This is an important question in our day and age, where homosexuality is becoming more and more prominent. When a LGBT Christian realizes that they are not straight, they often go through a crisis of faith. At that point, one of two things usually happens. They will either attempt to suppress their homosexuality (which can lead to mental illness such as depression and personality disorders) or they give up their faith. The good news is that the Bible isn't anti-
LGBT. Only the common interpretations of the Bible is.
There are many interpretations of the so-called clobber passages (those that seem to condemn homosexuality
) that are LGBT affirming. I will give just one set of interpretations of these passages below. I will very briefly outline my interpretation on each passage. If you would like more information, feel free to ask them in the comments.
The story of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19) is about gang rape, not about monogamous same sex relationships. We have a very similar story in Judges 19. In that story, however, it is a woman who is gang raped and murdered, not a man. If we say Genesis 19 is a condemnation of homosexuality, then by the same logic Judges 19 must be a condemnation of heterosexuality.
The 2 verses in Leviticus (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13) uses the verb shakav (Hebrew Strong's number 7901). This verb means to lie down with. It is used in the sense of lie down to sleep, to lie down in death, to rest, and have to sexual relations. When used in the sense of having sexual relations, it has the connotation of being coerced. For example, in Genesis 19:32, when Lot's daughters get him drunk in order to have sex with him. Or Genesis 35:15, when Rachael pretty much "sells" her turn with her husband to her sister for some fruit. Then there is the case of Tamar's rape in 2 Samuel 13:14. So what is being condemned in Leviticus is the humiliation of another man through anal rape, a common practice in the ancient world.
The Romans passage (Romans 1:26-27) is describing idolatry leading to same-sex sexual rituals, not homosexuality in general. Verse 26 begins with "For this reason" (or therefore, or because of this, depending on your translation). For what reason? For people who knew God (verse 21) turning away from God to worship idols. This is referring to the countless times in the Hebrew Bible where the Isrealites would turn away from the Lord to worship other gods. Many rituals in the ancient Canaanite religions included men having sex with male temple prostitutes.
Then we have the problem of translating the Greek terms arsenokoitai and malakoi in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10. Many conservative scholars believe this refers to the active and passive partners in a gay male relationship. However, malakoi simply means soft, and is translated that way 3 times in the New Testament, referring to John the Baptist's clothing. The only other time is in 1 Corinthians 6:9. This is referring to someone who has soft morals, in other words cowardly and two-faced, to use modern vernacular.
) that are LGBT affirming. I will give just one set of interpretations of these passages below. I will very briefly outline my interpretation on each passage. If you would like more information, feel free to ask them in the comments.
The story of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19) is about gang rape, not about monogamous same sex relationships. We have a very similar story in Judges 19. In that story, however, it is a woman who is gang raped and murdered, not a man. If we say Genesis 19 is a condemnation of homosexuality, then by the same logic Judges 19 must be a condemnation of heterosexuality.
The 2 verses in Leviticus (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13) uses the verb shakav (Hebrew Strong's number 7901). This verb means to lie down with. It is used in the sense of lie down to sleep, to lie down in death, to rest, and have to sexual relations. When used in the sense of having sexual relations, it has the connotation of being coerced. For example, in Genesis 19:32, when Lot's daughters get him drunk in order to have sex with him. Or Genesis 35:15, when Rachael pretty much "sells" her turn with her husband to her sister for some fruit. Then there is the case of Tamar's rape in 2 Samuel 13:14. So what is being condemned in Leviticus is the humiliation of another man through anal rape, a common practice in the ancient world.
The Romans passage (Romans 1:26-27) is describing idolatry leading to same-sex sexual rituals, not homosexuality in general. Verse 26 begins with "For this reason" (or therefore, or because of this, depending on your translation). For what reason? For people who knew God (verse 21) turning away from God to worship idols. This is referring to the countless times in the Hebrew Bible where the Isrealites would turn away from the Lord to worship other gods. Many rituals in the ancient Canaanite religions included men having sex with male temple prostitutes.
Then we have the problem of translating the Greek terms arsenokoitai and malakoi in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10. Many conservative scholars believe this refers to the active and passive partners in a gay male relationship. However, malakoi simply means soft, and is translated that way 3 times in the New Testament, referring to John the Baptist's clothing. The only other time is in 1 Corinthians 6:9. This is referring to someone who has soft morals, in other words cowardly and two-faced, to use modern vernacular.
No one is sure what the term arsenokoitai means, as it was coined by Paul. It was never used before him, and not used after him for several hundred years except to quote him. It comes from the Greek words for man (singular) and beds. Up until Martin Luther, it was thought to mean a masturbator, since the part of the word meaning man in the sentence is singular. However, if you look at Leviticus 18 in the Septugint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament that the New Testament authors quote from), Leviticus 18:22 is literally translated as "You shall not lie with a man in the beds of a woman." I think it then becomes clear that arsenokoitai is condemning the same thing as Leviticus 18:22, forced anal sex with another man in order to humiliate them.
If you accept these interpretations, monogamous same-sex relationships are never condemned in Scripture. So whether or not gay sex is a sin depends upon whether or not is done in the context of a life-long monogamous relationship (marriage) just like it does with heterosexual couples. After all, God is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34), and will therefore hold gays and straights to the same rules.
I would also like to point out that Jesus never explicitly condemned homosexuals. Also, the Bible only has 6 passages which seem to condemn homosexuality, yet has dozens, if not hundreds, of condemnations against other sins like adultery, fornication, greed, etc. If homosexuality was as big a sin as many Christians say it is, why would Jesus have never mentioned it, and why would it be mentioned so relatively few times in the Bible?
If you accept these interpretations, monogamous same-sex relationships are never condemned in Scripture. So whether or not gay sex is a sin depends upon whether or not is done in the context of a life-long monogamous relationship (marriage) just like it does with heterosexual couples. After all, God is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34), and will therefore hold gays and straights to the same rules.
I would also like to point out that Jesus never explicitly condemned homosexuals. Also, the Bible only has 6 passages which seem to condemn homosexuality, yet has dozens, if not hundreds, of condemnations against other sins like adultery, fornication, greed, etc. If homosexuality was as big a sin as many Christians say it is, why would Jesus have never mentioned it, and why would it be mentioned so relatively few times in the Bible?
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