Girls Just Wanna Have Fun | Women in Leadership – Part 2

 Respect Him That Weareth Gay Clothing | Sexuality – Part 2

 

What I am about to tell you is the truth of what the Bible says about homosexuality, and not to be arrogant, but I think you’ll agree that my argument pretty much puts the issue to rest once and for all. You are welcome!

 

These are the seven texts in the Bible that condemn homosexuality:

 

Genesis 9:20–27 is not one of the conventional texts that teaches against homosexuality, but is worth covering. In this passage we learn about Noah, the famous ark builder, and his son, Ham. The story takes place after the flood, Noah has decided to plant vineyards and to become a wine maker, and has taken to drinking a lot of wine. One day Ham sees Noah naked whilst he is passed out drunk, he tells his brothers, Shem and Japeth, who then respectfully cover Noah up. Noah hears what happened and then curses Ham. The account seems fairly innocent, and is just as I have relayed it here. On the face of it, Noah seems embarrassed that Ham saw him naked, and apparently curses him because he invaded his privacy. If this is the case, then cursing his son is a bit extreme, after all, it’s surely Noah’s fault for getting hammered, for losing his trousers somewhere, and then passing out naked. However, according to most commentators there is an implication that Ham was either having a pervy peek at his dad, or that he did something sexual to him. At that time, the mention of seeing nudity had connotations of sexual intimacy, or sexual assault, and so this could be seen as the first homosexual act in biblical history. But I’d say the real issue here is that Ham sexually assaulted his father, in an act of incest and rape, rather than the problem being that it was a homosexual act.

 

There’s another reading of this in certain Jewish traditions, that says Ham castrated Noah, that he cut off his meat and two veg, which I think is worse than sexual assault or committing a homosexual act. There are others who believe that Ham castrated Noah, and then sexually assaulted him, which is even worse, but I’d say the issue in that case was Ham being a psychopath, rather than his sexual attraction to other men.

 

Regardless of what actually happened, the result is that Noah is angry and curses Ham, or rather he curses his son, Canaan, saying he will be the servant of Shem and Japeth.

 

Genesis 19:1–11 tells the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of Abraham’s nephew, Lot. In this passage the men of Sodom come to Lot’s house and demand to have sex with some angels/men, who God had sent to investigate complaints which had been made against Sodom. Some bargaining takes place where Lot offers his daughters to the men to rape instead of the angels, then the angels blind the men of Sodom, and tell Lot that the city will be destroyed. This event is shocking on so many levels, and the main problem seems to be that the men of Sodom wanted to rape the visiting men/angels. Not cool, Sodom! You shouldn’t be going round demanding sex with anyone, let alone beautiful, shiny angels, even if they do look like men. That’s not OK, and Hollywood blockbusters like City of Angels, which romanticize human and angel relationships, don’t make it alright either.

 

In the previous chapter to this one, God explains that there have been reports of Sodom’s sins, and we take it the sins in question were homosexual in nature, because of what happened in this story. It’s obvious that in the past, this passage has been used to preach against homosexuality, and that it must have been a common teaching, because Sodom has become synonymous with homosexuality. From this story we have acquired the words ‘sodomy’, ‘sodomite’, and ‘sodomise’, all of which are euphemisms for all things homosexual. However, the text doesn’t actually say what the sins of Sodom were. Ezekiel 16:49-50 says that Sodom’s sins were arrogance, greed and neglecting the poor, with no mention of their sin being homosexual in nature. Obviously, the way that the men of Sodom acted in this story is appalling, and perhaps demonstrates arrogance, greed and neglecting the poor, but Sodom wasn’t destroyed because it was a city of homosexuals. It’s a misconception born from bad biblical study.

 

The above examples can be clarified with some simple Bible study, but the next verses from the Jewish Law are more explicit in what they say.

 

Leviticus 18:22 forbids sexual relations between men because it is detestable, and Leviticus 20:13 forbids sexual relations between men, making it an offence which is punishable by death. These verses are clear that homosexual behaviour is forbidden, and they are the verses most cited in saying that God does not permit homosexual behaviour.

 

We have to take these verses seriously, and we wouldn’t want to take them out of context to argue our own agenda, and so here are the other prohibitions from Leviticus 18, explaining who the people shouldn’t have sex with, lest they become defiled like the nations.

 

 

·       Any close relative

·       Your mother

·       Your father’s wife,

·       Your sister

·       Your half sister

·       Your daughter-in-law

·       Your aunt

·       Your sister-in-law

·       A woman and her daughter

·       Any woman who is on her period

·       Your neighbour’s wife

·       A man

·       An animal

 

The list is clear. Don’t have sex with anyone or anything that is mentioned here, or else.

