Paul and homosexuality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Paul and quirkiness - Essay ExampleWhile Hays approach is more(prenominal) direct under which he establishes whether or not the Bible is utterance against homosexual behavior in Romans I and its significance in the modern context, Martin is more concerned with the question of whether the scholars dealing with this particular aspect are as objective as they claim, or are in fact looking at it from a firmly heterosexist perspective. In order to fulfill his object, Martin has chosen to psychoanalyze the above-mentioned article by Hays. For the purposes of our comparison between the articles therefore, we would note the stated issues that Martin finds with Hays article. We would then scrutinize how effectively Martin is able to present his counter-arguments to determine whether he has the more convincing interpretation of Romans, or whether Hays interpretation is better argued and fight backed by evidence. The issues which Martin lays out against Hays article are 1) the claim that the etiology of homosexuality, according to Paul, lies in the depravation of universal human nature that occurred in the eliminate 2) the assumption that Paul is differentiating homosexual desire from heterosexual desire in Romans I ascribing the former to the fall and the latter to pristine creation and 3) the importation of a modern concept of acts contrary to nature when explaining Pauls term para physin. Dealing with the first point of the etiology of homosexuality, we scrutinize the argument presented by each scholar. Hays asserts that depravities follow from the radical rebellion of the creature against the creator, that is, all of humankind has fallen in Gods eye by refusing to recognize Him as the Creator and thus arousing His wrath. Hays also contends that Gods wrath takes the ironic form of allowing them the freedom to have their own way, and that reverence debases both the worshiper and the idol. Thus, Hays says that homosexuality is the symptom of mankinds fall, their refusal to accept God as their true creator and that Pauls choice of homosexuality as an deterrent example of human depravity is not merely random it serves his rhetorical purposes by providing a vivid image of humanitys primal rejection of the sovereignty of God the creator. To support his claim, Hays brings in the references of Genesis, where the complementarity of male and female is given theological grounding in Gods creative activity. The Gen 218-24 is quoted, where man and woman are intend to become one flesh.1)b. Etiology of Homosexuality MartinMartin interprets the origins of homosexuality in much more specific terms, and takes the references of homosexuality in the Jewish tradition of Pauls time, and relates homosexuality to the origin of idolatry and polytheism at some point after the time of Adam rabbinic sources variously ascribe the invention of idolatry to Kenan, Enosh(son of Seth) or the peck of Enoshs generation, especially amongst the Gentiles and he supports hi s interpretation by using the example of the book of Jubilees. He contends that the scenario Paul sketches in Romans I has to do with the invention of idolatry and its consequences, and not with the fall of Adam. In Romans I, Paul refers not to Adam or he, a single person, but to they.Both scholars recognize that Paul has, by the clever use of rhetoric in 21, chastised both the Jews and the Gentiles where they are equally condemned under the judgment of a righteous God(Hays). In the same spirit, Martin says, He condemns first the Gentiles, and then turns his attention to Jews. But Martin and Hays use this argument to