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The Christian moral viewpoint on homosexuality
is founded on human reason illumined by faith and is
motivated by the desire to do the will of God. There is a
clear consistency within the Scriptures on the moral issue
of homosexual behavior. The Church's doctrine regarding this
issue is thus based not on selected verses but on the solid
foundation of an unchanging Biblical testimony. The
community of faith today, in unbroken continuity with the
Jewish and Christian communities within which the ancient
Scriptures were written, continues to be nourished by those
same Scriptures and by the Spirit of Truth Whose Word it is.
It is essential to recognize that the Scriptures are
properly understood only when they are interpreted in accord
with Church’s Tradition.
Fundamental to a discussion of homosexuality is
the theology of Creation found in Genesis. God, in his
infinite wisdom and love, brings into existence all of
reality as a reflection of his goodness. He fashions
mankind, male and female, in his own image and likeness.
Human beings, therefore, are nothing less than the work of
God Himself; and in the complementarity of the sexes, they
are called to reflect the inner unity of the Creator. They
do this in a striking way in their cooperation with him in
the transmission of life by a mutual donation of the self to
the other.
In Genesis 3, we find that this truth about
persons being an image of God has been
obscured by original sin.
There inevitably follows a loss of awareness of the
covenantal character of the union these persons had with God
and with each other. The human body retains its “spousal
significance” but this is now clouded by sin. Thus, in
Genesis 19:1-11, the deterioration due to sin continues
in the story of the men of Sodom. There can be no
doubt of the moral judgment made there against homosexual
relations. In Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, in the
course of describing the conditions necessary for belonging
to the Chosen People, the author excludes from the People of
God those who engage in homosexual behavior.
Against the background of this exposition of
theocratic law, an eschatological perspective is developed
by St. Paul when, in I Corinthians 6:9, he proposes
the same doctrine and lists those who behave in a homosexual
fashion among those who shall not enter the Kingdom of God.
In Romans 1:18-32, still building
on the moral traditions of his forebears but in the new
context of the confrontation between Christianity and the
pagan society of his day, Paul uses homosexual behavior as
an example of the blindness which has overcome humankind.
Instead of the original harmony between Creator and
creatures, the acute distortion of idolatry has led to all
kinds of moral excess. Paul is at a loss to find a clearer
example of this disharmony than homosexual relations.
Finally, I Timothy 1, in continuation of the Biblical
position, singles out those who spread wrong doctrine and in
verse 10 explicitly names as sinners those who engage in
homosexual acts.
The Church, obedient to the Lord who founded her
and gave to her the sacramental life, celebrates the divine
plan of the loving and live-giving union of men and women in
the sacrament of marriage. It is only in the marital
relationship that the use of the sexual faculty can be
morally good. A person engaging in homosexual behavior
therefore acts immorally.
To choose someone of the same sex for one's
sexual activity is to annul the rich symbolism and meaning,
not to mention the goals, of the Creator's sexual design.
Homosexual activity is not a complementary union, able to
transmit life; and so it thwarts the call to a life of that
form of self-giving which the Gospel says is the essence of
Christian living. This does not mean that homosexual persons
are not often generous and giving of themselves; but when
they engage in homosexual activity they confirm within
themselves a disordered
sexual inclination which is essentially
self-indulgent.
If
homosexuality is genetically determined . . .
Reports of scientific findings pointing to a genetic basis
of homosexuality have confused the issue for many Christians
who are asking themselves, “How can a trait which is mapped
into one's human nature be a sin?”
If indeed there is a genetic element to a
homosexual inclination, this is not necessarily surprising.
Presumably, our genetic make-up affects great areas of our
life. We can readily accept that it influences whether we
are fat, athletic, short, blue-eyed, brainy or dull. Just as
some people have a greater appetite for food than others, so
some have a greater appetite for sex — and it is entirely
conceivable that genetics is one of the factors responsible.
On the assumption that “homosexuality” is
genetically conditioned, some people conclude that it is
wrong to call it sinful. This is a false deduction, and for
significant reasons. First of all, being wrongly worded, it
throws the discussion off course. The canons and Fathers of
the Church deal with specific
acts and
deeds and not
with such abstract terms as “homosexuality.” The question
could be better worded: If a homosexual inclination is
genetic, how can a person be accused of sin for engaging in
homosexual acts? This is better wording, but the premise is
still wrong.
Though a large sexual appetite might be
influenced by our genetic make-up, this does not mean that
for people with such an appetite committing fornication or
adultery is not sinful. Similarly with all the other sins.
Something in people’s genetic make-up might incline them to
a violent disposition — this does not mean that a so
inclined is not sinning when he treats people with violence
or commits murder.
Furthermore, from of old, Christians have known of the
unholy trinity of the causes of sin: the
world, the flesh and the
devil. We are instructed to resist all three, and we
fail — i.e., sin — if we do not. Surely if there is a
genetic element to “homosexuality,” all we can say that
there is something wrong in it: our flesh is not what it was
intended to be — it is
fallen and sinful.
