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SpencerMarsh (talk | contribs) (→Question: What is the scriptural basis for the restriction on homosexual sexual behavior in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?) |
SpencerMarsh (talk | contribs) (→Question: What is the scriptural basis for the restriction on homosexual sexual behavior in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?) |
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{{Seealso|Question: What sort of scriptural support is there for the doctrines of The Family: A Proclamation to the World?}} | {{Seealso|Question: What sort of scriptural support is there for the doctrines of The Family: A Proclamation to the World?}} | ||
− | It demonstrates, despite lengthy and intelligent cases to the contrary,<ref>Taylor G. Petrey, “[https://www.dialoguejournal.com/2011/12/toward-a-post-heterosexual-mormon-theology/ Toward a Post-Heterosexual Mormon Theology],” ''Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought'' 44, no. 4 (2011): 106–41; ''Tabernacles of Clay: Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism'' (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2020); Blaire Ostler, ''Queer Mormon Theology: An Introduction'' (Newburgh, IN: By Common Consent Press, 2021). For lengthy and cogent rebuttals to and reviews of Petrey’s book ''Tabernacles of Clay'', see Gregory L. Smith, “[https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/feet-of-clay-queer-theory-and-the-church-of-jesus-christ/ Feet of Clay: Queer Theory and the Church of Jesus Christ],” ''Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship'' 43 (2021): 107–278; Michael A. Goodman and Daniel Frost, "[https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/constancy-amid-change/ Constancy Amid Change]," ''BYU Studies Quarterly'' 61, no. 3 (2022): 191–217. For a solid and insightful rebuttal to Petrey’s article “Towards a Post-Heterosexual Mormon Theology”, see V.H. Cassler, “[https://squaretwo.org/Sq2ArticleCasslerPlatosSon.html Plato's Son, Augustine's Heir: ‘A Post-Heterosexual Mormon Theology’?]” ''SquareTwo'' 5, no. 2 (Summer 2012). Dr. Cassler has another article on SquareTwo that provides a feminist argument in favor of traditional marriage that readers may be interested in. See V.H. Cassler, “[https://squaretwo.org/Sq2ArticleCasslerMarriage.html 'Some Things That Should Not Have Been Forgotten Were Lost': The Pro-Feminist, Pro-Democracy, Pro-Peace Case for State Privileging of Companionate Heterosexual Monogamous Marriage]," ''SquareTwo'' 2, no. 1 (2009). For a solid review of and response to Blaire Ostler’s book, see Daniel Ortner, “[https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/the-queer-philosophies-of-men-mingled-with-scripture/?fbclid=IwAR3AZmGaadE3R9BDKblUe48C97mS2MZxXNPNQD6TbH1VpZd12eAq9-LbNiM The Queer Philosophies of Men Mingled with Scripture],” ''Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship'' 51 (2022): 317–34.</ref> that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands on solid scriptural grounds in their prohibition of homosexual sexual behavior and has effectively no theological workaround for incorporating neither homosexual sexual behavior nor same-sex unions/temple sealings into their theology. | + | It demonstrates, despite lengthy and intelligent cases to the contrary,<ref>Taylor G. Petrey, “[https://www.dialoguejournal.com/2011/12/toward-a-post-heterosexual-mormon-theology/ Toward a Post-Heterosexual Mormon Theology],” ''Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought'' 44, no. 4 (2011): 106–41; ''Tabernacles of Clay: Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism'' (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2020); Blaire Ostler, ''Queer Mormon Theology: An Introduction'' (Newburgh, IN: By Common Consent Press, 2021); Nathan Oman, "A Welding Link of Some Kind: Exploring a possible theology of same-sex marriage sealings," ''Thoughts from a Tamed Cynic'', September 27, 2022, https://nateoman.substack.com/p/a-welding-link-of-some-kind; For lengthy and cogent rebuttals to and reviews of Petrey’s book ''Tabernacles of Clay'', see Gregory L. Smith, “[https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/feet-of-clay-queer-theory-and-the-church-of-jesus-christ/ Feet of Clay: Queer Theory and the Church of Jesus Christ],” ''Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship'' 43 (2021): 107–278; Michael A. Goodman and Daniel