Our children are precious. As a father, I worry about the predatory behaviors of grown adults over my children. My wife has regular conversations with our boys about what is appropriate, and inappropriate, behavior in relation to body parts and physical attraction. It behooves parents to educate and protect their children. Why? Because the world is out to get them!!

It’s clear that our culture wants to redefine human sexuality. Today, some are pushing for our children, as early as 3 years of age, to engage in conversations about their sexuality. For more read this:

Therefore, it is not surprising that some people are trying to make the case for pedophilia. For instance, professor David Finkelhor, from the University of New Hampshire, has been pushing for the normalization of pedophilia. He believes pedophilic “relationships” should be normalized and not be frowned upon.

To be clear, the Oxford Dictionary defines pedophilia as “Sexual feelings directed toward children.” Though the definition is too broad, it implies such sexual feelings are from adults toward children 13 and under. A Wikipedia defines it better, it explains, “Pedophilia (alternatevely spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children.

Professor Finkelhor, in other words is asking our society to recognize adult sexual attraction toward children to be accepted. Mary Margaret Olohan, writing for the Daily Wire, points out, “Further review of Finkelhor’s speech shows him repeatedly referring to an adult sexually preying on a child as a ‘relationship.’ He also repeatedly uses the word ‘voluntary’ to describe a child submitting to adult overtures.”

In January of 2022, Fox News reported news about an article from US Today written by Alia Dastagir titled “The Complicated Research behind Pedophilia.” The article was posted on Twitter, then taken down after fierce backlash. Nevertheless, it remains on US Today’s website. She begins her article with the following words,

Pedophilia is viewed as among the most horrifying social ills. But scientists who study the sexual disorder say it is also among the most misunderstood. When most of the public thinks of pedophilia, they assume it’s synonymous with child sexual abuse, a pervasive social problem that has exploded to crisis levels online. Researchers who study pedophilia say the term describes an attraction, not an action, and using it interchangeably with “abuse” fuels misperceptions.

What is there to be misunderstood? Pedophilia is horrible in all its manifestations. Sexual attraction toward minors is a gross distortion of human sexuality. Some would also argue that Pedophilia is a disorder and not a crime, such as Margo Kaplan, from the NY Times. Kaplan points out that, “The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines pedophilia as an intense and recurrent sexual interest in prepubescent children, and a disorder if it causes a person ‘marked distress or interpersonal difficulty’ or if the person acts on his interests. Yet our laws ignore pedophilia until after the commission of a sexual offense, emphasizing punishment, not prevention.” If pedophilia is a “recurrent” sexual interest toward prepubescent children…should it not be avoided altogether??

Kaplan tries to distinguish attraction to prepubescent children and the act of having sexual relations with children. In her article, she suggests that pedophilia is not a choice and tries to address the “stigma of pedophilia.” Pedophilia is definitely a disorder, it is a disorder of God’s intended design for human sexuality. It is a sin disorder of the gravest kind, and it should be completely frowned upon, not encouraged or soft-pedalled.

Another proponent over this issue is Dr Allyn Walker, of Old Dominion University, who argued for the use of the term “minor-attracted people” (MAPs) to describe people who are attracted to children. Walker, like Kaplan and others, try to make the case for sexual attraction of minors as something to be condoned. While they attempt to condemn pedophilic abuse, they argue pedophilic attraction is not to be frowned upon. They are wrong.

A Christian Response

Let me be clear, if you are an adult that struggles with sexual feelings toward children, please find help. However, do not try to justify your sexual attraction toward children. It is wrong. Christ can heal you from unwanted sexual desires and will forgive you of your sins if you have acted upon your desires.

The global church has had its share of controversies surrounding this issue. Priest, pastors, and church leaders have been caught and imprisoned over cases involving pedophilia. They deserved to be punished. Recently, Hillsong’s former pastor Brian Houston claimed he knew about his father’s pedophilic abuse. Pedophilia is unbiblical. It needs to be condemn.

Children are precious to the Lord Jesus (Luke 17:1-2). The problem is the our relativistic society is trying to redefine sexuality for our children. Some even staunchly defend the rights for children to define their own sexuality. Read more about it here:

In 2016, Dr. Michael Brown warned the Christian community about the dangers of the sexual revolution. In his book A Queer Thing Happened to America he also highlighted the slippery slope of the gay movement toward the normalization of pedophilia. Citing Louis Berman’s book, The Puzzle, he warned:

The Dutch lawyer Edward Brongersma wrote an article sympathetic to man-boy love. He cites (page 160) a report (Rossman, 1976) that “gives several examples of social workers achieving miracles with apparently incorrigible young delinquents — not by preaching to them, but by sleeping with them. Affection demonstrated by sexual arousal upon contact with the boy’s body, by obvious pleasure taken in giving pleasure to the boy, did far more good than years in reformatories.” Brongersma (page 160) tells of an Amsterdam juvenile judge who in a public speech “openly advocated this form of social therapy.” This is a sample of the persuasive case that man-boy lovers make to support their position.

