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The Bible is a book about God -- not a book about human sexuality.
The Bible is the story of God's love for the world and the people of the world. It tells the history of God's love at work
rescuing, renewing, and empowering humankind. It was never intended to be a book about human sexuality. Certainly, you will
agree.
In fact, the Bible accepts sexual practices that we condemn and condemns sexual practices that we accept. Lots of them! Here
are a few examples.
* DEUTERONOMY 22:13-21
If it is discovered that a bride is not a virgin, the Bible demands that she be executed by stoning immediately.
* DEUTERONOMY 22:22
If a married person has sex with someone else's husband or wife, the Bible commands that both adulterers be stoned to death.
* MARK 10:1-12
Divorce is strictly forbidden in both Testaments, as is remarriage of anyone who has been divorced.
* LEVITICUS 18:19
The Bible forbids a married couple from having sexual intercourse during a woman's period. If they disobey, both shall be
executed.
* MARK 12:18-27
If a man dies childless, his widow is ordered by biblical law to have intercourse with each of his brothers in turn until
she bears her deceased husband a male heir.
* DEUTERONOMY 25:11-12
If a man gets into a fight with another man and his wife seeks to rescue her husband by grabbing the enemy's genitals, her
hand shall be cut off and no pity shall be shown her.
I'm certain you don't agree with these teachings from the Bible about sex. And you shouldn't. The list goes on: The Bible
says clearly that sex with a prostitute is acceptable for the husband but not for the wife. Polygamy (more than one wife)
is acceptable, as is a king's having many concubines. (Solomon, the wisest king of all, had 1,000 concubines.) Slavery and
sex with slaves, marriage of girls aged 11-13, and treatment of women as property are all accepted practices in the Scriptures.
On the other hand, there are strict prohibitions against interracial marriage, birth control, discussing or even naming a
sexual organ, and seeing one's parents nude.
First, what does the text say about God that we need to hear but might be missing?
Second, what might the text be saying about homosexuality?
PASSAGE 1
GENESIS 2:21-25
THE CREATION STORY
Let's start "In the Beginning..." What does the creation story in Genesis 1-2 say about God?
I'm so tired of reading signs carried by protesters that say: "It's about Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve." In fact, the
creation story is as important to Adam and Steve as it is Adam and Eve. Gays and non-gays alike need to know and celebrate
the truth at the center of this story.
This creation story is primarily about God, a story written to show the power of God who created the world and everything
in it. It teaches us that ultimately God is our Creator, that God shaped us, and that God said, "It's good." Isn't this the
heart of the text?
Now what does the creation story say about homosexuality? Because the text says it is "natural" that a man and a woman come
together to create a new life, some people think this means gay or lesbian couples are "unnatural." They read this interpretation
into the text, even though the text is silent about all kinds of relationships that don't lead to having children:
* couples who are unable to have children
* couples who are too old to have children
* Anti-gay protest couples who choose not to have children
* people who are single
Are these relationships (or lack of relationships) "unnatural"? There's nothing said here that condemns or approves the love
that people of the same sex have for each other.
So I believe the creation story says a lot about God's power and presence in the universe -- but nothing about homosexuality
as we understand it today.
PASSAGE 2
GENESIS 19:1-14
THE STORY OF SODOM
Now let's consider the second biblical text used by some people to condemn God's gay children. You remember the ancient story
of Sodom. First, what does the story of Sodom in Genesis 19 say about God?
Once again, this story is not primarily about sex. It is primarily about God. Some people say the city of Sodom was destroyed
because it was overrun by sexually obsessed homosexuals. In fact, the city of Sodom had been doomed to destruction long before.
So what is this passage really about?
Jesus and five Old Testament prophets all speak of the sins that led to the destruction of Sodom -- and not one of them mentions
homosexuality. Even Billy Graham doesn't mention homosexuality when he preaches on Sodom.
Listen to what Ezekiel 16:48-49 tell us: "This is the sin of Sodom; she and her suburbs had pride, excess of food, and prosperous
ease, but did not help or encourage the poor and needy. They were arrogant and this was abominable in God's eyes."
