all and end-all. I am not a prophet of the Lord.
Leviticus 18:22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
Leviticus 20:13 If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
Romans 1:26b For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
1 Corinthians 6:9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men [a] 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
NIV Footnotes: [a] The words men who have sex with men translate two Greek words that refer to the passive and active participants in homosexual acts.
1 Timothy 1:9 We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine
Jude 1:7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
1 Corinthians 7:2 But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband.
It applies to lesbians also, Romans 1:
Are homosexual acts sinful?
For each of the above passages, list the pros and cons factors. Be exhaustive and objective in listing the factors. Then for each factor, assign a weight between 0 and 10. I would put a higher weight on Bible verses and a lower weight on extra-biblical writings. Try not to let your preconceived notions influence your weighting. Do this for all the pros and cons for all the passages, Sum up the weights for the pros. Sum up the weights for the cons. Decide for yourself probabilistically.
I use Occam's razor as one of the hermeneutic tools when I interpret Bible verses. Each of the above passages can be explained away by some ad-hoc nuance as referring to a man having sex with a temple prostitute, or a man having sex with a boy, or men having sex with angelic beings, etc. However, there is a simple unifying explanation: it is talking about a man having sex with another man, consented or not. This simple explanation satisfies all 7 passages nicely. To me, this simple unifying factor is worthy of a heavy weight.
Leviticus 18:22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
Leviticus 20:13 If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
Romans 1:26b For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
1 Corinthians 6:9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men [a] 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
NIV Footnotes: [a] The words men who have sex with men translate two Greek words that refer to the passive and active participants in homosexual acts.
1 Timothy 1:9 We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine
Jude 1:7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
1 Corinthians 7:2 But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband.
It applies to lesbians also, Romans 1:
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.
Are homosexual acts sinful?
For each of the above passages, list the pros and cons factors. Be exhaustive and objective in listing the factors. Then for each factor, assign a weight between 0 and 10. I would put a higher weight on Bible verses and a lower weight on extra-biblical writings. Try not to let your preconceived notions influence your weighting. Do this for all the pros and cons for all the passages, Sum up the weights for the pros. Sum up the weights for the cons. Decide for yourself probabilistically.
I use Occam's razor as one of the hermeneutic tools when I interpret Bible verses. Each of the above passages can be explained away by some ad-hoc nuance as referring to a man having sex with a temple prostitute, or a man having sex with a boy, or men having sex with angelic beings, etc. However, there is a simple unifying explanation: it is talking about a man having sex with another man, consented or not. This simple explanation satisfies all 7 passages nicely. To me, this simple unifying factor is worthy of a heavy weight.
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