Paul on Homosexuality
Homosexuality is one of the most hotly debated religious issues of our time.  The debate is consuming a lot of time, energy, and money.  It is even ripping longstanding denominations apart.  Yet, there is only one unequivocal reference to homosexuality in the Greek New Testament, and that is in Romans 1.  Ironically, this reference to homosexuality is contained within a Biblical passage that has befuddled theologians for the last 2,000 years, since the very birth of the Christian faith.One of today's great Biblical scholars, Dr. Richard N. Longenecker, describes the issue this way: "The interpretation of Romans 1:18-3:20 has been notoriously difficult for almost every commentator....  Earlier interpreters such as Origen, Jerome, Augustine, and Erasmus wrestled with this issue, and it continues to plague commentators today."  Why is Romans 1:18-3:20 such a mystery?  Dr. Longenecker explains, "No one being able to be declared righteous by observing the law (Romans 3:20) is clear, [yet] there are four texts in Romans 2 that seem to espouse a theology of salvation by works or by obedience to the Mosaic Law."Over the last two millennia, various theories have been offered to reconcile Romans 1:18-3:20 (the only passage that contains an unequivocal reference to homosexuality).  Yet no one, literally no one, had been able to explain Paul's message in a way that accounts for every sentence in the passage.  Every theory proposed has contradicted at least one part of the passage.  For example, Romans 2:13 basically says that only those who keep the entire Law will be vindicated before God.  John Calvin, the founder of Baptist doctrine, hypothesized that Paul meant that no one can be found who has kept the entire Law.  The problem is that, in the very next sentence (Romans 2:14), Paul gives an example of those who keep the entire Law and are justified before God for doing so.  Calvin joined the long list of commentators who were unable to reconcile every sentence of this mysterious passage.As a cryptographer, I love unsolvable puzzles.  I have been blessed in my lifetime to have solved a number of previously unsolved puzzles in a variety of fields: in cryptography (by designing one of the only unbreakable codes in existence today);  in data communications (by building an artificial intelligence system that accurately deduces how an entire world-wide network is physically wired together);  in neurology (by making a system that monitors the real-time activity of the nervous system branch that is responsible for all recuperative and healing functions);  etc.  Each of these successes was based upon first resolving a previously unsolved issue.  Each issue had befuddled those in the respective fields for a very long time.  So it was only natural that I applied the same discipline to the Romans 1:18-3:20 issue that I was so deeply familiar with.Having grown up in an evangelical Christian household as a PK (Preacher's Kid), I literally fell in love with the Bible.  I even memorized Paul's letter to the Romans word for word.  I knew the Romans 1:18-3:20 paradox quite intimately.  A few years ago, I had the good fortune of totally and completely solving the paradox.  I had discovered a single explanation that accounts for every sentence in the passage.  This was the first time in 2,000 years that this had been accomplished.  I published the solution in The Jesus Secret.  The discovery served as the basis of my later work,Breaking the Romans Code.The historic resolution of the paradox has tremendous implications.  No longer are multiple "theologies" acceptable.  There is only one solution to the paradox.  Any theology that doesn't resolve the paradox isn't a viable alternative; it is simply wrong.  The resolution of the paradox inherently proves what Paul's message was in Romans 1:18-3:20.  The 2000-year-old question has been answered.  The theological game is over.While I revealed the full answer to the paradox inThe Jesus SecretandBreaking the Romans Code, I didn't spend a great amount of time dealing with the implications of this discovery as it relates to homosexuality, an integral part of the passage.  The present work,Paul on Homosexuality, has been written to rectify this.  The solution to the 2000-year-old mystery incidentally reveals the historical Paul's view of homosexual relationships.  Quite surprisingly, the resolution of the paradox proves that traditional Christianity's misunderstanding of Romans 1:18-3:20 resulted in a misunderstanding of Paul's view on homosexual relationships.  Now, with the definitive solution to the paradox, this is about to change.To those who want to know what the historical Paul actually taught about homosexual relationships:  Welcome.