Gay Gospel?

Joe Dallas

Description

In this updated edition of A Strong Delusion, author and counselor Joe Dallas helps readers understand what pro-gay theology is and how to confront it. In a biblical manner, Dallas examines believers' personal responses and the need for bold love and commitment as they become familiar with the movement's background and beliefs; study a clear, scriptural response to each belief; and extend Christ's love to those living the homosexual lifestyle. This resource is an important one for those who have been unsure how to respond to the growing acceptance of homosexuality in the evangelical community. It offers the balance between conviction and compassion and a practical guide to communicating with those who have embraced the pro-gay Christian movement.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
• Date de parution: 01 février 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736960366
• Langue: English

Extrait

Endorsements
Must reading for all who sincerely seek the clearest explanation yet for the Christian attitude toward homosexuality. I pray that this work will have the impact on all segments of our society that it deserves.
D. J AMES K ENNEDY, P H. D.
Senior Minister,
Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church
To be caught in the trap of homosexuality is difficult enough, but to be held captive in the snare of the strong delusion of a false gospel requires the stronger arm of truth. Writing the truth in love, Joe Dallas reveals how to set the captive free.
J ANET P ARSHALL
Nationally syndicated talk show host and author
More than ever, Christians are challenged to articulate and defend the Bible s position on homosexuality. In The Gay Gospel? Joe Dallas-one of Christianity s most able and articulate spokesman on human sexuality-codifies the arguments and arms us with clear, concise and convincing answers. This resource is both compelling and compassionate.
H ANK H ANEGRAAFF
President of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man radio broadcast
HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Verses marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Scripture verses marked NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
All emphasis in Scripture quotations has been added by the author.
Cover by Koechel Peterson Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota
Cover photo Tom Henry / Koechel Peterson Associates
THE GAY GOSPEL?
Updated and expanded edition of A Strong Delusion
Copyright 1996/2007 by Joe Dallas
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
ISBN-13: 978-0-7369-1834-3 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-6036-6 (eBook)
ISBN-10: 0-7369-1834-5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dallas, Joe, 1954-
[Strong delusion]
The Gay Gospel? / Joe Dallas.
p. cm.
Originally published: Strong delusion. Eugene, Or. : Harvest House Publishers, 1996.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN: 1-56507-431-9
1. Homosexuality-Religious aspects-Christianity. 2. Homosexuality in the Bible. 3. Homosexuality-Biblical teaching. 4. Dallas, Joe, 1954- I. Title.
BR115.H6D36 2007
261.8 35766-dc22
2006024683
All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The authorized purchaser has been granted a nontransferable, nonexclusive, and noncommercial right to access and view this electronic publication, and purchaser agrees to do so only in accordance with the terms of use under which it was purchased or transmitted. Participation in or encouragement of piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of author s and publisher s rights is strictly prohibited.
Dedication
To the churches and families willing to speak loving truth in a time of error: KEEP STANDING!
If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at the moment attacking, then I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is tested.
M ARTIN L UTHER
Contents
Endorsements
Dedication
Between Comfort and Truth
1. Where We Are Now
Part One: A Basis for Understanding
2. Why Bother Arguing?
3. How the Gay Christian Movement Began
4. The Gay Christian Movement Comes of Age
Part Two: Beliefs and Ideologies
5. Pro-Gay Theology
6. Pro-Gay Arguments on the Nature of Homosexuality
Homosexuality Is Inborn
Homosexuality Is Unchangeable
Psychology Says It s Normal
Ten Percent of the Population Is Gay
7. Pro-Gay Arguments from Social Issues
Homophobia s the Problem
Anti-Gay Teaching Incites Violence
8. Religious Pro-Gay Arguments
I m a Born-Again Gay
We Feel the Spirit Too!
How Can Love Be Wrong?
Part Three: Issues with the Bible
9. The Nature and Use of the Bible
10. Genesis and Homosexuality
11. Moses and Homosexuality
12. Jesus and Homosexuality
13. Paul and Homosexuality
Part Four: Putting Knowledge into Action
14. A Time to Speak
15. A Satisfied Mind
Notes
Resources
About Joe Dallas
Other Books on Homosexuality by Joe Dallas
Other Harvest House Books on Homosexuality
B ETWEEN C OMFORT AND T RUTH