Frost, "[https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/constancy-amid-change/ Constancy Amid Change]," ''BYU Studies Quarterly'' 61, no. 3 (2022): 191–217. For a solid and insightful rebuttal to Petrey’s article “Towards a Post-Heterosexual Mormon Theology”, see V.H. Cassler, “[https://squaretwo.org/Sq2ArticleCasslerPlatosSon.html Plato's Son, Augustine's Heir: ‘A Post-Heterosexual Mormon Theology’?]” ''SquareTwo'' 5, no. 2 (Summer 2012). Dr. Cassler has another article on SquareTwo that provides a feminist argument in favor of traditional marriage that readers may be interested in. See V.H. Cassler, “[https://squaretwo.org/Sq2ArticleCasslerMarriage.html 'Some Things That Should Not Have Been Forgotten Were Lost': The Pro-Feminist, Pro-Democracy, Pro-Peace Case for State Privileging of Companionate Heterosexual Monogamous Marriage]," ''SquareTwo'' 2, no. 1 (2009). For a solid review of and response to Blaire Ostler’s book, see Daniel Ortner, “[https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/the-queer-philosophies-of-men-mingled-with-scripture/?fbclid=IwAR3AZmGaadE3R9BDKblUe48C97mS2MZxXNPNQD6TbH1VpZd12eAq9-LbNiM The Queer Philosophies of Men Mingled with Scripture],” ''Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship'' 51 (2022): 317–34. For a review of Oman's work, see Matthew Watkins, "[https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/we-dont-know-so-we-might-as-well-a-flimsy-philosophy-for-same-sex-sealings/ 'We Don’t Know, So We Might as Well': A Flimsy Philosophy for Same-Sex Sealings]," ''Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship'' 54 (2022): 207–22. Much of the scriptures covered in this article will show that, even if Oman's thesis holds (which it doesn't. Sealings have always been understood in part as marital since Nauvoo), his arguments will still be rejecting key scriptural assertions and broaching more questions than answering.</ref> that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands on solid scriptural grounds in their prohibition of homosexual sexual behavior and has effectively no theological workaround for incorporating neither homosexual sexual behavior nor same-sex unions/temple sealings into their theology. |
===Response to Question=== | ===Response to Question=== |
In recent years, it has become an item of interest and controversy to know what scriptural grounds are for prohibiting homosexual sexual behavior in different Christian religions.
This article provides some resources for answering this question as well as other relevant scriptural texts from the Latter-day Saint canon for answering this question.
It demonstrates, despite lengthy and intelligent cases to the contrary,[1] that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands on solid scriptural grounds in their prohibition of homosexual sexual behavior and has effectively no theological workaround for incorporating neither homosexual sexual behavior nor same-sex unions/temple sealings into their theology.
For understanding the biblical perspective on homosexuality, there are three great resources online that explain it.
The best book resource defending the traditional interpretation of scripture regarding homosexual sexual behavior:
These resources thoroughly refute any notion that the Bible is either indifferent, silent, or in favor of homosexual sexual behavior.
Uniquely Latter-day Saint texts offer many important addenda to the conversation about proper sexuality.
Some have claimed that they have received revelation that homosexual sexual behavior is correct and use this as justification for not keeping the scriptural commandment of abstaining from them. This revelation, given its incongruity with scripture and other prophetic revelation, must be a form of false revelation from false spirits.
Fornication is defined as any sexual activity between people outside of marriage. If one defines marriage as between a man and a woman, then any sexual contact between homosexual partners is going to be considered fornication. Below is a concordance of the mentions of fornication and its derivatives in scripture.
Fornication
Fornications
Fornicator
Fornicators
Homosexuality fits into the definition or the penumbras of the definitions of any other word in scripture referring to illicit sexual behavior.[8] We have gathered an exhaustive concordance of those words at this link that readers should take a look at.
Notes
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