Sam Alberry Is God Anti-Gay Essay

Sam Alberry’s Is God Anti-Gay is meant to answer questions regarding the timely topic of sexuality, focusing especially on that of homosexuality, in the light of scripture. Even though Sam Alberry effectively uses scripture to support his claims and, for the most part, accurately reflects the character of the Bible in his book, there are specific points that seem to contradict biblical evidence used to support them, or that lack adequate explanation. As the author goes about explaining how marriage reflects God’s character, how homosexuality is rebuked by God, even though it is not explicitly referred to in the original biblical text, and how biblical male and female models are positive compared to cultural stereotypes, his use of scripture

On page 41, the author explicitly states that the original Greek word used in Mark 7:20-23, which passage he uses to support that Jesus reproved homosexual behavior, does not translate to homosexuality, but rather to sexual immorality, which reference, he says, Jesus’s hearers would never have doubted included homosexuality. This very point, however, makes it seem as if Jesus’s words are not always clear enough, so people are supposed to personally interpret and define them. From a biblical perspective, no one would ever argue that there are secret meanings hidden in the words Jesus uses, which make people responsible for uniquely defining them. This observation also connects to how he tries to explain how Christians are not just picking and choosing which Old Testament laws apply. When, on pages 59-62, Alberry argues that Old Testament laws should not be followed in the same way by Christians today if they are not explicitly renewed in the New Testament, he contradicts his previous statement made about Jesus’s use of the phrase “sexual immorality.” If Jesus did not explicitly use the word homosexuality but people are allowed to assume that he included it because he used a “catch all term,” as the author

Even though a claim regarding how biblical gender models are supposed to encourage people who struggle with homosexuality requires thoughtful explanation and at least a few biblical references, Alberry only devotes a small section to the topic on page 71, which does not even include a single biblical reference. In addition, the existence of many negative biblical passages regarding gender, make it difficult for the readers to understand the essence of his point. For instance, Corinthians 11:12, 1 Timothy 2:12, and Genesis 3:16 are only a few biblical examples where the role of the woman in a marriage, and generally in society, is presented as lesser or inferior compared to that of the man’s. Nevertheless, many of the most famous biblical heroes, such as Esau, Jacob, and Solomon, are among the most famous polygamists. It is obvious that such models of femininity and masculinity, as well as marriage, are far from positive and encouraging. One could argue that such parts of the Bible are merely descriptive and not prescriptive passages; however, the existence of both in the Bible makes things very complicated, and the fact that the author does not even