If you are not worried about this egregious abuse of children, you may be on the wrong side of this debate. In another publication, Dr. Michael Brown offered eight main arguments used in support of pedophilia, which he believes are flawed:

  1. Pedophilia is innate and immutable; people are born this way and cannot change.
  2. Pederasty (sexual activity involving a man and a boy or youth) is richly attested in many different cultures throughout history.
  3. The claim that adult-child sexual relationships cause harm is greatly overstated and often completely inaccurate.
  4. Consensual adult-child sex can actually be beneficial to the child.
  5. Pederasty should not be classified as a mental disorder, since it does not cause distress to the pederast to have these desires and since the pederast can function as a normal, contributing member of society.
  6. Many of the illustrious homosexuals of the past were actually pedophiles.
  7. People are against intergenerational intimacy because of antiquated social standards and puritanical sexual phobias.
  8. This is all about love and equality and liberation.

Christians should be able to recognize the flaws in such arguments.

The Bible and Pedophilia

Dr. Grant C. Richison, author of Theology of Sex, writes, “Commingling by distortion of the natural order is also an issue about the family structure that needs clarification. Incest, homosexuality, bestiality, polygamy, transvestitism, and pedophilia are sins against God’s standards for the natural order.” God’s natural order is for two adults, within the context of marriage, to have the ability to manifest their sexual desires toward one another.

Does the Bible directly address pedophilia? No. There is no particular verse that condemns pedophilia. But neither is there any verse condemning the use of nuclear and biological weapons upon the innocent. Though the Bible is does not explicitly condemn pedophilia, it does imply the act of pedophilia is part of the fall, of human depravity.

Daniel R. Heimbach, in True Sexual Morality: Recovering Biblical Standards for a Culture in Crisis offers a really helpful summary on the issue of pedophilia:

Pedophilia, the act of sex between adults with children, is fast emerging in our culture as the next new boundary to attack in favor of sexual liberation. But while sex with children is never specifically mentioned in the Bible, it is nevertheless ruled out rather clearly by combining several other well established prohibitions. If an electric fence surrounds a building with signs saying “No Trespassing,” there is no special need to also add “but if you trespass anyway, then do not walk on the grass.” Why? Because the first prohibition implies the second as well. So, while pedophilia is not explicitly prohibited in scripture, it is prohibited in a very strong implicit sense. The electric fence in front of God’s prohibition of pedophitia is the combination cr prohibitions against sex outside of marriage, against homosexual sex, and against sex with any near relative. When these are taken together, it is impossible for adults to have unmarried sex with children under any circumstance. Pedophilia is totally prohibited. 

Now, it is interesting to note the Bible never gives a fixed age limit for morally approved sex between a male and female who are married to each other. In this case the only moral boundary that matters in the absolute sense is heterosexual marriage to a person who is not a near relative. Beyond that, age differences are governed by prudence, which includes selfless concern for the lifelong health and welfare of a marriage partner. The last word on God’s prohibition of pedophilia, however, was given by Jesus, who sharply warned adults against ever corrupting children. He explained that adults dealing with children are dealing also with him (Matt. 18:5; Mark 9:37), and revealed that every child has a guardian angel who sees “the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 18:10). And the most stern warning Jesus ever gave was directed at adults who lead children into sin. To these Jesus said. “whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea” (v. 6).

The Bible’s indirect prohibition of pedophilia is related to the value of keeping sex exclusive, fruitful, selfless and complementary. A commitment to these biblical values serves to ensure that sexual relationships are always truly unique (are not shared around), truly productive (are not simply consumed), truly loving in a self-sacrificing way (do not merely use another person for self-gratification), and truly unite corresponding differences (do not combine partners not truly fit or suitable for one another) –– Heimbach, pp. 175-178.

Sexual purity is paramount for personal holiness. Christians must seek to toward holiness, including sexual purity. However, Christ followers must also hold the line for purity in the cultures where they live. We must also protect our children from the predations of adults who seek to do them harm or have untoward desires toward them. There is no justification to support pedophilia at any level whatsoever.

Written by Daniel Messina