Theology for Everybody: RomansSample

When shopping at the store, we find products with packaging that announces they are “all natural.” This claim leads us to assume something natural is healthier than something manufactured.

What is true of products is also true of people. In Romans 1, Paul says God made us male and female by “nature” to have “natural relations,” which is sexuality within heterosexual marriage. Our current fallen, sinful world is unnatural. Natural is how God originally designed things in creation before sin, and the fall of humanity ruined everything and everyone God created as good. Before sin, a perfect man and a perfect woman lived according to their male and female gender roles. They married, followed by heterosexual married sex, which resulted in children in obedience to God’s command to be fruitful and multiply. That is what we mean by natural. All deviations are unnatural.

According to the Bible and throughout much of Western history, "natural" was as follows:

·Sex - God gave the biological status of male or female, which is determined by sex chromosomes, gonads, internal reproductive organs, and external genitalia (1 to 2 percent of babies are born with ambiguous external genitalia, and another 1 to 2 percent have less severe ambiguity). Some people believe that they, and not God, should choose their sex and undergo surgery to re-create themselves.

·Gender - Throughout history, gender flowed from biological sex with masculine males and feminine female roles starting at birth. Boys were wrapped in blue blankets, and girls wrapped in pink blankets. Today, some believe gender is not chosen by God but by how someone feels. A male may feel as though he is trapped in a female body and vice versa. Fixed binary gender roles are considered toxic, hateful, and bigoted. However, the Bible speaks to males and females with specific commands, including husbands and wives. 1 Corinthians 16:13 commands men to “act like men” in one example.

·Sexuality - People used to believe your sex determined your gender, so it was natural for your sexual interest to be toward the opposite sex and gender. Today this is not considered normative. There is great opposition to “heteronormative thinking.” Some groups are committed to critical theory and dismantling sex, gender, sexuality, and marriage in the name of social justice. Those who have concealed their desired sex, gender, and sexuality, are called “closeted.” Those who believe God erred by giving them the wrong sex, gender, and sexuality and who want to re-create the way God designed them do the act of “coming out” as the counterfeit for Christian baptism. It is a public act to declare who you are and what you are committed to. It all comes down to the Word versus the world. The Bible is the only source to help us stand against this cultural avalanche.

The Word vs. The World

The Word

Sex: Fixed Binary Male/Female

Gender: Fixed Binary Masculine/Feminine

Sexuality: Fixed 1 man and 1 woman in marriage

The World

Sex: Fluid on an Intersex Spectrum

Gender: Fluid on an Unfixed Spectrum

Sexuality: Fluid on an Unfixed Spectrum

Finally, Paul’s concept of “natural” law was developed and formalized by Thomas Aquinas, an important Christian philosopher and theologian. The concept has taken deep roots in Catholic education, which explains why many lawyers trained in Catholic schools think in these categories.

Today’s Reflection

Besides gender and sexuality, what other “unnatural” deviations are springing up in today’s society?