Homosexuality: Biblical References

From dKosopedia

Categories: Gay Republicans | Religion

Seven verses are often cited in opposition to homosexuality:

• Genesis 19:1-11 and Judges 19:16-30, which tell strikingly similar stories of attempted homosexual rape at Sodom and Gibeah, respectively.

• Leviticus 18:22 ("You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination")

• Leviticus 20:13 ("If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them.")

• Romans 1:26-27 ("For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error.") This is believed to be the only direct reference to lesbianism in the Bible.

• I Corinthians 6:9-10 ("Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers--none of these will inherit the kingdom of God.

• Jude 7 ("Just as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, went whoring in the same manner and went after a different [or “strange”] flesh, they lie before [us as an] example, suffering the penalty of eternal fire.")

In reference to gay marriage, Genesis 1:27 is often cited ("So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them").

While the application of these texts is the subject of considerable debate, it is widely agreed that the biblical witness is not homosex friendly.

It is important to note that the gospels record no mention of homosexuality by Jesus. Indeed, homosexuality is not discussed at all in the gospels.