Lindsay Brown’s Friday editorial, “Bible clearly forbids homosexuality,” talked about a biblical view of homosexuality. While I do not disagree with any of Brown’s points, I believe his analysis to be misleading and incomplete. Scott Forschler’s Monday rebuttal, “The Bible, Christianity, beliefs and truth,” was saturated with untruths. Therefore, my response is meant to properly explain a biblical view of homosexuality, as well as refute the inaccuracies in Forschler’s analysis.

First, in his statement that God damns homosexuals to hell, Brown fails to mention the broader biblical assertion that every human is damned to hell (Romans 3:23, 6:23). This is due to our imperfections, which everyone, including Brown and myself, have (Romans 3:23). We deceive ourselves if we claim otherwise (1 John 1:8-10). In addition, the Bible is clear that by no good work can one be saved (Ephesians 2:8-9), only through a decision to follow Christ (Galatians 3, John 3:16, Romans 6:23). But to imply homosexuality sends us to hell faster than pornography, greed or gossip is absurd.

Homosexuality is certainly immoral in God’s eyes (Romans 1). It is also destructive to society. However, Christ came to “seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10) so that they may “have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10). This means changing people from the inside. As Christ works in the lives of believers, he convicts them of their wrongdoings (Jeremiah 31:33) and transforms them (2 Corinthians 3:18). This includes all forms of sexual immorality and any other sin. The only requirement is that one decide to follow Christ, which means submitting to his authority (John 14:15). But I warn you, as did Jesus (Luke 14:25-35), this means you will eventually have to give up homosexuality and every other sin (1 John 5:18).

We will never be perfect in this life (1 John 3:9, Romans 8:23-25), but Christ will continually work in the life of the believer to bring them out of sin (2 Peter 3:9). First give your life to him.

Now I will move on to Forschler’s column. Most of his criticism circles around Paul. These attacks are because Paul is the only New Testament writer who directly condemns homosexuality (Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6:9). Forschler’s objection has to do with the inerrancy of the Bible, namely that Paul’s words don’t have the same authority as Jesus. Paul claimed they did (Galations 1), but let’s put that aside for now. What did Jesus say? Christ told his disciples that they were to be his representatives on earth and that their words had his authority (Matthew 16:19, 10:20, 28:18-20; Luke 9:1, 10:19; John 16:8-15, 17:6-19). Peter, one disciple Jesus specifically gave this command to, declared Paul’s letters to be “Scripture” (2 Peter 3:16). This means it has authority from God as being fully accurate. In addition, Jesus stated that Paul was to carry Jesus’ word (Acts 9:15).

Forschler criticizes Paul for being pro-slavery, as if it would nullify Paul’s words. Paul was not pro-slavery. He told slaves, “If you can gain your freedom, do so” (1 Corinthians 7:21). Paul wrote an entire epistle (Philemon) to convince a slave owner to let his slave go free. Paul admonished slaves to obey their masters in order to win them over for Christ and change their hearts, not to imply slavery was acceptable.

Lastly, Forschler claims that because certain aspects of the Bible seemingly contradict when he takes them out of context, this nullifies the authority of the Bible. If anyone desires to debate specific “inconsistencies,” I am certainly open. There is translation, context and sometimes a certain level of symbolism behind every part of the Bible. For Forschler to make a blanket statement that the Bible contradicts itself is ignorant. It does not.

So Brown is right in saying homosexuality is wrong. However, his analysis is misleading and incomplete. Forschler tried to rebut by proving the Bible inconsistent. He did a poor job. He finished by pointing out that there is moral truth outside of God. I conclude in the same critique, wondering why Forschler thought his words could substitute for truth.

Chris Hill is an aerospace engineering senior. He welcomes comments at [email protected]