G.Bibu, a lawyer, examines the following four points in his in depth article on homosexuality: 1. The Bible on the offense of homosexuality. 2. Passages in the Bible, misrepresented as favoring homosexuality 3. Christianity: It's Contribution to the Society in Dealing with Homosexuality 4. The Bible as the only source of reformation for those practising homosexuality. This is the third part of a four part series.

III.  CHRISTIANITY, ITS CONTRIBUTION TO THE SOCIETY, IN DEALING WITH SODOMY

Having established the Christian position against the offense of Sodomy, we shall now advance on to expound upon the unique contributions, which the Bible has made to the society, in dealing with this menace.  There are three basic observations we would make in this connection:

1.  The Bible as the only source of knowledge, that sodomy is a sin,

2.  The Bible as the only source of law against sodomy, and

3.  The Bible as the only source of reformation for those practicing sodomy.

In this present article I will be covering the first point, "The Bible as the only source of   knowledge, that sodomy is a sin," later this week I will be posting on the other 2 points.

1.  THE BIBLE AS THE ONLY SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE THAT SODOMY IS A SIN:

God has given to every man the perception of right and wrong.  The Bible teaches that God has engraved the law upon man's heart (Romans 2:14-15), by reason of which his conscience guides him by excusing, or else, accusing him in all his conduct.  Some have called this the light of nature, and others the law of nature, but the Bible teaches that this is the divine light given to every man to discern the right from wrong.  It must be observed however, that although this Divine light will leave every man without excuse, rendering them without the plea of ignorance, it is possible to put off a piercing conscience, and to silence its testimony.  It is possible to have the conscience seared with a hot iron (1 Timothy 4:2), and to even defile the conscience after one's own corruption (Titus 1:15).  And man being inherently sinful, will always silence or corrupt his conscience, to live after his own lusts.  Therefore, God in His mercy, condescended to communicate the standards of that holiness which He demands, by reducing it to writing, so that even if the light of nature is rendered obscure by man's corruption, the written law would continue to shine as in a dark place, upholding the Divine standards of righteousness.  This written revelation is the Bible.

We have pointed out in the second section to this article, that the Bible is the only prophetic voice in the world today, which has been consistently warning those committing this wickedness, of the impending wrath of God upon them.  We wish to substantiate this claim here.  The Bible indeed is the only source of knowledge that sodomy is an offense, a sin which provokes God, and calls down His wrath upon them that practice this abomination.  We insist that the Bible is the only source of this knowledge, because no other religious book in the world has the wherewithal to rob the Bible of this exclusive honour.  The following observations will help us understand this claim with sufficient clarity.

A.  The Qur'an:

The Qur'an is but a mishmash of information, collected from the Bible and other sources, twisted as per its author's convenience, and arranged in a somewhat presentable form.  Any denunciation of sodomy in the Qur'an or in the "authentic" hadits, would then be sourced by the Bible, since the revelation of the Bible was complete, atleast 600 years before the advent of Islam.  Consider Surah 7:80-84, and compare it with the record in Genesis 19, to make for one such example.  Hence the Bible continues to be the exclusive source of prohibition and denunciation of Sodomy, and the Qur'an simply depends upon the Bible to witness against this sin.

B.  The Hindu Scriptures:

We do not know if there is any prohibition against the sin of Sodomy in any of the books claimed to be the Hindu Scriptures.  But we do know that any such probable precept is rendered null and void by the very conduct of their gods.  For if Vishnu and Shiva are truly their gods, there is no precept for them than  the example set by these deities.  And there is a certain instance of the birth of Hari-Hara-Putra, in their books, the birth of whom is attributed to the copulation between Shiva and Vishnu.  Should it be argued that this would not amount to Sodomy since Vishnu while committing this act had assumed a female incarnation as Mohini, we reply that such an incarnation is a mere transsexualization, and it would not therefore defy the definition of Sodomy, since Shiva copulated with Vishnu, no matter what adaptations of effeminacy, the latter may have made, under the guise of incarnation.  And if such be the conduct of their gods, how can they promulgate a law prohibiting their imitation by their devotees?  Would that not prove rank hypocrisy??  Or would they condemn themselves by such a promulgation, and exhort their people to live holier than they?  Can there be a better people than their god?  If so, why don't the worshipers and the worshiped, switch places?  We leave these questions for the devotees of these gods to grapple with, but the instance shown above is sufficient to deprive the Hindu scriptures of any purity on the matter, not withstanding whatever it be that they may contain in them against sodomy, and they are robbed of any moral right or efficacy in instructing the world thereon.  Thus the Bible once again continues to be the exclusive source of the knowledge against sodomy, in all integrity and truth.

