Many contemporary religious news columnists, in arguing the religious case for gay marriage, have stated that the Bible and Jesus nowhere explicitly define marriage as between one man and one woman, but rather taught indifference to family attachments. They also have maintained that the apostle Paul regarded marriage as an act of last resort for those unable to contain their animal lust. Because of this they conclude that the Bible actually argues for gay marriage.

Before refuting the above position of many of today’s religious news columnists, it is imperative that we Christians acknowledge that homosexuality is NOT the unforgivable sin. Gays are no worse sinners than are straights, “for ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Nevertheless, I don’t know what Bible those religious news columnist are reading. Their statements are astonishing because in one generic swoop they seriously misrepresent the Bible, Jesus and Paul.

In the very beginning of the Bible (Genesis 2:24-25) we have God saying in clear gender specific language, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” In Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus saying, “Have you not read, that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate”

In Ephesians 5:28-33, the apostle Paul writes, “In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”

These religious columnists quote Paul’s words in I Corinthians 7:9 that “it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion,” and then leap to the conclusion that with these words Paul makes a “lukewarm endorsement” of marriage. In Corinthians 7 Paul is answering some of the questions proposed to him by some Corinthians who believed that Christians should avoid marriage and sexual relations. He points out that marriage was appointed as a remedy against fornication, and therefore that persons had better marry than burn. True, Paul did not make it an injunction that every man without exception marry, but neither did he give a “lukewarm endorsement” to marriage. Instead, I find Paul saying that marriage is divinely prescribed.

How these columnists conclude after reading these passages that there is an indifference to marriage in the Bible is well beyond my imagination.