And so I must begin with an interpretive word.  When I taught principles of biblical interpretation at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, I often told my students, "The Bible can never mean what it never meant."  We must seek the intended meaning of the text as understood in its original context.  I also said often, "The only word God is obligated to bless is his word."  What matters to us today is not my opinions or yours, but God's.

Such a position is not held universally on this subject.  For instance, Dr. Walter Wink states in his thoughtful booklet, Homosexuality and the Bible, "Where the Bible mentions homosexual behavior at all, it clearly condemns it.  I freely grant that.  The issue is precisely whether that Biblical judgment is correct" (p. 12).  Dr. Wink then compares homosexuality to the issue of slavery: he argues that the Bible condones slavery, states that the Bible was wrong on that subject, and concludes that it is equally wrong on the issue before us (pp. 12-13).

I respect greatly Dr. Wink's enormous contributions to New Testament studies, especially on the subjects of spiritual warfare and nonviolence.  But I could not disagree more strongly with his assertion, "The issue is precisely whether that Biblical judgment is correct."  Without digressing into an extended defense of biblical authority, I wish to state clearly that I believe every word of the Bible to be the word of God.  I believe the Scriptures to possess the same authority for our lives today as they possessed for their first hearers and readers.  For my purposes, the only question we'll seek to answer is, What does the Bible intend to teach on this subject?