Karl Barth's Role In Shaping Traditionalists' Arguments on Sexuality and Gender

One of the most prominent arguments used to oppose same-sex relationships stems from German theologian, Karl Barth. To frame marriage, Barth borrowed the concept “I and Thou” from Jewish thinker Martin Buber, but did so by superimposing the binary of male and female. He interpreted the plural in Genesis—“Let us make humankind in our image”(1:26)—as a reference to the Trinity. Thus, human beings reflect the image of God through relationality. But Barth didn’t stop by saying human beings are relational, which is certainly true. He went beyond that to say we reflect God’s relationality in the binary of male and female. This spiritualization of sex difference has been adopted by traditionalists as a primary argument to oppose same-sex relationships.

But here's the thing, six months before he died, Barth said he was revisiting his previous views. In fact, Barth’s spiritualization of sex difference has never had a basis in Scripture. Let me explain.