Homosexuality is a sin scripture
Leviticus
“You shall not rest with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”[1] It is not a surprise that this verse seems to say that queer male sex is forbidden in the eyes of God. The dominant view of western Christianity forbids same-sex relations. This verse is one of the clobber passages that people cite from the Bible to condemn homosexuality. This essay first looks at the various ways the verse is translated into the English Bible and then explores some of the strategies used to create an affirming meaning of what this corridor means for the LGBTQ community. More specifically, it presents the interpretation of K. Renato Lings in which Lev. refers to male-on-male incest.
While Lev. is used to condemn homosexuality, we must realize that the term “homosexuality” was only recently coined in the English language. So did this term occur in ancient Israel? Charles D. Myers, Jr. confirms that none of the prophets in the Hebrew Bible mention homosexuality.[2] He also contends that in ancient Israel same-sex relations were viewed as an ancient Near East obstacle. The anc
This article is part of the Tough Passages series.
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24Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged innate relations for those that are hostile to nature; 27and the men likewise gave up organic relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.29They were filled with all style of unrighteousness, wicked, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, dis
The Bible on Homosexual Behavior
One way to argue against these passages is to make what I call the “shellfish objection.” Keith Sharpe puts it this way: “Until Christian fundamentalists boycott shellfish restaurants, stop wearing poly-cotton T-shirts, and stone to death their wayward offspring, there is no obligation to listen to their diatribes about homosexuality being a sin” (The Gay Gospels, 21).
In other words, if we can disregard rules like the bar on eating shellfish in Leviticus , then we should be allowed to disobey other prohibitions from the Old Testament. But this argument confuses the Elderly Testament’s temporary ceremonial laws with its permanent moral laws.
Here’s an analogy to help understand this distinction.
I remember two rules my mom gave me when I was young: hold her hand when I cross the highway and don’t drink what’s under the sink. Today, I possess to follow only the latter rule, since the former is no longer needed to defend me. In fact, it would now do me more damage than good.
Old Testament ritual/ceremonial laws were like mom’s handholding command. The rea
Was Homosexuality the Sin of Sodom and Gomorrah?
The aged man then responds just as Lot did, saying in verses 23 and 24, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t undertake this outrageous thing. Glare, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can apply them and do to them whatever you want. But as for this man, don’t do such an outrageous thing.”
Unfortunately, with no angels present this time to stop the attack, the men in Gibeah are able to carry out their plans. Verse 25 horrifyingly tells us that “the bloke took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they allow her go.” But she didn’t survive the unfeeling sexual violence. As the next verses explain, in the morning, the Levite found her lying gone in the doorway.
This is among the most horrific stories in the Ancient Testament, and it’s doomed to read it without feeling sick to your stomach. But as gruesome and disturbing as it is, it provides us with a clear picture of what the men of Sodom h