 

Some people argue that God was giving this Law to the Israelites at this specific moment in time, because he wanted them to be different from the nations. The sexual culture of the nations allowed this behaviour, but God was teaching his chosen people to live differently, and to seek love and faithfulness. They argue that a loving marriage between two men or women, is very different to the kind of fornication that is being alluded to here, and that God isn’t talking about committed same sex relationships in this passage. However, others argue that this is not the case, the Bible is clear, and is the inerrant word of God which stands forever, and therefore same sex relationships, even if they are loving, are wrong. People who say otherwise have been swayed by the pressures of society, and as Christians we are called to be holy and to be set apart from sinful culture.

 

What I want to know though, is this. When was the last time you heard a sermon, read a blog, or saw a YouTube video, which talked about the sin of having sex with women on their periods? I’m sure there have been some teachings about this, but there clearly aren’t as many as those preaching against homosexuality. I think most evangelicals would say doing that was a minor issue, or that it wasn’t really an issue at all. I expect that some Christians have probably even had sex with a woman who was on her period. If a Christian was to confess this sin to their pastor, then they might be momentarily shocked at the disgusting mental image that accompanied the confession, but I doubt the pastor would be morally outraged and have the person enlisted for conversion therapy to stop him from wanting to have sex with women at certain times of the month. It’s in the same list of prohibitions though, and no-one is raging against that, in the same way they are about two men having sex.

 

Leviticus 20 is a list of laws which is similar to the one above, but here we helpfully have the punishments for these sins.

 

·       Child sacrifice - death

·       Spiritual prostitution/trusting mediums - cut off from the community

·       Dishonouring your parents - death

·       Adultery - death

·       Sex with your father’s wives - death

·       Sex with your father’s daughter-in-law - death

·       Homosexuality - death

·       Marrying a woman and her mother - burned to death

·       Sex with an animal - death and kill the animal

·       Incest - cut off from the community

·       Sex with a woman during her period - cut off from the community

·       Sex with an aunt - an unspecified punishment

·       Marrying your wife’s brother - the guilty couple will remain childless

·       Acting as a medium - death by stoning

 

Here we do get some further elaboration from the previous chapter, and so maybe my point about having sex with menstruating women is invalid, as it is clearly a lesser sin. Doing so would mean that you were simply cut off from the community, and you wouldn’t be killed.

 

There are some things in the list which I do question though. Along with death being the punishment for homosexual behaviour, it is also the punishment for dishonouring your parents, and for adultery. Thankfully evangelical Christianity hasn’t let us down here, as we have all heard sermons about adultery and about honouring our parents, although still probably not as much, or with the same intensity as teachings against homosexuality. Dishonouring your parents and committing adultery are both on the list though, and carry the same punishment, but somehow homosexuality is an elevated sin. Maybe it’s because we can stomach the idea of dishonouring our parents, and we’ve probably all done that, at least once, if we are being honest. We also have adultery on the list, and I think most of us agree that adultery is bad, but have you ever lusted after someone? Looked at someone a second time? Gazed at a sexy picture? Had a fantasy about someone famous? Had a sexual thought about a stranger? As Christians we all follow the words of Jesus, and we all remember that Jesus said “Whoever has lust for a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart”. This means that if we have done those things, then we have committed adultery.

 

If we are being honest, I think we have all dishonoured our parents, and committed adultery in our hearts. If we were to judge those sins by the standards of Leviticus, then we would all be put to death. If we look at the Bible then we see that all three of these sins are equal, but somehow the sin of a man sleeping with another man, is seen on a whole different level.

 

Why is this?

 

There are three passages left to look at and they come from Paul’s writings in the New Testament.

 

1 Corinthians 6:9–10 - here Paul is writing to the church in Corinth concerning lawsuits within the community, telling them to settle their own disputes, rather than going through the unbelieving authorities. He has a go at them because they allowed disputes to rise in the community, and says this happened because of their wrongdoing, and that wrongdoers in the community will not inherit the kingdom of God. He then lists the types of wrongdoers who include, the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, drunks, liars, and cheats.