Today, heterosexuals and homosexuals alike do well to remember that we break God's heart when we spend all we earn on ourselves,
when we forget the poor and hungry, when we refuse to do justice or show mercy, when we leave strangers at the gate.
I admit, there are a lot of gay folk who are Sodomites (and a lot of straight folk as well). Sodomites are rich and don't
share what they have with the poor. Sodomites have plenty and want more. While millions are hungry, homeless, and sick, Sodomites
rush to build bigger homes, buy bigger cars, and own more property -- putting their trust in safer stock portfolios and more
secure retirement accounts.
Whatever teaching about sexuality you might get out of this passage, be sure to hear this central, primary truth about God
as well. God has called us do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our Creator. Sodom was destroyed because its people
didn't take God seriously about caring for the poor, the hungry, the homeless, or the outcast.
But what does the story of Sodom say about homosexual orientation as we understand it today? Nothing.
It was common for soldiers, thieves, and bullies to rape a fallen enemy, asserting their victory by dehumanizing and demeaning
the vanquished. This act of raping an enemy is about power and revenge, not about homosexuality or homosexual orientation.
And it is still happening.
In August 1997, Abner Louima, a young black immigrant from Haiti, was assaulted by several police officers after he was arrested
in Brooklyn. Officer Charles Schwarz held Louima down in a restroom at the precinct, while Officer Justin Volpe rammed a broken
stick into Louima's rectum. These two men and the three other officers involved in this incident and its cover-up were not
gay. This was not a homosexual act. It was about power.
The sexual act that occurs in the story of Sodom is a gang rape -- and homosexuals oppose gang rape as much as anyone. That's
why I believe the story of Sodom says a lot about God's will for each of us, but nothing about homosexuality as we understand
it today.
PASSAGE 3
LEVITICUS 18:22 AND 20:13
THE HOLINESS CODE
Let's move on. What do the two verses sometimes cited from Leviticus say about God?
Leviticus 18:6 reads: "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female. It is an abomination." A similar verse occurs
two chapters later, in Leviticus 20:13: "A man who sleeps with another man is an abomination and should be executed." On the
surface, these words could leave you feeling rather uneasy, especially if you are gay. But just below the surface is the deeper
truth about God -- and it has nothing to do with sex.
Leviticus is a holiness code written 3,000 years ago. This code includes many of the outdated sexual laws we mentioned earlier,
and a lot more. It also includes prohibitions against round haircuts, tattoos, working on the Sabbath, wearing garments of
mixed fabrics, eating pork or shellfish, getting your fortune told, and even playing with the skin of a pig. (There goes football!)
So what's a holiness code? It's a list of behaviors that people of faith find offensive in a certain place and time. In this
case, the code was written for priests only, and its primary intent was to set the priests of Israel over and against priests
of other cultures.
What about this word abomination that comes up in both passages? In Hebrew, "abominations" (TO'EBAH) are behaviors that people
in a certain time and place consider tasteless or offensive. To the Jews an abomination was not a law, not something evil
like rape or murder forbidden by the Ten Commandments. It was a common behavior by non-Jews that Jews thought was displeasing
to God.
Jesus and Paul both said the holiness code in Leviticus does not pertain to Christian believers. Nevertheless, there are still
people who pull the two verses about men sleeping together from this ancient holiness code to say that the Bible seems to
condemn homosexuality.
But wait, before we go any further, let's ask: What does this text say about God? Even if the old holiness codes no longer
apply to us as Christians, it's important to remember that in every age, people of faith are responsible for setting moral
and ethical standards that honor God. But we people of faith must be very careful not to allow our own prejudices to determine
what those standards should be.
Instead of selecting one item from an ancient Jewish holiness code and using it to condemn sexual or gender minorities, let's
talk together about setting sexual standards that please God -- standards appropriate for heterosexuals and homosexuals alike,
standards based on loving concern, health, and wholeness for ourselves and for others.
Now what do the Leviticus passages say about homosexuality?
I'm convinced those passages say nothing about homosexuality as we understand it today. Here's why. Consider this single Bible
passage that was used for centuries to condemn masturbation:
"He spilled his seed on the ground... And the thing which Onan did displeased the Lord: wherefore he slew him also" (Genesis
38:9-10).
