Expert: Dr Tim Gladu - 8/24/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I'm Davis. I am 14 years old and I have flipped between Agnosticism and Atheism since I was about 11. I was raised in the Episcopal Church (my parents are devout Christians). I just had some questions about Christian beliefs and God.

First off, what exactly is the view most Christians have on homosexuality?  I'm pretty sure it says in the Bible that if you engage in homosexual intercourse than it is sinful but if your simply gay its not.

Second, what about animals and heaven? I know they don't worship Jesus or God or anything, but thats because they don't have brains that are developed enough to believe it.

Third, when a non-Christian dies, do they still go to heaven if they believe in God?

My final query is very casual. Have you seen or heard of the movie Religulous with Bill Maher? Have you seen it? Just wondering.

I meant no offense with any of these questions to anyone that may read them, I am simply curious. Thanks!

-Davis

ANSWER: Davis,

Thank you for having the maturity and courage to ask some very hard questions.

The mind is where the sin begins. To actually engage in what you have thought is the act of the thought, but the thought is the biginning of the sin. If you are gay and you choose to remain single and not engage in the perverted act of being with the same sex then I believe God will honor your strength, just as he honors people that remain a virgin until marriage.

I have never seen anything about animals in heaven because God is concerned about all His creation and man is honored above all other creatures. He wants us to come to him and to ask for His forgiveness and accept Him as Savior. An animal has no ability to as or accept the grace of God so you can take that for what it is. Animals were put here to make sure that people had something to eat and also to assist us in other things such as transportation and I believe companionship.

The one way to Heaven is through Christ. I am not God so I am not going to be so bold as to say what happens to someone who has never been introduced to the Word of God or has never heard of Christ. God is not someone who I believe we as humans can ever truly figure out. We can take the Word of God to the world and try to reach all the people in the world. Knowing that God is love I have to believe that there are people and places in the world that the Bible has not come to and those people that have never known Christ could still know God and what he is. Humans are connected to God no matter what out knowledge is of God. I believe that God has made a provision for those who never get to hear about Christ and what He did for us.

I have not seen the movie and I think that Bill Maher is trying to make a name for himself by insulting all people that believe in God. He has made fun of all people of faith and that is his choice. God will judge him as He will judge all of us. Remember as a Christian you are to tell people about Christ and let them decide. We are not to judge others or even to worry about their salvation. We are to be a witness and let them decide. The Holy Spirit will be the one that will affect their heart and the change in their lives.

You have to make your own decision about Christ and if you want to go to Heaven or Hell. That is your choice because God wants willing people to come to Him and to ask forgiveness. If you choose that with the knowledge of God and what you know decide that you do not want to believe then you have made a choice.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your answers, but unfortunately they raised more questions of mine :D

So if we say God created everything, or set events into motion that lead us to where we are today, then he will have also created homosexuality, which is a sin?  That is something that confuses me.

Also, some Christian friends of mine have mentioned how without the Ten Commandments we would not really be aware that killing is bad. Does that mean without God morality would not exist?

I meant no offense with any of these questions to anyone that may read them, I am simply curious (again). Thanks! (again)

-Davis

Answer
I can understand where you would be confused many people are. God created us in his image. He meant for us to be perfect and to live with Him in the garden forever. When man chose to disobey God is when we brought sin into the world. We created all the problems in the world when we brought sin into it. God did not create sin we sinned and so we brought death and destruction on ourselves. Christ came to take the sin of the world on Himself so we would be saved from the judgment of sin which is death. God created the Angel that would become Satan. Many would say that the Devil has to exist for God to exist and that is just not true. God existed before anything else and created the universe. He spoke it into existence. Satan was with God and because of pride Satan fell and when he did he took many other angels with him. I am going to give you some verses specific to homosexuality. I want you to read the entire passage around these verses so you may gain some understanding to what is meant here.

Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.  (Leviticus 18:22)

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight?  Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."  Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, "No, my friends.  Don't do this wicked thing."  (Genesis 19:5-7)

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts.  Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.  (Romans 1:26)

In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another.  (Romans 1:27)

Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.  (Romans 1:27)

The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it.  Woe to them!  They have brought disaster upon themselves.  (Isaiah 3:9)

For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths.  (Proverbs 5:21)

No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.  No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.  (1 John 3:6)

In reference to the other question about morality. The levitican law including the ten commandants were important to giving people some kind of Morales. When people were left to their own before the flood they kind of lost their way. God was distraught that we were even created and destroyed all but Noah and his family. God and the belief in God I am sure has given us morality, but look at some of the eastern culture they also have a sense of morality but they do not believe in God. They have their own beliefs on the afterlife and they really do not have Heaven. The religions that believe in heaven are the Christian, Jew and Muslim. That is the common thread that the monotheistic religions believe. One God.