Traditional and
off-the-cuff interpretation of Rom 1:18-32 make it a particularly harsh
indictment of homosexuality, both male and female.
A careful
reading combined with some knowledge of ancient religion, discloses that temple
prostitution, both male and female, is in view.
Female heterosexual
prostitution is regarded as a misuse of the body (including heart and mind),
which is to be used in a marriage relationship for the begetting, protecting, nurturing,
and edification of children (Rom 1:26).
Male homosexual
prostitution is regarded as repugnant (particularly anal copulation, I believe)
to God-given natural instincts (Rom 1:27).
But both are
providential results of men created in the image of the Creator worshiping the
images of creatures. The debasement of the bodies of selves and neighbors is
the result of debasing the image of the Creator in those bodies through false
worship (Rom 1:23-24).
False worship
and temple prostitution is regarded as the first and most direct evidence of
men disregarding their natural inner knowledge of the Creator (Rom 1:19-20).
The later, more
general, evidence (Rom 1:29-31) is not the result of temple prostitution, let alone
homosexuality, but simply the wider results of ignoring the inner knowledge of
the Creator (Rom 1:28, 32).
I2C 131025a Rom
1v18to32 Temple Prostitution / I2C M1310 / 10/25/2013 8:25 AM / Rom 1v18to32
Temple Prostitution
