Wednesday 11 December 2013

Does the Bible condemn homosexuality

This is an issue that needs to be addressed biblically and scripturally considering what is taking place in churches. Let us firstly turn to the TANAKH's attitude towards homsexuality.

We'll read Leviticus 18 to see what is says:
"18 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God. 3 You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. 4 You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God. 5 Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.

6 “‘No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the Lord.

7 “‘Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; do not have relations with her.

8 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; that would dishonor your father.

9 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.

10 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter; that would dishonor you.

11 “‘Do not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father’s wife, born to your father; she is your sister.

12 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative.

13 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s close relative.

14 “‘Do not dishonor your father’s brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations; she is your aunt.

15 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; do not have relations with her.

16 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would dishonor your brother.

17 “‘Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. Do not have sexual relations with either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter; they are her close relatives. That is wickedness.

18 “‘Do not take your wife’s sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living.

19 “‘Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness of her monthly period.

20 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife and defile yourself with her.

21 “‘Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.

22 “‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.

23 “‘Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion.

24 “‘Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. 25 Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. 26 But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the foreigners residing among you must not do any of these detestable things, 27 for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. 28 And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.

29 “‘Everyone who does any of these detestable things—such persons must be cut off from their people. 30 Keep my requirements and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the Lord your God.’”"

Within the confines of the chapter, verse 22 means that you cannot engage in homosexual activity nor a relationship of that kind. Now before you say "We are not under the law", Let me go even further with this and see what God established BEFORE the Mosaic Covenant came and AFTER it was fulfilled. 

Firstly Lets read from the book of Genesis to see what was established in the garden of Eden.
Genesis 2 says in verse 23
"23 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
    for she was taken out of man.”
24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame."

This was before any Mosaic ordinance was put into play. Also, Notice it says FATHER AND MOTHER, not father and father or mother and mother. You cannot get away with semantic word games of saying two men are husband and wife or likewise with women, That doesn't work because of the context of the passage.

Now you might be thinking, "Jesus never addressed homosexuality, he approved of it". However, such is shallow argumentation at best. One, Jesus didn't have to address homosexuality in Israel because it wasn't a problem in Israel. If he was in the Greco-Roman world, he would outright condemn it as reprehensible. 

Two, If you are going to say "Homosexuality is acceptable because Jesus never spoke out against it", well accept bestiality or pedophilia or witchcraft or even idolatry, because Jesus himself never addressed those issues either while he was on earth

Third, If you read Matthew 19 where Jesus speaks on the subject of divorce, he outlines what a biblical marriage is and whether or not a person should be divorced or not. Though he doesn't speak of homosexuality in the context, notice what Jesus quotes:

"19 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’[a] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’[b]? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.

7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

10 The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

11 Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”"

Jesus quotes from Genesis 2 and tells us that marriage is between a man and a woman and that divorce is out of the question. This text certainly doesn't indicate that Jesus approved of homosexuality, in fact it reinforces the point that he is against it.

Paul also makes it clear in the following passages that those who wilfully continue to practice homosexuality will be subject to condemnation:
Romans 1:18-32
"18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."

Now many will say "Wait a minute, that's only to do with worshipping pagan deities". Yeah... So what? Regardless of whether it is in the context of worshipping idols or the context of worshipping the true God YHWH, homosexuality is still To'evah or an abomination by the standards of the New Testament.

Read the following articles on this subject:
Scroll down to the section where it says "Brown claims that repentance is an essential message of Christianity" and read what I have said with respect to the moral commands.
Also, read the following on the subject of mosaic observance
This will tell you some of the laws that do and do not apply to Christians today. Though we are not under the Mosaic Law, we do need to know which laws apply to us and which don't.

Some will say "Well the word homosexual didn't exist until the 1900s".

Read this section in 1 Corinthians 6. This is from the NIV, a modern translation:
"9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men[a] 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

1599 Geneva Bible

"9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? [m]Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor wantons, nor buggerers,"

Finally, KJV:

"9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,"

I could go on, but I think that's enough with respect to translations.

Here are two videos which I think would be a good help to you with respect to these issues done by James White:
Rob Bell on Homosexuality on the Unbelievable Broadcast
The Meaning of "Pais" in Matthew 8 and Luke 7

The first video James in one section does address the measly defense by Rob Bell on the subject of people being gay, while the second addresses the word "pais" and it's abuse by the Huffiington Post.

Going back to the TANAKH, We go to the book of Genesis. Read the following translations here: http://biblehub.com/genesis/19-5.htm

The text says:
"19 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”

“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”

3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.

6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”

9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.

10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.

12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”"

Now many will try and say "Oh but they were simply being inhospitable". So?... OK fine they were inhospitable, but that doesn't answer WHY they asked Lot if they could have sex with the angels.

Some even try and appeal to the word "know" being used in certain translations but in that context it is a euphemism for having sex. Don't believe me? I thoroughly recommend this source for you to look at it: http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=7&article=614

I hope you will study what I have to say and check it out with the scriptures for yourselves.

Thanks for reading.

Answering Judaism

8 comments:

  1. Just found this blog and have read several of your posts. I find it difficult to understand how you feel you can refute centuries of the rabbinic understanding of the Tanakh since your perception as a Christian is filtered through a English translation of a Latin translation of a Greek translation of the HEBREW Bible. Like most evangelicals or missionairies you attempt Christological interpretations by using passages out of context, and mistranslations from the original Hebrew promoting theological concepts which contradict the Hebrew Bible. An example is stating that atonement can only come through blood. That is patently false. There are many way of achieving atonement and forgiveness of sin in the Hebrew Bible that have nothing to do with blood. Your statement is like saying the only way you can travel from New York to Boston is by taking a jet. Yes that is one way but what about a car, a bus, the train? Also it's disingenuous to use the Talmud in your arguments since Christianity rejects the authenticity of the Talmud and the Oral Law.

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    1. With respect to the Talmud, though I have quoted it, it is not my authority. I do try to represent it accurately in my papers. I do have a question however, why do the Rabbis white the NT in their papers? Since they reject the NT, although of course they don't use it as their authority either.

      Also, translation should not present a problem, as there are Christians seeking to try and get back to the original Hebrew but how that presents a problem responding to the Rabbis I am uncertain.

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  2. Is there a typo in your second sentence? "white"

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    1. Oops, I meant quote, LOL. I can't believe I didn't notice that. Thanks.

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  3. I am fairly certain that the rabbis never quote the NT in the Talmud. What is disingenuous is quoting this or that rabbi about a certain passage which that rabbi opines is messianic and then trying to draw the conclusion that the passage refers to Jesus. I understand you have made it clear in some of your posts that those same rabbis are not stating the passage is about Jesus and in fact, remained Jewish in their faith and practice for their whole lives. In the Talmud there is a difference between an analysis of the plain meaning of the text and what are termed aggadah- a type of homiletic application designed to teach some principle.

    Wrt your second point- an examination of the many of the age-old proof texts don't hold water because of mistranslation of the original Hebrew or using passages but ignoring context.

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    1. I should of prefaced an earlier point I made. When I said the Rabbis quote the NT, I meant the Rabbis like Singer or the late Dr Schochet. And yes you are correct that the Rabbis of the Talmud never quote the NT.

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    2. Another point, I understand there is midrash haggadah and midrash halacha that exists, I am correct on this?

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