What does the Bible say about homosexuality?
He leads me …
In blog 88 the following comment was made -‘It is also interesting that there is nothing in the Bible that clearly mentions lesbianism. Surely if it was abhorrent to God, He would make that clear?’
Well it was unfortunately missed by the author, and it appears quite clearly in Romans 1:25-27 -
Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they prayed to the things God made, but wouldn’t obey the blessed God who made these things.
That is why God let go of them and let them do all these evil things, so that even their women turned against God’s natural plan for them and indulged in sex sin with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sex relationships with women, burned with lust for each other, men doing shameful things with other men and, as a result, getting paid within their own souls with the penalty they so richly deserved. (TLB)
It looks to be clear that we are looking at lesbianism and homosexuality. But are we? Dr Ann Nyland was a Classical Greek scholar (rather than a theologian) and she used thousands of papyri and inscriptions from around the New Testament times, and which had mainly been found since the 1970’s to write her version of the New Testament.
Where some Greek words had been hard for earlier translators to find a clear English equivalent, Dr Nyland had resources from many every day walks of life (like contracts, tax papers, and birth & death notices) that provided a clearer meaning of what the Greek was actually saying.
So, if we go back to Romans 1:25-27, let us see how Dr Nyland translates it using her clearer understanding of the Greek. This is what is says in The Source New Testament, written by Dr Nyland –
They exchanged God’s truth for the lie, the idol, and worshipped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed for the ages! Amen!
Because of this, God handed them over to experiences of public stigma [public dishonour], for the females exchanged natural sex for what is other than nature. And the same goes for males too. The males got rid of natural sex with the female and burned with their mutual yearning – males producing indecency with one another, and as a result got what was coming to them for their mistake.
We see that in the first sentence from Dr Nyland that this section of scripture is about idol worship. In her notes Dr Nyland says in the whole context of these verses Paul is speaking of idolatry.
It has been suggested by various commentators that the female sex that was ‘other than nature’ was not just about idol worship, but indicated a huge sex drive which included various unnatural ‘extras’.
From this we see that the actions that Paul is addressing are the deviant relationships that men and women were committing as part of their idol worship. This ran completely against the standards that God upheld, and also against God Himself. This is what the problem is, and it has nothing to do with agreeable sex between men and women, men and men or women and women.
Some readers may be wondering about the actual meaning of other well-known verses about same sex relationships like 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:10-11. Let us look at them. The NLT version represents what several of the standard Bible translations say.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.(NLT)
Don’t you know that people who are not right with God won’t obtain God’s Realm as their inheritance? Make no mistake! People who engage in sexual acts against the Law of Moses, idol worshippers, adulterers, cinaedi[1], arsenokoites[2], thieves, greedy people, drunkards, people who use abusive language, those who cheat people in financial transactions – will not obtain God’s Realm as their inheritance! (The Source)
1 Timothy 1:10-11
The law is for people who are sexually immoral, or who practice homosexuality, or are slave traders, liars, promise breakers, or who do anything else that contradicts the wholesome teaching that comes from the glorious Good News entrusted to me by our blessed God. (NLT)
People who engage in porneia[3], arsenokoites[4], kidnappers, liars, perjurers, and anything else that is opposed to completely healthy instruction and training. And I say this according to the Good News about God’s glorious blessing which was entrusted to me. (The Source)
To get a better idea of what is being talked about, we should look at it in the context of Roman lifestyles during the New Testament period.
For the Romans, a typical, happily married man was one who was the head of his household and from his point of view, happily married.
Because he was the master of his household, not only would he have intercourse with his wife, this man would also rape his male and female slaves, rape boys, and sleep with prostitutes. And please note - his masculinity, his sexuality and his honour, were never in question.
Sexuality was all about action and power. It was not about who the man was with, but what he was doing.
There was also a custom called pederasty - where men had anal intercourse with boys who were usually between 10 and 18 years old. Believe it or not this behaviour was simply part of everyday life.
It was also part of a Roman freed man’s masculinity to have aggressive sex with a slave, regardless of whether they were a boy or a woman. Boys were seen as equally as desirable as women – until the boys reached puberty, and then they were rejected.
So, in summary, if we talk about men having sex with other men in the ancient Roman Empire, it would be automatically assumed that this meant men raping and abusing boys, usually slaves.[5]
Sex between women was not illegal, but the Romans simply refused to believe it happened. As far as the culture was concerned the male took the aggressive role and the women basically serviced the man and provided children. What happened between two women was either not happening much, or totally ignored.
As a result, is the Bible actually against committed same sex relationships where the sex is mutually agreeable? It appears not.
Dear Reader – If you have found some value in this blog, please feel free to send a copy on to your family and friends. Kind regards, John
[1] The Romans held the cinaedus in the utmost contempt, considering them to be deviants and detestable. Such men were portrayed as effeminate cross-dressers, many depicted with ringlets, women’s jewellery and cosmetics. They were regarded as highly immoral and many were depicted as prostitutes.
[2] The interpretation range includes one who anally penetrates another (both men and women), rapist, murderer, and criminal. It was also a popular designation for immoral pederasts (A man who has sexual relations, especially anal intercourse, with a boy).
[3] Porneia is a term referring to acts condemned in the Law of Moses encompassing idolatry, and/or pornography, vice and certain sexual acts. These acts are covered in Leviticus 18:3 which states, ‘You must not do the deeds of the land of Canaan into which I am about to bring you.’ The acts include – incest, sex with in-laws, women or men having sex with animals, child offerings to Molech, and sex with a woman during menstruation.
[4] The interpretation range includes one who anally penetrates another (both men and women), rapist, murderer, and criminal. It was also a popular designation for immoral pederasts (A man who has sexual relations, especially anal intercourse, with a boy).
[5] What does the Bible say about homosexuality? Rev. Dr Jonathan Tallon, Bible and Homosexuality.org; http://www.bibleandhomosexuality.org/what-does-the-bible-say-about-homosexuality/
3 Awful Features of Roman Sexual Morality, Tim Challies, Challies.com
https://www.challies.com/articles/3-awful-features-of-roman-sexual-morality/
