Wrestling with Leviticus 18.22 and 20.13

Abstract

Many have used Lev 18.22 and 20.13 violently against homosexual people. Examples abound, but one illustrates this point all too well. Andy Gibson, a Southern Baptist minister and Mississippi Republican State Representative, commented on his Facebook page regarding President Barak Obama’s affirmative opinion on gay marriage. Gibson says, “The only opinion that counts is God’s: see Romans 1:26-28 and Leviticus 20:13. Anyway [SIC] you slice it, it is sin. Not to mention horrific social policy.” In a follow-up post he calls same-gender relationships “unnatural” and blames them for developing and spreading HIV/AIDS. Gibson goes on to say that such relationships are “harmful to children” and confuse the “important differences between men and women.” In response to public concerns about his citation of Lev 20.13, which calls for the death penalty, Gibson refused to apologize. “To be clear, I want the world to know that I do not, cannot, and will not apologize for the inspired truth of God’s Word. It is one thing that will never ‘change’,” wrote Gibson.