Preston Sprinkle has long made clear that he affirms a historical Christian sexual ethic: that any form of sexual activity outside the bounds of monogamous, heterosexual marriage is sin. This he argues, has been the unanimous historical Christian position across denominations and traditions since Pentecost … until recently. In recent decades, some have tried to rewrite this history. A small but loud number of theologians have tried to eke out biblical support for same sex marriage. In Does the Bible Support Same Sex Marriage?, Sprinkle evaluates what he considers to be the 21 strongest arguments in favour of same sex marriage. Ultimately, none of the arguments he evaluates prove compelling, but he seeks to respond to them thoughtfully rather than simply writing them off without consideration. It is a helpful read, which introduces the reader to some affirming arguments that they might not have yet encountered—or arguments that might have stumped them in the past.
The book begins with two lengthy, foundational chapters. The first suggests a helpful strategy for engaging difficult discussions. “Truly profitable conversations happen when both parties are genuinely curious about the other person’s view, embody a humble posture in the dialogue, and try to understand where someone is coming from.” He presents several key ingredients to a fruitful conversation: (1) willingness to rethink your point of view; (2) genuine curiosity; (3) good listening skills; (4) good, honest questions; and (5) appropriate humility. While engaging conversations, rather than straw-manning the position you are considering, it is helpful to look for some point of agreement, or at least admit where the position has a strong point, and to avoid over-confidence in your own position. These principles set the stage for the way that he will engage the conversations in the remainder of book. At times, in his attempt to “steel man” the position he discusses, he stretches the bounds of credibility, but those who have read the opening chapter will at least understand his approach.
Chapter 2, which offers a biblical definition of marriage, is easily the best chapter in the book and may be with the price of the title on its own. The author offers a concise definition of marriage—“Marriage is a lifelong one-flesh covenant union between two sexually different persons (a male and a female) from different families, united with the purpose of telling God’s story of faithfulness and creativity; and sexual relationships outside this covenant union are sin”—and then defends his definition from Scripture. This, for him (and I agree), is the key issue when it comes to this discussion. Once a biblical definition of marriage is settled, everything else falls into place. Once the boundaries have been established, it becomes evident what can and cannot exist within those boundaries. He returns to this foundational argument time and again in the chapters that follow.
To defend his definition of marriage, he offers five foundational affirmations:
First, sex difference is an intrinsic part of what marriage is. In the absence of sex difference, no relationship qualifies, in biblical terms, as marriage. Our culture may speak of “same sex marriage,” and our legal systems may recognise the category, but, biblically, as God defines it, marriage is the union of two people of the opposite sex.
Second, same-sex sexual relationships are always prohibited. There are only a small handful of Scriptures in the Bible that directly address the matter of same sex sexual activity and there is no equivocation: They are always viewed as sinful. There are relatively few things that the Bible condemns without exception; same sex sexual activity is one of those few things.
Third, the multiethnic global church affirms the historic Christian view. It is rare to find a theological position that transcends cultures, generations, countries, and denominations, but, historically, a prohibition against same sex sexual activity has found this widespread agreement. While this is not, in itself, an iron clad argument against same sex marriage, it does add weight to the historical Christian position.
Fourth, marriage and sex are not essential to human flourishing. If marriage and sex were essential to human flourishing, it might be argued that those who sexually desire people of the same sex are naturally prevented from fully flourishing. But this is not what we see in Scripture. While marriage and sex are upheld as a good thing, humans can flourish in their relationships with God and with one another apart from these gifts. Jesus, who died unmarried and a virgin, is the ultimate example of this.
As a brief aside, Sprinkle has recently faced the accusation that he teaches that same sex attracted people are called to a life of celibacy. This is not true. He clearly affirms that people will same sex desires, who wish to pursue sexual purity, can either remain celibate or can marry someone of the opposite sex.
Fifth, marriage has a purpose. In fact, the author notes three biblical purposes of marriage: It symbolises the relationship between Christ and the church; it creates the platform for procreation; and it creates a context for companionship. Same sex marriage might create a context for companionship, but it is a distortion of the relationship between Christ and his bride and, biologically, it cannot create a platform for procreation. Sex difference is essential to procreation, and only opposite sex marriage can create this possibility.
For these reasons, coupled with a thorough examination of the foundation of marriage in the early chapters of Genesis, Sprinkle believes that same sex marriage can never have God’s blessing. “Marriage is a lifelong one-flesh covenant union between two sexually different persons (a male and a female) from different families, united with the purpose of telling God’s story of faithfulness and creativity; and sexual relationships outside this covenant union are sin.”
The remainder of the book is taken with explaining and evaluating 21 affirming arguments. Each chapter follows the same basic pattern: first, offering an explanation of the position; then suggesting some points of agreement; and, finally, observing why the argument ultimately falls flat. These chapters are intentionally brief. Much more could be said about each argument, but his goal is simply to introduce and show the weakness of each argument.
As always, Sprinkle models compassion, even if compassion sometimes seems to border on compromise. In The Deconstruction of Christianity, Alisa Childers writes, “In an attempt to bring ‘nuance’ into discussions surrounding these types of hot-button issues, many Christian influencers end up obfuscating rather than nuancing.” There are times when Sprinkle walks a fine line between nuance and obfuscation. This is his style, to be fair, but it isn’t always particularly helpful.
Sprinkle unapologetically affirms that any sexual activity outside of marriage is sin. The book would benefit, however, from a chapter detailing what repentance from sexual sin looks like. This may seem obvious, but in a book that shows that what should be obvious often isn’t, it would be a helpful addition.
The book is best suited for those who wish to understand and carefully evaluate some of the strongest arguments in favour of same sex marriage. Those who wish to engage in simplistic, straw-man arguments, or who wish to argue about the validity of using language such as “gay Christian” will likely not be helped here.
Preston Sprinkle
Author
Dr. Preston Sprinkle is a biblical scholar, speaker, podcaster, a New York Times bestselling author, and is the co-founder and president of The Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender. He earned a Ph.D. in New Testament from Aberdeen University in Scotland (2007), and has taught theology at Cedarville University (OH), Nottingham University (U.K.), and Eternity Bible College (CA). But when he grows up, Preston’s dream is to move to a tropical island and become a professional surfer. Unfortunately, his surfing skills are sketchy at best.
Preston loves talking and writing about hot-button cultural and theological issues with thoughtfulness, honesty and grace. He is passionate about approaching topics that everyone wants to know about, but few are willing to talk honestly and graciously about. Topics like sexuality, gender, race, violence, patriotism, hell, politics, war, and what it means to follow a Jewish prophet-king who was executed for treason. He works hard to challenge himself and others to read the Bible with conviction and humility, while holding their predetermined beliefs loosely.