I'm sure you've heard the following two popular lines of thought regarding homosexuality: 1) Jesus never mentioned it so we shouldn't either; 2) Leviticus sure has some weird stuff to say about eating oysters and stoning witches so we sure can't trust what it said about sexual morality.

In an interview, the brilliant novelist and essayist Marilynne Robinson trotted out both of those arguments. In response, Wesley Hill, who reveres Robinson as a writer, argues that no Christian he's aware of bases his or her views on the morality of same-sex sexual partnerships on Leviticus alone.

Hill writes, "The reason Leviticus remains a part of the ongoing Christian conversation on these matters is that the New Testament exhibits a certain continuity with the Old Testament's prohibition of same-sex sexual behavior." Hill adds, "Robinson's answer here suggests that Jesus knew of many same-sex couples and remained silent on the ethical status of their relationships. The implication, it seems, is that if Jesus saw no need to carry forward Leviticus' explicit prohibitions of same-sex sexual behavior, then neither should Christians today. Leaving aside the myth of a sexually tolerant Jesus that Robinson's answer conjures, we have here—again—a misunderstanding about how traditional Christians form their ethical convictions."

Editor’s Note: Read the whole article. It's a concise and compelling dismantling of that all-too-familiar line of thought.