Irvin Busenitz
(1 posts)Homosexual “marriage” is clearly against God’s design (nature) and God’s command (Scripture). No homosexual relationship can fulfill God’s intention for this human relationship. Irvin Busenitz (Professor of Bible and Old Testament, TMS), in the latest issue of The Master’s Seminary Journal, explains why this is, looking at Biblical marriage from the reproductive perspective, the one man/one woman perspective, the complementary perspective, the analogical perspective, and the role/relationship perspective. You can probably guess, without any clues, what each of those perspectives addresses, with the possible exception of one: the analogical perspective. If you have no idea what that is about, you’re not alone; I confess that I had never thought of this angle on homosexuality before, even though it is really quite obvious. Busenitz explains:
Marriage is a picture of the relationship between Christ and His church. Ephesians 5 quotes the creation account , providing a direct link between the two passages. Paul unmistakably notes that marriage is meant to teach, through the one-flesh union, the relationship of Christ and His church (Eph. 5:29–32).
Because of this incredible bond and the picture it depicts, it is no surprise that same-sex marriage is at the forefront of the attack against marriage. same-sex marriage simply cannot picture the biblical truths that Scripture so vividly paints for marriage. For a couple of reasons, homosexual partnerships are incapable of representing this truth. First, a partnership between two men or two women cannot replicate the essence of marriage in the Scriptures, which is always between a man and a woman. Secondly, homosexuality can never illustrate the spiritual union between Christ and His Bride, the church. Christ is not engaged to be married to Christ; the church is not awaiting marriage to itself. The analogy is absolutely devoid of any meaning if homosexuality is brought into the equation.—Irvin A. Busenitz, “Marriage and Homosexuality: Toward a Biblical Understanding,” The Master’s Seminary Journal (Fall 2008): 212–213.