Nothing is so easy as to deceive oneself; for what we wish, we readily believe.
D EMOSTHENES (384-322 BC )
I remember clearly, and with inexpressible regret, the day I convinced myself it was acceptable to be both gay and Christian.
It was the fall of 1978, and the local Metropolitan Community Church was opening its morning service just as I slipped into a seat near the back. I had passed the plain white building hundreds of times before, having once been the associate pastor of a Foursquare church not three blocks away, and I d heard plenty of stories about this gay-friendly denomination that had recently been founded by an openly homosexual minister named Troy Perry. I knew that most of its members were homosexual. I also knew it subscribed to the belief that homosexuality and Christianity were compatible, and that it was a visible and outspoken advocate for a number of gay causes. What I didn t know, those countless times I d driven past the church shaking my head at the very thought of gay Christians, was that I d someday step inside and identify myself as one of them.
Who d have guessed? I was, after all, a conservative, born-again believer who d cut his teeth under the teachings of Pastor Chuck Smith, founder of the Calvary Chapel movement, during the heady days of what s often called the Jesus movement. I d been an ordained minister and lived a sheltered, sanctified lifestyle since my teens, so how could I-or anyone, for that matter-predict my next stop would be the gay church? Back then, the idea was unthinkable.
Not that homosexuality was foreign to me. Unbeknownst to my friends and associates, I d privately wrestled with it since childhood. In fact, by the time I converted to Christianity at age 16 I d had numerous sexual experiences with both men and women. But I d assumed that, having come to Christ, my sexual desires would either vanish or somehow conform to biblical standards and behave themselves until I was married. Sex wasn t discussed much in church back then, so I wasn t quite sure how this little miracle of transformation would come about. But I was certain that, with adequate prayer, fellowship, and Bible study, I d eventually achieve a lust-free existence where no sexual fantasies or desires, homosexual or heterosexual, would intrude.
But they did, again and again. Even as I grew spiritually and my ministry expanded, my mind would often wander back to past sexual encounters or pornographic magazines I d viewed years earlier. Without realizing it, I d spent the early part of my life amassing a library full of erotic images, lodged in my brain like old books ready to be taken out and browsed through. Becoming a Christian hadn t erased them, and at times I have to admit they held a certain appeal. So when the rigors of ministry or personal stress made themselves felt, I d retreat to my sexual fantasies for entertainment and comfort. I didn t feel good about that, but I consoled myself with the fact that I wasn t doing anything-viewing porn, for example, or committing fornication. So my sexual fantasies, while sinful, didn t seem that sinful. I was, in other words, indulging in a mental compromise that was setting me up for a bigger fall than I thought I was capable of.
One step into an adult bookstore seven years after my conversion was all it took to end my ministry and plunge me into a series of sexual excesses, culminating in a yearlong relationship with the owner of a gay bar. He was committed to another man, but no matter. We d meet every night after hours, and I d drive home drunk at four in the morning, then rise for work, exhausted and confused.
After finally breaking off my relationship with him, I took a hard look at myself and what I d come to. I was only 23 years old, yet already I d been ordained, then defrocked. I d disgraced the ministry when my escapades had come to light and then committed adultery with the wife of a close friend, losing a child to abortion as a result. I had hired prostitutes, developed a drinking habit, joined the gay community, and endured a nightmarish relationship. Now that the relationship was over I was alone again, and life looked incredibly bleak.
So did my options. Repenting and returning to my old church seemed out of the question, much as I longed to. I missed the fellowship of Christian friends, but I thought they d never take me back. And why should they, after the way I d betrayed them? Yet the promiscuous, hard-driving lifestyle I d adopted was a dead-end street as well. I wanted to indulge my sexual tastes, but not so wildly. I also wanted Christianity, but not without my sexuality. In short, I wanted it all, a common malady of the times.
So now it was desperation, rather than the amused curiosity I d felt earlier, urging me to visit the Metropolitan Community Church that October morning in 1978. I wanted to see if it was possible to be actively homosexual, Christian, and confident of a right standing before God.
I knew better, of course. I knew the scriptural condemnations of homosexuality in both the Old and New Testaments were clea