For example, when I am tempted by gluttony — I
can see the world, the flesh and the devil in
this temptation. The world, in that I live in an
affluent consumer society; the flesh, in that I have
a huge belly and a propensity for eating; and the devil
in that nagging thought that this or that would taste nice,
or I can allow myself that, or that I should not make a
display of abstemiousness, etc., etc.
Isn't it something similar with “homosexuality”?
In the last generation, not only have “homosexuals” come out
of their closets, but society's opinion of them has changed
dramatically.
Excerpts from a
letter by Priest Seraphim Holland on homosexuality.
The clear teaching of the church is that any sexual
impurity is a serious sin. This includes homosexuality,
adultery, fornication, and similar moral aberrations.
When does this sin separate us from God? — When the sin is
not repented of. If one is living a continual, habitual
lifestyle in which sexual impurity plays a major role, and
this person is not struggling to correct himself, he is
estranged from God. The temptation to be sexually impure is
not a sin. None of our temptations are sins, neither are our
passions. One man may be inclined to be covetous, another
easily angered, another may be attracted sexually to other
men, etc. Our crown is won by doing battle with these
passions, and “winning the kingdom of heaven through
struggle.”[1]
Some people object on a visceral level when they
hear homosexuality referred to as an “abomination.” This
language is quite Scriptural, but it often offends people
who have bought into the pluralism and relativism of our
society. Many arguments can be made that prove that the
practice of this sin is unnatural and leads to spiritual,
moral and physical ruin more quickly than other sins. The
informed Christian can easily find the Scriptures and canons
to prove this. Homosexuality is a serious sin, the habitual
practice of which will cause a man to be estranged from God,
even more than some other sins, because of its effect on the
soul of the sinner. The temptation to be homosexual is not
an abomination, but the habitual, unrepentant practice of
this lifestyle is an abomination.
There is a side effect to fornication between
members of the same sex that is not present in the “natural”
variety. Because it is so clearly proscribed in Scripture
and church tradition, and the physical acts in it are never
blessed by God (unlike heterosexual relations), some have
been forced to make up incredible stories to justify their
activities. This has led to heresy in other areas. One look
at the suffering Episcopalians can show this. They are
riddled with lesbian ministers, some of whom are even
preaching a kind of “Goddess” worship.
Some homosexuals say things like, “You don't
realize how much emotional and spiritual suffering I have
gone through, because, through no choice of my own, I have
discovered in myself a homosexual orientation. I was born
this way.”
Christians understand about the emotional
suffering. Sin causes suffering. This is no different than
alcoholism, drug use, kleptomania, or any other sinful,
abnormal condition. We all suffer because of our sins.
Homosexuals suffer more that most, since many cannot even
comprehend that their sexual
activity (not
orientation) is a sin.
As for “choice,” the Christian view is that a
man may have a homosexual inclination (a passion), and still
be God-pleasing. If he
wars against this passion, as much as he would
against blasphemy or anger, or any other inclination that,
if acted upon, would be a sin, then he will be a great
God-pleaser. If he
caters to this passion, and satisfies it in
blasphemous carnal relations, then he is far from God.
A devoutly religious person who regularly
engages in homosexual relations, with self justification, is
an oxymoron. The terrible problem is that such people, in
the spirit of this age, are being convinced that their
actions are not really a sin, just as women are being told
that an abortion is not murder. How can a man or woman
repent, if it is not “politically correct” to do so, and if
they are being barraged with information which is designed
to keep them from recognizing their sin?
Any man or woman can change — can stop being a
drunkard, or liar, or homosexual, or blasphemer, or anything
else, with God's help.
Hell is more painful than anyone can imagine.
All sin leads to it, whether or not it is called “sin,” or
“lifestyle,” or “orientation.”
Priest Seraphim Holland
Excerpts
from the “Synodal Affirmations on ... Sexuality and the
Sanctity of Life” (Orthodox Church in America, Tenth
All-American Council, July, 1992).
Created to know God's divinity and power through creation,
human beings have refused to acknowledge God, to honor and
thank Him, and to obey his divine teachings. Through their
rebellion “they became futile in their thinking and their
senseless hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21).
Therefore, as the Apostle Paul continues to teach, “God
gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to
the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves...their
women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and 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 their own persons
the due penalty for their error” (Romans 1 :26-27).
Homosexual acts, like adulterous and incestuous
behavior, are condemned in the law of Moses. Those who do
these things, both men and women, are, according to God's
law of the old covenant, to be put to death (Leviticus
18:6-23; 20:10-21).
According to the apostle Paul, those engaging in
homosexual acts, along with fornicators, adulterers,
idolaters, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers and
robbers, will not
inherit the kingdom of heaven. Christians come from
all these categories of evildoers who have, voluntarily and
involuntarily, been caught up in the sin of the world. They
are those who through their personal repentance and faith in
Christ, their Baptism and Chrismation, and their
participation in Holy Communion have been
“washed...sanctified...and made righteous in the name of the
Lord Jesus and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians
6:9-11; Orthodox Baptism and Chrismation Service).
