Leviticus about gays
Has 'Homosexual' Always Been in the Bible?
Reprinted with permission from The Forge Online
The pos “arsenokoitai” shows up in two other verses in the bible, but it was not translated to mean “homosexual” until 1946.
We got to sit down with Ed Oxford at his dwelling in Long Beach, California and converse about this ask.
You have been part of a investigate team that is seeking to realize how the verdict was made to put the synonyms homosexual in the bible. Is that true?
Ed: Yes. It first showed up in the RSV translation. So before figuring out why they decided to utilize that word in the RSV translation (which is outlined in my upcoming book with Kathy Baldock, Forging a Sacred Weapon: How the Bible Became Anti-Gay) I wanted to see how other cultures and translations treated the same verses when they were translated during the Reformation 500 years ago. So I started collecting old Bibles in French, German, Irish, Gaelic, Czechoslovakian, Polish… you call it. Now I’ve got most European major languages that I’ve collected over time. Anyway, I had a German companion come back to town and I asked if he could help me with some pa
Leviticus, Jesus, and Homosexuality: Some Thoughts on Honest Interpretation
Conservatives and liberals alike exploit the Bible to justify their political positions. Frequently, politicians take verses of Scripture out of their original context to prove whatever policy argument they wish to build. Consider, for example: "An eye for an eye" (to justify capital punishment); "The least of these" (in assist for government anti-poverty programs); "Blessed are the peacemakers" (the promotion of pacifism).[1]
One of the most striking examples is President Obama's utterance endorsing same-sex "marriage" based on the Golden Rule. On May 9, 2012, the President said:
[Michelle and I] are both practicing Christians and obviously this position may be considered to set us at odds with the views of others but, you know, when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we deliberate about is not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it's also the Golden Rule, you perceive, treat others the way you would want to be treated.[2]
Promoting a harmful public policy- which essentially is what the President has done- is an intellectually dishonest application of this ethical directive
The Bible on Homosexual Behavior
One way to argue against these passages is to make what I summon the “shellfish objection.” Keith Sharpe puts it this way: “Until Christian fundamentalists boycott shellfish restaurants, halt wearing poly-cotton T-shirts, and stone to death their wayward offspring, there is no obligation to eavesdrop to their diatribes about homosexuality being a sin” (The Gay Gospels, 21).
In other words, if we can disregard rules enjoy the ban on eating shellfish in Leviticus 11:12, then we should be allowed to disobey other prohibitions from the Aged Testament. But this argument confuses the Old Testament’s temporary ceremonial laws with its permanent moral laws.
Here’s an analogy to aide understand this distinction.
I think of two rules my mom gave me when I was young: hold her hand when I cross the street 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 protect me. In fact, it would now do me more harm than good.
Old Testament ritual/ceremonial laws were enjoy mom’s handholding rule. The reason they forbade the Israelites from using certain fabrics or foods, or interacting with bodily
Leviticus 18:22
“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”[1] It is not a surprise that this verse seems to say that gay male sex is forbidden in the eyes of God. The dominant view of western Christianity forbids queer 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 interpretation of what this passage means for the LGBTQ community. More specifically, it presents the interpretation of K. Renato Lings in which Lev. 18:22 refers to male-on-male incest.
While Lev. 18:22 is used to condemn homosexuality, we must realize that the term “homosexuality” was only recently coined in the English language. So did this designation exist 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 Neighboring East problem. The ancient Close East tradition included pederasty and relations between an older bloke and