The full quote, which Dr. Carson ascribes to his father, a Canadian minister, was "A text without a context is a pretext for a proof text."
So, it would appear that St Paul wasn't 'lecturing us' about homosexuality as we understand it today, but about those (who probably didn't identify as homosexual in the way we understand it today) expoiting prostitutes.
A "proof text" was originally a neutral term for the scriptural text that proved (or was seen to prove) a particular doctrine. However, the overuse and even abuse of proof texts (i.e., Quoting Out of Context as an Appeal to Authority) to defend practically any position eventually led to "proof text" taking on a mainly negative―sometimes even pejorative―connotation (Guilt by Association, anyone?).
You could imagine St Paul reacting to the horror among the citizens of Corinth that his biting criticiam caused. St Paul could have said, 'This is called honesty, as opposed to Mr-Nice-Guyness'.
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