Jason Jimenez debunks ‘silent argument' claiming Jesus was affirming of LGBT identity
Christian apologist Jason Jimenez says that despite what gay revisionists claim, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is not an inclusive gay pride sermon, and He never affirmed homosexuality or other sexual sins.
Earlier this week on his "Challenging Conversations" podcast, Jimenez gave a biblically-based response to the “silent argument,” which purports that Jesus never explicitly stated homosexuality is a sin and highlighted reasons why that claim is problematic.
Jesus' teachings were grounded in the Hebrew Scriptures, Jimenez said, stressing that homosexuality was not a significant issue in first century Jewish society like it is today when individuals identify as bisexual, trans, and the like.
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“[There is] poor reasoning behind the silent argument [because] it actually makes what I refer to as an unwarranted assumption about the cultural context of Jesus' time,” Jimenez explained, as it wasn't a significant issue in the Jewish culture.
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“We have to understand that, in our modern day, you can't take, let's say, a Western thinking of what is actually occurring today ... issues of intersectionality and how we define a person based on their ethnicity or the oppressor or the oppressed. You can't take that type of critical race theory and apply it in the first century in Galilee to Jewish people,” Jimenez continued.
“Because what you're doing now is you're attributing an excessive amount of importance on a particular issue. And you are pushing it or assuming it, not just in the text, in this case, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but in the cultural context of Jesus' life and teaching.”
Jimenez stressed that just because people are seeing the prevalence, to some extent, of a higher percentage of people who either have gender dysphoria or are coming out as gay, lesbian, bisexual or trans, they cannot assume that because it's happening in modern day today, that it was also happening in the first century.
“At that time of Jesus, homosexuality was not a significant issue," he added, explaining that it wasn't prevalent in the hearts and minds of people.
"In fact, homosexuality was very clearly identified in the Jewish community," Jimenez continued, noting that there were major repercussions for participating in the act.
When Jesus spoke, he "was not in Rome, like Paul was in the book of Romans, where he was writing to Romans, who are of Greek culture,” Jimenez said.
“When you're looking at Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, you have Jewish writers who are writing in the first century primarily to a Jewish audience. I understand that Mark was extending the Gospel, the first to be written in 50 AD. He was writing to a Gentile audience, but mixed with Jewish people, as a Jew writer, looking at the Hebrew Scriptures,” Jimenez continued.
“It's very clear that homosexuality was, in fact, a sin and that there were major repercussions if people were found out to be pursuing that type of sexual activity.”
Jimenez pointed out that the sexual struggles and challenges of Jesus' day were different, particularly when it comes to younger generations today.
“It wasn't like in Jesus' day that this was something that was prevalent on the minds of the hearts of people when they were traveling, listening to Him, as He was going about as a Jewish rabbi, being an evangelist,” Jimenez said.
“We weren't having parents who are having kids coming out left and right, saying they're trans or whatever. Jesus doesn't mention homosexuality because it was a non-issue. It doesn't mean that there weren't people at that time who struggled with their sexuality. But you and I cannot assume that people in Jesus' day were struggling with their sexuality the way people are today.”
There are many sins that aren’t explicitly mentioned in Scripture by Jesus Himself, but that doesn’t mean Jesus approves of them, including homosexuality, Jimenez stressed.
“Are we, therefore, to conclude because we never see any explicit passages of Scripture in Matthew, Mark, Luke or John of Jesus refuting bestiality, incest or rape or abuse or child abuse that all of a sudden we somehow draw that as a way of saying He doesn't mention it outright because he supported that immoral behavior? Of course not,” Jimenez exclaimed.
“You actually don't see gay revisionists using that as an argument for bestiality, rape, incest or abuse," he added, asking, "why all of a sudden would you say that Jesus supported homosexuality when He doesn't mention it?”
What we actually see Jesus affirming is the Jewish Scriptures in Matthew Chapter 5:17-18. Jesus affirms the moral laws of the Old Testament which include prohibitions against homosexual acts that are outlined in Leviticus 18:22 ... Homosexuality is not just a sin, it's an abomination.
Nicole VanDyke is a reporter for The Christian Post.
