Level 4
Statement Against Heterosexual Marriages Only
Dr. James Brownson
Were Loving Same-Sex Relationships Known in Paul’s Day?
Note, this material is taken from the paper Looking for the Truth In Dr. James Brownson’s Bible Gender Sexuality.
The first aspect of James Brownson’s position that will be considered is his claim that there were no accounts of loving same-sex relationships in Paul’s day. Brownson states that Paul only prohibited excessive acts, since he could not prohibit what he did not know. If the only same-sex acts Paul knew of were all excessive acts, so Brownson reasons, only those were being prohibited in passages like Romans 1. However, if it can be shown there were loving or mutual same-sex relationships during Paul’s day, then it is possible Paul was prohibiting all same-sex acts including consensual same-sex relationships.
We must also remember that, independent of what the Apostle Paul personally observed, the Spirit certainly could have inspired Paul to write something that would have been relevant in the future, even if Paul himself didn’t experience it.
Statement
Brownson states, “What Paul has in mind here is not the modern concept of homosexual orientation, that is, the notion that some people are not sexually attracted to those of the opposite sex at all, but instead are inclined to love those of the same sex. Such a perspective is found nowhere in the literature of Paul’s day.” (Brownson, pages 155-56.)
Response
Ironically, the evidence against this statement is found right in Brownson’s own bibliography! He lists an article written by Dr. Mark Smith that is only 33 pages long. Brownson must be acquainted with all of the contents of such a relatively short work since he references it. Yet, in that article Smith lists six accounts of loving same-sex relationships from Paul’s time period. No less than Brownson’s ultimate example of excess, Emperor Caligula, is one of those listed. Caligula is supposedly the type of abusive person whom Brownson claims Paul was referencing in Romans 1. Caligula was very promiscuous. He had a reputation for raping the wives of guests he invited to dinners. It is also believed he slept with his sisters. Yet, in spite of his excesses, Caligula was evidently also involved in a loving relationship with a man named Lepidus. Can Brownson say there were no known instances of loving same sex relationships when one of his own sources documents six examples?
Not only does he ignore the evidence in one of his own sources, he also specifically says that asking if Paul knew about these relationships is “entirely speculative” . . . when the facts are clearly cited and contradict that (Brownson, page 156). In his critique of Brownson’s book, Dr. Preston Sprinkle also addresses the question of whether or not Paul could have known about loving same-sex relationships (Dr. Preston Sprinkle, Bulletin for Biblical Research, Vol. 24, No. 4 (2014), pages 515-528). Sprinkle identifies ten people who were either in a loving same-sex relationship or historically recorded the existence of such relationships. These ten instances were all from before or during Paul’s time. Perhaps the most notable of these was the Roman Emperor, Julius Caesar. The historian Suetonius wrote that Julius Caesar was “every woman’s man and every man’s woman.” Caesar lived from 100 BC to 44 BC. Julius Caesar is known by many people the world over today, more than 2000 years after he lived. Isn’t it likely, perhaps guaranteed, that Paul would have been familiar with the reputation of a Roman Emperor as famous as Julius Caesar?
Conclusion
Given the fact that a source in Dr. Brownson’s own book claims evidence contrary to his claim and he does not counter that evidence and given the supposed additional evidence provided by Dr. Sprinkle, this claim will not be elevated to Level 3 at this time. If there is new evidence to consider with respect to this material, please contact us at the Contact Us page and it will be taken into consideration. Thank you.