Homosexuality is a sin scripture
Was Homosexuality the Sin of Sodom and Gomorrah?
The old man then responds just as Lot did, saying in verses 23 and 24, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this outrageous thing. Glance, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can exploit them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don’t accomplish such an outrageous thing.”
Unfortunately, with no angels present this age to stop the attack, the men in Gibeah are capable to carry out their plans. Verse 25 horrifyingly tells us that “the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go.” But she didn’t survive the vicious sexual violence. As the next verses explain, in the morning, the Levite found her lying dead in the doorway.
This is among the most horrific stories in the Old Testament, and it’s impossible to read it without feeling sick to your stomach. But as gruesome and disturbing as it is, it provides us with a dispel picture of what the men of Sodom h
The Bible on Lesbian 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 heed to their diatribes about homosexuality organism 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 Old Testament’s temporary ceremonial laws with its immortal moral laws.
Here’s an analogy to aid understand this distinction.
I remember two rules my mom gave me when I was young: carry her hand when I cross the street and don’t drink what’s under the sink. Today, I have to follow only the latter rule, since the former is no longer needed to protect me. In fact, it would now accomplish me more injure than good.
Old Testament ritual/ceremonial laws were like mom’s handholding rule. The rea
Leviticus
“You shall not rest with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”[1] It is not a surprise that this verse seems to say that queer 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 perception of what this alley 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 occur 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
This article is part of the Tough Passages series.
Listen to the Passage
Read the Passage
24Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged spontaneous relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.29They were filled with all behavior of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are packed of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, dis