Bible speaks against homosexuality
Leviticus 18:22
“You shall not untruth with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”[1] It is not a surprise that this verse seems to say that male lover 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 translation of what this corridor 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 word “homosexuality” was only recently coined in the English language. So did this term exist in ancient Israel? Charles D. Myers, Jr. confirms that none of the prophets in the Hebrew Bible bring up homosexuality.[2] He also contends that in ancient Israel same-sex relations were viewed as an ancient Close East problem. The ancient Near East tradition included pederasty and relations between an older man and
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 instinctive relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27and the men likewise gave up natural 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 behavior of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are complete of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,31foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.32Though they know God’s righteous
What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?
What Does The Bible State About Homosexuality?
Introduction
For the last two decades, Pew Explore Center has reported that one of the most enduring ethical issues across Christian traditions is sexual diversity. For many Christians, one of the most frequently first-asked questions on this topic is, “What does the Bible tell about attraction to someone of the same sex?”
Although its unlikely that the biblical authors had any notion of sexual orientation (for example, the designation homosexual wasn't even coined until the late 19th century) for many people of faith, the Bible is looked to for timeless guidance on what it means to honor God with our lives; and this most certainly includes our sexuality.
Before we can jump into how it is that Christians can maintain the authority of the Bible and also affirm sexual diversity, it might be helpful if we started with a brief but clear overview of some of the assumptions informing many Christian approaches to understanding the Bible.
What is the Bible?
For Christians to whom the Bible is God’s very written word, it is widely understood that God produced its contents through inspired
The Bible and matching sex relationships: A review article
Tim Keller, 2015
Vines, Matthew, God and the Homosexual Christian: The Biblical Case in Assist of Same Sex Relationships, Convergent Books, 2014
Wilson, Ken,A Letter to My Congregation, David Crum Media, 2014.
The relationship of homosexuality to Christianity is one of the main topics of discussion in our culture today. In the tumble of last year I wrote a review of books by Wesley Hill and Sam Allberry that take the historic Christian view, in Hill’s words: “that homosexuality was not God’s imaginative creative intention for humanity ... and therefore that gay practice goes against God’s express will for all human beings, especially those who trust in Christ.”
There are a number of other books that take the other side view, namely that the Bible either allows for or supports same sex relationships. Over the last year or so I (and other pastors at Redeemer) have been regularly asked for responses to their arguments. The two most read volumes taking this position seem to be those by Matthew Vines and Ken Wilson. The review of these two books will be longer than usual because the topic is so contested today and, wh
What the New Testament Says about Homosexuality
The Fourth R Volume 21-3 May-June 2008
Mainline Christian denominations in this country are bitterly divided over the interrogate of homosexuality. For this reason it is vital to ask what beam, if any, the Recent Testament sheds on this controversial issue. Most people apparently assume that the New Testament expresses robust opposition to homosexuality, but this simply is not the case. The six propositions that follow, considered cumulatively, lead to the conclusion that the Novel Testament does not provide any direct guidance for understanding and making opinions about homosexuality in the modern world.
Proposition 1: Strictly speaking, the Fresh 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 proof, the very notion of “homosexuality”—like that of “heterosexuality,” “bisexuality,” and even “sexual orientation”—is essentially a up-to-date concept that would simply have been unintelligible to the New Testament writers. The word “homosexuality” came into use only in the latter part