 

The verse mentions homosexuality, but there are other people on that list too, and at the risk of being controversial, I would say that our churches are full of the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, thieves, drunks, liars, and cheats, and that’s just the pastors. Once again homosexuality is elevated as a super sin in the collective evangelical mind. No one is setting up conversion therapies and ministries to cure idolaters, adulterers, thieves, drunks, liars, and cheats, but they are for homosexuals and lesbians. Is it the visibility of the wrongdoing that is the issue, that you can see a gay couple holding hands, or a lesbian couple kissing, whilst the idolater passes without being noticed? Is it because someone can be seen to be flamboyant, effeminate or androgynous, but the liar, drunk, thief and adulterer hide their behaviour?

 

1 Timothy 1:10 - Here Paul is warning Timothy about false teachers, and he reminds Timothy to correct false and distracting teachings, and to focus on love. He then speaks of the Law and how it is good for rule breakers, such as murderers, the sexually immoral, homosexuals, slave traders, and liars. Again, homosexuals aren’t singled out by Paul, but people make a big deal of this verse, but when it actually comes to condemning people, liars don’t get treated the same as homosexuals.

 

There have been studies on the words which are used for homosexual in these letters. The word used in Corinthians is malakos which means ‘soft’ or ‘effeminate’, which in Roman times could have also referred to a certain kind of lazy, rich person who slept around with different women. It could also have referred to male prostitutes, or people who were unmanly, which may be why early English translations of the Bible, translated the word as ‘weaklings’. So, while it might say homosexuals in your Bible, it isn’t actually clear what Paul meant here.

 

The word used in Timothy is arsenokoitēs which means ‘male’, arseno and ‘beds’, koitēs. The word does refer to men who sleep with other men, but it could also refer to male prostitutes, and to a specific type of exploitative homosexual behaviour. Others have said that this type of behaviour is linked to the cult of Isis, and that Paul’s concern is regarding their influence on the church community.

 

On the other hand, maybe it is as others argue, and in these letters, Paul is just calling out all homosexuality.

 

Romans 1:26–27 - Here Paul writes to Rome and talks about God’s wrath against humanity, which is being revealed from Heaven, against the wickedness of people, because his power and nature have been understood. The people know God, but ignored him, they worshipped idols, engaged in same sex relations, had become evil, greedy, depraved, insolent, arrogant, boastful, violent, hateful and merciless. These actions deserve death, but they continue to do these things and approve them.

 

First century Rome was very liberal compared to Jewish culture, and there were no Latin words to distinguish homosexuals from heterosexuals, when it came to sex. Sexual behaviour was also tied into Roman religion, and so we’re back to the same arguments we saw in Leviticus.

 

Those on the left argue that these writings refer to specific people at specific times, and are a message to the people, that they shouldn’t engage in Roman customs and religious activities. There is context and background, and you can’t just read the text thinking it applies to the modern world we live in. Those on the right might agree with this, but they will also say that these teachings apply now, and that they are absolutely clear. The Bible is the divinely inspired word of God and it means what it says. Anyone who thinks otherwise has been swayed by the pressures of society, and Christians are called to be holy and to be set apart from sinful culture.

 

There are other texts that I have heard interpretations of, which argue that the homosexual acts which are condemned in the Bible, refer to a specific type of homosexual behaviour. The theologian James Alison explains that an example of this behaviour is recorded in the story found in 2 Samuel 10, when King David sent messengers to the Ammonites with condolences for their recently deceased king. The new king believed they were spies, so cut the messengers beards and cloaks, and then sent them away. The story suggests the messengers may have been anally raped, due to their garments being cut at the buttocks, and in this way, a homosexual act was used to shame people.

 

I have also heard an interpretation of Jesus’s healing of the Centurion’s servant, which suggests that Jesus permitted loving same sex relations. The description given in the story suggests an intimacy in the relationship and the word ‘servant’, pais, can refer to a younger partner in a same sex relationship, and that in Jesus’s healing of the servant, he affirmed this relationship.

 

Regardless of your views on sexuality, how you interpret the Bible, or what you feel it says about same sex relationships, I think we have to address the fact that the church’s attitudes to homosexuality have gotten out of control. There are only a handful of verses in the Bible that explicitly reference homosexuality, yet is one of the biggest issues in the modern church. There are over 2000 verses about money and if we read the Bible, it’s often quite disparaging about people who are wealthy and rich, yet we are quite happy with megachurch pastors earning hundreds and thousands of pounds each year, whilst we ignore the homeless in our cities. However, if two guys were to kiss, or even hold hands in a church, many Christians would lose their minds.

 

 

 

Text taken from “Unanswerable: Exploring the Complexities of the Christian Faith and Biblical Truth”, which is available from Amazon, and from all good book shops. An audiobook is also available at https://mindmole.bandcamp.com/music