C.  The Greek Religious Sources:

In the renowned apology made by Theophilus to Autolycus, written during the second century, the former being a Christian, appeals to the latter, to consider the futility of his Grecian mystical and philosophical religions, and among other things made mention of as arguments against the Greek gods in this apology, it is categorically remarked that they are known for practicing sodomy  (Theophilus to Autolycus Book III, Chap. VI, the last paragraph).  The only two responses such Christian apologies met with were either in the conversion of the pagans to the truth taught in them, or in the persecution which the pagan world perpetrated against Christians, for their incapacity to answer these apologies.  Both responses attest alike to the veracity of what is contained in these apologies, and thus we may safely conclude that the Greek Gods and the gods of India, are all of one accord, in so far as sodomy is concerned.

D.  The instances such as the above, clearly bespeak of a human corrupt heart behind the invention of what the heathens worship and serve as their gods.  As rightly expressed by A.W.Pink in this connection: "He who resolveth not to be holy must seek another god to worship and serve, for with the God of Scripture he will never find a

cceptance. The heathen of old realized this, and liking not to retain the knowledge of the true God in their hearts and minds (Romans 1:28), and resolving to give up themselves unto all filthiness with greediness, they stifled their notions of the Divine Being and invented such "gods" to themselves, as were unclean and wicked, that they might freely conform unto and serve them with satisfaction. God Himself declares that men of corrupt lives have some secret hopes that He is not holy: "Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee" (Psalms 50:21)" (A.W.Pink, The Doctrine Of Sanctification).

E.  Every religion of the heathen-world, consists in certain ritualistic and ceremonial practices, which seldom have any thing to do with  the regulation of man's character.  Even if their be found certain moral principles under any of their religions, such precepts will never transcend the realm of human corrupt manipulations, and would consequently remain a framework of a substandard ethics, when weighed in the balance of the holy Bible.  Whereas the Moral standards as set forth in the Bible transcends the scope of man's imaginations, and the God revealed upon its pages far exceeds any possibility of human innovation.  Man does not make a religion which would condemn himself, nor will desire to be brought under subjection to a God that is an avowed antagonist to his corrupt inclinations.  But this is what is precisely contained in the Bible.  Hence the Bible could not have been given by some one who is a mere man, but by none less than the ruler and judge of all the earth, who has graciously condescended to reveal Himself, and His holy standards, upon its pages.  Now it goes without saying, that a religion not made by this God, demands allegiance in preference to Him, and no wonder if it evades, or ignores the prohibition, or permits, or even prescribes the practice, of an abomination which is forbidden under its rival religion, including sodomy.

F.  The Bible being the Word of God, testifies to the fact that all the nations, which were not the adherents of its religion, and upon whom the judgment of God was executed by the instrumentality of Israel (God's Chosen Nation), were the impenitent perverts, who practiced all kinds of sexual immoralities including incest and sodomy (Leviticus 18).  Now the reason why God chose to deal in retribution against these nations than to reform them, is easy to rationalize.  They would not exchange their corrupt religion, for a pure and undefiled one.  And should it be argued that there were also sodomites in the land of Israel at a subsequent period, it should be recalled that such a degeneracy never occasioned until Israel turned to other gods, forsaking the one and only true God, the fountain of all righteousness.

Now upon the strength of the arguments presented above, we boldly claim that the Bible is the only source of knowledge to the world, that sodomy is an offence.  No other religion can take this honour to itself. And if this be the exclusive path of righteousness and truth, there is no hope for any one who would not turn to it, forsaking all ungodliness by the standards of the Bible, whether it be sodomy or ought else.

Read the part 1 Christian Position on Homosexuality and part 2 Bible, misrepresented as favoring homosexuality

We welcome critical evaluation and comments against what has been said.
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