This course examines the Bible’s views on homosexual practice in the context of a broader discussion of human sexuality. Particular attention will be given to the creation texts, the Sodom narrative and related stories, the Levitical prohibitions, the witness of Jesus on human sexuality, and several key texts in Paul (Rom 1:24-27; 1 Cor 6:9; 1 Tim 1:10) in the broader context of Pauline sexual ethics. The three main arguments for dismissing the biblical witness on homosexual practice will be assessed and critiqued (the exploitation, orientation and misogyny arguments). The course also deals with philosophic nature arguments, current socio-scientific information and church and public policy issues. Students are equipped to think through the issue of homosexual practice and to make a reasoned and compassionate case for the importance of a male-female prerequisite for valid sexual unions.

Robert Gagnon PhD (Princeton), MTS (Harvard Divinity School), BA (Dartmouth) is Associate Professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He is the author of The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics and co-author of Homosexuality and the Bible: Two Views.