St. Paul and Homosexuality

So, why are terms like ‘natural and Unnatural” found in St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans? He writes about women who “exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural and men “giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameful acts with men.” (Roman 1:26-27). What’s he talking about?

Back in the late 70’s, I visited Genoa, Italy, with my friend, Don Silvano Sirboni, parish pastor in Allessandria, Italy. We visited not just Columbus’ birth house , but also Don Tomaso, the parish priest in the old city. The streets were so narrow sunlight never hit the pavement. On every other street corner we saw 12- 16 year old boys just standing there, looking around. I asked Don Tomaso what they were doing.

“They’re selling themselves or their sisters,” he said, “This is a port city. They get lots of business. But we are here for them. They come to Mass most Sundays. WE give them meals and lodging every day, if they want it. They’re good boys, but hey, this is a Mediterranean port. It’s been going on for two thousand years!” James Baldwin once wrote that a boy could be bought for a night in any big city in the world for a sandwich and a beer!

In I Corinthians 6:9, Paul explicitly condemns “male prostitutes.” He means the boys selling themselves on the streets. The ‘sodomites” whom he also condemns are the older males who buy their sexual favors. They are just like the men of Sodom who wanted to rape Lot’s visitors.

I believe Paul saw the same thing in Corinth, Thessalonika, and Ephesus that we saw in Genoa. All that, to Paul, was “unnatural” sex between men and women. It fit the list of passions he describes in Romans --shameful sex, expressing “deceit and craftiness". Such sex is heartless and ruthless.

The key lens for interpreting Paul’s descriptions of “natural” and “unnatural” sexuality in Romans (chapter one) is the Gospel parable of the Sower: “A sower went out to sow his seed . . .” (Luke 8:5) Some fell on rocky ground; as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture.”

The “street corner” sex Paul witnessed in Corinth would never grow. It had no moisture. A commercial deal, it would never bear fruit. The thorns of money and sexual frustration choked it like a thorn. It was ”unnatural” because it showed no feelings. “Natural” sex always has feelings of compassion, loyalty and forgiveness.

Never in Plato do sexual emotions or feelings come into play. It’s all about biology –period. The Bible is not a biology textbook. It’s a relationship textbook.

In Biblical terms ‘’natural” sex, whether between a man and a woman or a man and a man or a woman and a woman, has a hallmark. It bears fruit in the compassion, forgiveness and faithfulness we feel for each other.

So, when we talk about sexuality, let’s get away from Plato and get back to the Bible. Amen.

Thanks to my friend, Warren Burger, without whose help and expertise, this blog would not have seen the light of day,

Thanks again. John