For Jewish writers of Scripture, a man sleeping with another man was an abomination. But it was also an abomination (and one
worthy of death) to masturbate or even to interrupt coitus (to halt sex with your spouse before ejaculation as an act of birth
control). Why were these sexual practices considered abominations by Scripture writers in these ancient times?
Because the Hebrew pre-scientific understanding was that the male semen contained the whole of life. With no knowledge of
eggs and ovulation, it was assumed that the man's sperm contained the whole child and that the woman provided only the incubating
space. Therefore, the spilling of semen without possibility of having a child was considered murder.
The Jews were a small tribe struggling to populate a country. They were outnumbered by their enemy. You can see why these
ancient people felt it was an abomination to risk "wasting" even a single child. But the passage says nothing about homosexuality
as we understand it today.
The Apostle Paul We've talked about the passages in the Hebrew Scriptures that are used (or misused) by some people to condemn
sexual minorities. Now let's look at three verses from the letters of the apostle Paul in the Christian Scriptures that are
used the same way. Remember: First, we'll ask what the text says about God; second, we'll consider what it may or may not
say about sexual orientation.
PASSAGE 4
ROMANS 1:26-27
NATURAL AND UNNATURAL
What does Romans 1:26-27 say about God?
For our discussion, this is the most controversial biblical passage of them all. In Romans 1:26-27 the apostle Paul describes
non-Jewish women who exchange "natural use for unnatural" and non-Jewish men who "leave the natural use of women, working
shame with each other."
This verse appears to be clear: Paul sees women having sex with women and men having sex with men, and he condemns that practice.
But let's go back 2,000 years and try to understand why.
Paul is writing this letter to Rome after his missionary tour of the Mediterranean. On his journey Paul had seen great temples
built to honor Aphrodite, Diana, and other fertility gods and goddesses of sex and passion instead of the one true God the
apostle honors. Apparently, these priests and priestesses engaged in some odd sexual behaviors -- including castrating themselves,
carrying on drunken sexual orgies, and even having sex with young temple prostitutes (male and female) -- all to honor the
gods of sex and pleasure.
The Bible is clear that sexuality is a gift from God. Our Creator celebrates our passion. But the Bible is also clear that
when passion gets control of our lives, we're in deep trouble.
When we live for pleasure, when we forget that we are God's children and that God has great dreams for our lives, we may end
up serving the false gods of sex and passion, just as they did in Paul's time. In our obsession with pleasure, we may even
walk away from the God who created us -- and in the process we may cause God to abandon all the great dreams God has for our
lives.
Did these priests and priestesses get into these behaviors because they were lesbian or gay? I don't think so. Did God abandon
them because they were practicing homosexuals? No. Read the text again.
In our Soulforce video, There's a Wideness in God's Mercy, the Rev. Dr. Louis B. Smedes, a distinguished Christian author
and ethicist, describes exactly how the Bible says these promiscuous priests and priestesses got into this mess. Once again
it has nothing to do with homosexuality:
SMEDES: "The people Paul had in mind refused to acknowledge and worship God, and for this reason were abandoned by God. And
being abandoned by God, they sank into sexual depravity."
SMEDES: "The homosexuals I know have not rejected God at all; they love God and they thank God for his grace and his gifts.
How, then, could they have been abandoned to homosexuality as a punishment for refusing to acknowledge God?"
SMEDES: "Nor have the homosexuals that I know given up heterosexual passions for homosexual lusts. They have been homosexual
from the moment of their earliest sexual stirrings. They did not change from one orientation to another; they just discovered
that they were homosexual. It would be unnatural for most homosexuals to have heterosexual sex."
SMEDES: "And the homosexual people I know do not lust after each other any more than heterosexual people do... their love
for one another is likely to be just as spiritual and personal as any heterosexual love can be."
Thank you, Dr. Smedes. (To get a copy of the video featuring Dr. Smedes, There's a Wideness in God's Mercy, visit www.soulforce.org.)
Getting to know a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender person of faith will help you realize that it is unreasonable (and
unjust) to compare our love for each other to the rituals of the priests and priestesses who pranced around the statues of
Aphrodite and Diana. Once again, I feel certain this passage says a lot about God, but nothing about homosexuality as we understand
it.