Jesus teaches mercy and forgiveness for all
sinners, but the Lord does not justify sin. When the Son of
God pronounces divine pardon to those caught in evil he
always charges the forgiven sinner to “go and sin no
more” (John 8:11).
Convinced of these God-revealed truths, we offer
the following affirmations and admonitions for the guidance
of the faithful:
-
Homosexuality is to be approached as the
result of humanity's rebellion against God, and so against
its own nature and well-being. It is not to be taken as a
way of living and acting for men and women made in God's
image and likeness.
-
People with homosexual tendencies are ... to
seek assistance in discovering the specific causes of their
homosexual orientation, and to work toward overcoming its
harmful effects in their lives.
-
Persons struggling with homosexuality who
accept the Orthodox faith and strive to fulfill the Orthodox
way of life may be communicants of the Church with everyone
else who believes and struggles. Those instructed and
counseled in Orthodox Christian doctrine and ascetical life
who still want to justify their behavior may not participate
in the Church's sacramental mysteries, since to do so would
not help, but harm them.
-
Assistance is to be given to those who deal
with persons of homosexual orientation in order to help them
with their thoughts, feelings and actions with regard to
homosexuality. Such assistance is especially necessary for
parents, relatives and friends of persons with homosexual
tendencies and feelings. It is certainly necessary for
pastors and church workers.
-
These affirmations on marriage, family,
sexuality, and the sanctity of life are issued by the Holy
Synod of Bishops on the occasion of the Tenth All-American
Council of the Orthodox Church in America.
Miami, Florida, July, 1992
Concluding
remarks
As in every moral disorder, homosexual activity
prevents one's own fulfillment and happiness by acting
contrary to the creative wisdom of God. The Church, in
rejecting erroneous opinions regarding homosexuality, does
not limit but rather defends personal freedom and dignity
realistically and authentically understood.
Thus, the Church's teaching today is in organic
continuity with the Scriptural perspective and with her own
consistent Tradition. Though today's world is in many ways
quite new, the Christian community senses the profound and
lasting bonds which join us to those generations who have
gone before us “marked with the sign of faith.”
Nevertheless, increasing numbers of people
today, even within the Church, are bringing enormous
pressure to bear on the Church to accept the homosexual
condition as though it were not disordered and to condone
homosexual activity. Those within the Church who argue in
this fashion often have close ties with those with similar
views outside it. These latter groups are guided by a vision
opposed to the truth about the human person, which is fully
disclosed in the mystery of Christ. They reflect, even if
not entirely consciously, a materialistic ideology which
denies the transcendent nature of the human person as well
as the supernatural vocation of every individual.
The Church position cannot be revised by
pressure from civil legislation or the trend of the moment.
It has been argued that a homosexual inclination in certain
cases is not the result of deliberate choice, and thus the
person so inclined would have no choice but to behave in a
homosexual manner. Lacking freedom, such a person, even if
engaged in homosexual activity, would not be culpable.
Here, the Church's wise moral tradition is
necessary since it warns against generalizations in judging
individual cases. In fact, circumstances may exist, or may
have existed in the past, which would reduce the culpability
of the individual in a given instance; or other
circumstances may increase it. What is at all costs to be
avoided is the unfounded and demeaning assumption that the
sexual behavior of homosexual persons is always and totally
compulsive and therefore inculpable. What is essential is
that the fundamental liberty which characterizes the human
person and gives him his dignity be recognized as belonging
to the homosexual person as well. As in every conversion
from evil, the abandonment of homosexual activity will
require a profound collaboration of the individual with
God's liberating grace.
What, then, are homosexual persons to do who
seek to follow the Lord? Fundamentally, they are called to
enact the will of God in their life by joining whatever
sufferings and difficulties they experience in consequence
of their condition to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross.
That Cross, for the believer, is a fruitful sacrifice since
from that death come life and redemption. While any call to
carry the cross or to understand a Christian's suffering in
this way will predictably be met with bitter ridicule by
some, it should be remembered that this is the sole way to
eternal life.
It is, in effect, none other than the teaching
of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians when he says that the
Spirit produces in the lives of the faithful “love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness,
gentleness and self-control” (5:22), and further (5:24):
“You cannot belong to Christ unless you crucify all
self-indulgent passions and desires.”
[1] Mt 11:12. This means that we
must struggle, fast, pray, and do everything within
our power (with the help of God), to humble
ourselves, and to uproot our passions, with great
labor and toil. If a man is not struggling to do
these things, he is not gaining the kingdom of
heaven.
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Missionary
Leaflet # E098
Copyright ©
2003 Holy Trinity Orthodox Mission
466 Foothill Blvd, Box 397, La Canada, Ca 91011
Editor:
Bishop Alexander (Mileant)
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