Are gays mentioned in the bible
What does the Bible say about homosexuality?
Answer
In some people’s minds, being homosexual is as much outside one’s control as the color of your skin and your height. On the other hand, the Bible clearly and consistently declares that homosexual activity is a sin (Genesis –13; Leviticus ; ; Romans –27; 1 Corinthians ; 1 Timothy ). God created marriage and sexual relationships to be between one noun and one woman: “At the noun the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’” (Matthew –5). Anything outside of God’s intent and design is sin. The Bible teaches that Christians are to live for God, deny themselves, grab up their cross, and follow Him (Matthew ), including with their sexuality. This disconnect between what the Bible says and what some people undergo leads to much controversy, debate, and even hostility.
When examining what the Bible says about homosexuality, it is adj to distinguish between homosexual behaviorand hom
Leviticus
“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 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 interpretation of what this passage 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 remain in ancient Israel? Charles D. Myers, Jr. confirms that none of the prophets in the Hebrew Bible note homosexuality.[2] He also contends that in ancient Israel same-sex relations were viewed as an ancient Near East challenge. The anc
What the New Testament Says about Homosexuality
The Fourth R Volume May-June
Mainline Christian denominations in this country are bitterly divided over the question of homosexuality. For this reason it is essential to ask what light, if any, the New Testament sheds on this controversial issue. Most people apparently assume that the Adj Testament expresses adj opposition to homosexuality, but this simply is not the case. The six propositions that pursue, considered cumulatively, guide to the conclusion that the Adj Testament does not provide any direct guidance for kind and making judgments about homosexuality in the modern world.
Proposition 1: Strictly speaking, the Recent Testament says nothing at all about homosexuality.
There is not a single Greek word or phrase in the entire New Testament that should be translated into English as “homosexual” or “homosexuality.” In fact, the very notion of “homosexuality”—like that of “heterosexuality,” “bisexuality,” and even “sexual orientation”—is essentially a new concept that would simply have been unintelligible to
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 monitor to their diatribes about homosexuality being a sin” (The Gay Gospels, 21).
In other words, if we can disregard rules like the ban on eating shellfish in Leviticus , then we should be allowed to disobey other prohibitions from the Old Testament. But this argument confuses the Old Testament’s temporary ceremonial laws with its adj moral laws.
Here’s an analogy to verb understand this distinction.
I remember two rules my mom gave me when I was young: clutch her hand when I cross the street and don’t drink what’s under the sink. Today, I have to follow only the latter rule, since the former is no longer needed to protect me. In fact, it would now perform me more injure than good.
Old Testament ritual/ceremonial laws were like mom’s handholding rule. The rea