Gay love in the bible

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 listen 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 Antique Testament’s temporary ceremonial laws with its permanent moral laws.

Here’s an analogy to help understand this distinction.

I remember two rules my mom gave me when I was young: hold her hand when I cross the street and don’t drink what’s under the sink. Today, I contain to follow only the latter rule, since the former is no longer needed to guard me. In fact, it would now do me more verb than good.

Old Testament ritual/ceremonial laws were like mom’s handholding verb. The rea

What does the Bible educate about same-sex practice?

The Bible defines marriage in Genesis as a union between one man and one woman. Jesus Christ upholds this definition of marriage in Matthew , as does the Apostle Paul in Ephesians Any and all sexual activity which takes place outside of this context is treated as sinful, what Jesus calls ‘sexual immorality’ in Mark  

Further to this, same-sex practice is specifically highlighted as sinful a number of times in Scripture. In God’s Law, for example, condemnations of same-sex practice are given in Leviticus and Further references are made in the New Testament. For example, in Romans , amid echoes to the Genesis creation account, both male and female same-sex perform are treated as sinful. Further references to the sinfulness of same-sex practice can be seen in 1 Corinthians and 1 Timothy  

The Scriptures are, therefore, consistent in their prohibition of same-sex sexual activity, across diverse periods of salvation history and within different cultural settings. Although the Scriptures are clear on sexual ethics, they also

The Bible and Homosexuality

By Reverend Mona West, Ph.D.

Lesbians and gay men face discrimination because of societal attitudes.  Unfortunately, these attitudes are often taught by churches and sadly the Bible is frequently used as a weapon to ‘bash’ lesbians and gays.  It is important to remember that such hurtful things are not a reflection of Jesus Christ, or the way God wants the church to be, or even what the Bible really says.

The word ‘homosexuality’ is a modern term and did not exist during biblical times.  Biblical writers had no concept of sexual orientation or sexual development as we understand these today.  Therefore, passages that reference same-sex sexual activity should not be seen as comprehensive statements concerning homosexuality, but instead should be viewed in the context of what the ancient world that produced the Bible understood about sexual activity.

Sexuality in the Mediterranean World


Biblical scholars have employed the social sciences to study the relational and gender patterns of the ancient Mediterranean world—the world that produced th

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 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 Near East obstacle. The anc