You'll also note that Romans 2 begins with "Therefore, [referring to Romans 1], you have no excuse, whoever you are, when
you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself..." Even after he describes the disturbing practices
he has seen, Paul warns us that judging others is God's business, not ours.
PASSAGES 5 AND 6
1 CORINTHIANS 6:9 AND 1 TIMOTHY 1:10
THE MYSTERY OF "MALOKOIS" AND "ARSENOKOITAI"
Now what do the writings of Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10 say, first, about God, and then about homosexuality?
These are the last two places in the Bible that seem to refer to same-sex behavior. We can combine them because they are so
similar.
Moses holding the ten commandments Paul is exasperated. The Christians in Ephesus and Corinth are fighting among themselves.
(Sound familiar?) In Corinth they're even suing one another in secular courts. Paul shouts across the distance, "You are breaking
God's heart by the way you are treating one another."
Like any good writer, Paul anticipates their first question: "Well, how are we supposed to treat one another?" Paul answers,
"You know very well how to treat one another from the Jewish law written on tablets of stone."
The Jewish law was created by God to help regulate human behavior. To remind the churches in Corinth and Ephesus how God wants
us to treat one another, Paul recites examples from the Jewish law first. Don't kill one another. Don't sleep with a person
who is married to someone else. Don't lie or cheat or steal. The list goes on to include admonitions against fornication,
idolatry, whoremongering, perjury, drunkenness, revelry, and extortion. He also includes "malokois" and "arsenokoitai."
Here's where the confusion begins. What's a malokois? What's an arsenokoitai? Actually, those two Greek words have confused
scholars to this very day. We'll say more about them later, when we ask what the texts say about sex. But first let's see
what the texts say about God.
After quoting from the Jewish law, Paul reminds the Christians in Corinth that they are under a new law: the law of Jesus,
a law of love that requires us to do more than just avoid murder, adultery, lying, cheating, and stealing. Paul tells them
what God wants is not strict adherence to a list of laws, but a pure heart, a good conscience, and a faith that isn't phony.
That's the lesson we all need to learn from these texts. God doesn't want us squabbling over who is "in" and who is "out."
God wants us to love one another. It's God's task to judge us. It is NOT our task to judge one another.
So what do these two texts say about homosexuality? Are gays and lesbians on that list of sinners in the Jewish law that Paul
quotes to make an entirely different point?
Greek scholars say that in first century the Greek word malaokois probably meant "effeminate call boys." The New Revised Standard
Version says "male prostitutes."
As for arsenokoitai, Greek scholars don't know exactly what it means -- and the fact that we don't know is a big part of this
tragic debate. Some scholars believe Paul was coining a name to refer to the customers of "the effeminate call boys." We might
call them "dirty old men." Others translate the word as "sodomites," but never explain what that means.
In 1958, for the first time in history, a person translating that mysterious Greek word into English decided it meant homosexuals,
even though there is, in fact, no such word in Greek or Hebrew. But that translator made the decision for all of us that placed
the word homosexual in the English-language Bible for the very first time.
In the past, people used Paul's writings to support slavery, segregation, and apartheid. People still use Paul's writings
to oppress women and limit their role in the home, in church, and in society.
Now we have to ask ourselves, "Is it happening again?" Is a word in Greek that has no clear definition being used to reflect
society's prejudice and condemn God's gay children?
We all need to look more closely at that mysterious Greek word arsenokoitai in its original context. I find most convincing
the argument from history that Paul is condemning the married men who hired hairless young boys (malakois) for sexual pleasure
just as they hired smooth-skinned young girls for that purpose.
Responsible homosexuals would join Paul in condemning anyone who uses children for sex, just as we would join anyone else
in condemning the threatened gang rape in Sodom or the behavior of the sex-crazed priests and priestesses in Rome. So, once
again, I am convinced that this passage says a lot about God, but nothing about homosexuality as we understand it today.
Article in parts taken from www.soulforce.org and doesn't necessarily reflect the opinions of LFF in part or in whole
for more info. on this article please visit the author at the address mentioned above.
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