Franklin Graham has slammed Tim Kaine after the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate gave a speech in which he said his Roman Catholic faith is not at odds with his support of gay marriage.
During a speech delivered at the Human Rights Campaign's annual Washington, D.C. dinner, Kaine referenced Genesis 1 to argue that his support of LGBT rights does not conflict with Scripture and his Christian faith.
"As a devout Catholic, for a long time while I was battling for LGBT equality, I believed that marriage was something different," the Virginia Senator said, according to CBS News.
"I had a difficult time reconciling that reality with what I knew to be true from the evidence of my own life, with the teachings of the faith that I had been raised in for my entire life," he added.
Emphasizing that he does not believe homosexual acts are sinful according to the Bible, Kaine suggested that one day the Catholic Church may also come out in support of same-sex marriage.
"I think it's going to change because my church also teaches me about a creator who surveys the entire world, including mankind, and said it is very good," he said, according to The Associated Press.
In response, Graham, the president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse, took to Facebook to argue that Kaine's faulty thinking will not change the truth of the Gospel.
"Tim Kaine is hoping that the Catholic Church will turn its back on God's Word and accept the sinful political whims of our culture," the 64-year-old evangelist wrote. "He says he has 'evolved' in his beliefs about same-sex marriage and homosexuality. Well, his thinking, nor society's deteriorating moral attitudes, change the truth of God's Holy Word-it never changes or evolves."
The evangelist contended that Romans 1:18-32 is a "picture of where we are today". The verses reads, in part, "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools."
Graham went on to applaud the Catholic Church for holding fast to a Biblical definition of marriage: "I appreciate the Catholic Church remaining very strong on moral issues through the years, and I pray they will be immovable on the teachings of the Bible."
Another conservative leader, Dr. Michael Brown, also disputed Kaine's claim in an article published on Stream.org, arguing that Genesis 1 is clear about God's views on same-sex marriage.
"Sir, although you will find no support for your position anywhere in the Bible, the worst place you can go to argue your case is Genesis," wrote Brown, noting that in Genesis 1, God creates only two genders.
"As for Kaine's argument that when the Creator 'surveyed the entire world, including mankind [He] said, "It is very good,"' - meaning that homosexuality and bisexuality and more are all good - he seems to have forgotten that 'very good' was God's description of His creation before the fall, when sin entered the world."
Brown concluded: "Mrs. Clinton's running mate would do well to submit his thinking to the Scriptures rather than twisting the Scriptures to fit his thinking. It is the senator who must change, not the Word of God."
