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In case anyone is interested, according to Shinnick in the book I mentioned earlier, only six texts in the Bible mention sexual activity between people of the same sex. Obviously these need to be examined closely in their literary, historical, cultural and theological contexts, and Shinnick makes reference to work done by modern scholars who've grappled with the difficulties of the ancient languages involved.
Here is the list:
The first is the story of Sodom in Genesis. Shinnick sums up his discussion of this as follows:
"Christianity has traditionally interpreted the story as God's condemnation of homosexuality, following the Jewish intertestament writings which saw homosexual acts as the reason for God's condemnation. Most modern scholars understand the primary sin as a lack of hospitality. God had already decided to destroy Sodom before the incident between the men of the town and the two angels. What is clearly condemned in the story is an attempted gang rape.
Leviticus
In 18:22 and 20:13 many things are condemned, including 'lying with a male as with a woman'. Summing up his discussion here, Shinnick quotes from Robin Scroggs The New Testament and Homosexuality: Contextual background for Contemporary Debate:
"These two verses are the only legal traditions about homosexuality in the Hebrew Bible. Furthermore, no other biblical passage refers to this prohibition, nor is there any story showing the law being applied in a concrete situation. All that can be said is that late in Israelite history a single law appears (although it may have had an earlier existence) prohibiting male homosexuality."
The New Testament
Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 6: 9-11, First Letter to Timothy, 8: 1-11 Letters to the Romans 1: 26-27. Shinnick's discussion of each of these hinges mainly on the meaning of the Greek words malokai, arsenokoitai and andrapodistai and how they have been translated by scholars in different versions of the Bible. He quotes from a number of scholars who have concluded that Paul condemns homosexual acts as 'sinful actions of unbridled lust' but that he 'had no concept of homosexual orientation'.
Haus, have you come across these words in your studies? |
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