Romans 1:26-27

The context

Paul's opening argument in Romans moves from what can be known of God in creation to the exchange of worship for images, then to the consequences he describes as God giving people over to their desires. Verses 26-27 are the specific instance he names, and the passage continues into a longer list.

What it establishes

It establishes that Paul regarded same-sex sexual relations as a departure from the created order he has just described, and that he frames it as one item in a wider indictment. The language of exchange and of being handed over carries the argument's weight.

What it does not establish

It does not speak to orientation as a category. The passage is disputed in interpretation, both as to what nature means and as to how the list functions in Paul's rhetoric; those who read it differently argue from the text. It addresses acts.

Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.

Cited in these answers

• So you believe in a book full of contradictions, one that endorses slavery, incest, murder, drowning babies, genocide and stoning homosexuals?

Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.