Plato And Marriage Equality

I want to continue with the theme I wrote about last week—same-sex marriage. Specifically I want to write about Plato verses the Bible. When God created man and woman He said “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him (Genesis 1:18).” And then God made Eve, a woman, and brought her to Adam. God could have brought Adam another man or He could have brought him into a relationship with an animal. But God gave the man a woman. A most excellent gift!

The argument for same-sex marriage equality has a lot more to do with the Greek philosopher Plato than with the Bible. The argument that you hear from many homosexuals, “I was made this way” is an argument taken right from Plato. In his work Symposium, Plato explores an alternative explanation for the origin of mankind and gender. Rather than the biblical assessment that mankind was created with two genders—male and female—Plato suggests a three-gender origin (male-male, female-female, and male-female) that explains both heterosexual and homosexual orientations. He wrote,

“In the first place, let me treat of the nature of man and what has happened to it; for the original human nature was not like the present, but different. The sexes were not two as they are now, but originally three in number; there was man, woman, and the union of the two, having a name corresponding to this double nature, which had once a real existence, but is now lost.”

Plato describes these humans as “terrible” in might and strength. These humans were two-sided (two faces, two sets of legs and arms, etc). After they waged a war against the gods, Zeus decided to humble mankind by cutting them in half. This effectively reduced mankind to the two genders we know today, but according to Plato, many still unknowingly long for his original state.  Therefore you have homosexual attraction.

According to Plato, when two halves meet and recognize the unexplainable love they have for one another, they have no choice but to spend their whole lives together. Based on this logic, proponents of same-sex marriage claim it is against nature to deny marriage to such soul-mates. Thus, the homosexual who says “I was made this way and I want someone like me.” Scripture says in effect, “No, you were not. Your homosexual desire is a distortion of what is normal” (Romans 1:18-27)

When God created man and woman, He created them equal. They were created in His image (Genesis 1:27) and together they were to “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it (Genesis 1:28).” God created man and woman to complement one another and to fully satisfy one another. They were also to produce children. A man and a man cannot do this; neither can a woman and a woman. Same sex marriage is therefore a misguided, distorted attempt to replicate what God intended for men and women. Marriage equality and satisfaction therefore is produced when men and women follow God’s ideal plan for what is good.

Sadly, the first man and woman did not follow God’s plan completely. And when they sinned it brought wrong attitudes and desires into the human heart. Some of these desires fall into the realm of sex and relationships. Others struggle with greed, anger, jealousy, etc. We all struggle because we are all sinners. Sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4), which is essentially wanting to do things our own way. When the prophet Isaiah foretold the sacrificial work of Christ he wrote, “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6).”

In our society today there are those who creatively try to explain away sinful desires. They are doing what Plato did. Actually, we have all done it at times in our lives on many issues. But right now the big societal example is advocating for the equality of same-sex marriage. In doing this society wants to go its own way, the way of Plato and not God’s way. People have done this for 6000 years, but think of all the heartache, sorrows, pains and tears sin has brought upon us.

Today some people feel that unless homosexuals are granted the marriage equality of heterosexual couples they are being oppressed. But when a moral wrong is turned into a so called civil right all of society suffers for it. This does not mean it is acceptable to oppress homosexuals. It is not right to oppress any sinner; liar, thief or whatever. No one is justified to throw the first stone. But we are justified in speaking the truth; in holding forth God’s Word