Journal: Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Volume: JBMW 20:2 (Fall 2015)
Article: A Review of Kevin DeYoung. "What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality?" Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015. 160 pp. $12.99.
Author: Trent Hunter

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A Review of Kevin DeYoung. What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015. 160 pp. $12.99.

Trent Hunter

Pastor of Administration and Teaching
Desert Springs Church
Albuquerque, New Mexico

What does the Bible teach about homosexuality? Whether someone believed the Bible to be true or not, that question used to have an obvious and simple answer: homosexuality is sin. For some today the answer is no longer so obvious. But for all of us the answer is no longer that simple. A transformed context means that more needs to be said, and said with greater care, understanding, and with a more thoughtful vocabulary. The question before us is no longer, “What does the Bible teach about homosexuality?” but, “What does the Bible really teach about homosexuality?”

This is the subject of Kevin DeYoung’s new book framed with that question, What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? His book is divided into two parts. Part 1, “Understanding God’s Word,” carefully expounds the relevant passages. Part 2, “Answering Objections,” addresses popular challenges to the traditional understanding of homosexuality. DeYoung writes as a pastor who believes that the Bible is “inspired, authoritative, unbreakable, and fully trustworthy” (15). Other writers share this conviction, but DeYoung’s book is unique for its narrow agenda, broad appeal, and pastoral delivery. These three features will organize my review.

One Main Question

I originally expected this book to address a variety of issues. Yet, while DeYoung acknowledges as many as thirteen questions he could address from politics to same-sex attraction, his aim is purposefully narrow (16). To be specific, DeYoung writes to make plain the Bible’s teaching concerning homosexual sex acts (15, 16). This is an even narrower aim than the title might suggest. This question, though, is foundational. As DeYoung puts it, “once we answer that question, we can move onto a thousand points

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of application” (16). Given what’s at stake, this question should not be assumed so quickly by pastors, teachers, and parents about those under their care (19).

And while this question might seem simple, it actually occasions a careful examination of no less than seven crucial texts, including: Genesis 1-2 and 19, Leviticus 18 and 20, Romans 1,