Leviticus gays
Has 'Homosexual' Always Been in the Bible?
Reprinted with permission from The Forge Online
The word “arsenokoitai” shows up in two different verses in the bible, but it was not translated to express “homosexual” until 1946.
We got to sit down with Ed Oxford at his place in Long Beach, California and talk about this question.
You have been part of a research team that is seeking to perceive how the decision was made to put the word 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 name it. Now I’ve got most European major languages that I’ve collected over time. Anyway, I had a German friend come back to town and I asked if he could aid me with some pa
Why Care What Leviticus Says About Homosexuality?
Joe Heschmeyer:
Welcome back to Shameless Popery, I’m Joe Heschmeyer. I want to discuss today about the old law and what its role is for Christians. Is the Aged Testament law still binding, the Regulation of Moses? So, historically people utter there’s 613 laws in the Commandment of Moses. That number is Maimonides, it’s kind of controversial whether that number is even accurate or not. But needless to say, there are arguably hundreds, although the exact number may be debated. But hundreds of different rules and regulations, things that you should complete or in many cases not carry out in the Statute of Moses. And the question becomes, for Christians, are we still bound by that? Are we bound by any of that? What’s its role? And now, that conversation historically has come up in a lot of different contexts. One of the first places it came up was, should we still circumcise converts to the faith?
Because that was a big deal. Another is, skillfully, should we worship on Saturday or Sunday? But these days, if I had to infer the number one place this debate seems to reach up, it’s should we listen to what the novel of Leviticus has to say about h
The Bible and similar sex relationships: A review article
Tim Keller, 2015
Vines, Matthew, God and the Same-sex attracted Christian: The Biblical Case in Back 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 descend 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 authentic creative intention for humanity ... and therefore that queer 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 reverse 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
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 lgbtq+ 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 legal title 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 Nearby East problem. The ancient Neighboring East tradition included pederasty and relations between an older gentleman and