What does the bible say about homosexuality in leviticus
Why Care What Leviticus Says About Homosexuality?
Joe Heschmeyer:
Welcome advocate to Shameless Popery, I’m Joe Heschmeyer. I desire to talk today about the old law and what its role is for Christians. Is the Old Testament law still binding, the Law of Moses? So, historically people say there’s 613 laws in the Law of Moses. That number is Maimonides, it’s kind of controversial whether that number is even accurate or not. But needless to say, there are arguably hundreds, although the precise number may be debated. But hundreds of unlike rules and regulations, things that you should perform or in many cases not do in the Law of Moses. And the question becomes, for Christians, are we still bound by that? Are we bound by any of that? What’s its role? And now, that conversation historically has appear up in a lot of different contexts. One of the first places it came up was, should we still circumcise converts to the faith?
Because that was a vast deal. Another is, good, should we worship on Saturday or Sunday? But these days, if I had to guess the number one place this debate seems to appear up, it’s should we listen to what the book of Leviticus has to say about h
Leviticus, Jesus, and Homosexuality: Some Thoughts on Honest Interpretation
Conservatives and liberals alike exploit the Bible to justify their political positions. Frequently, politicians take verses of Scripture out of their original context to show whatever policy argument they wish to make. Examine, for example: "An eye for an eye" (to justify capital punishment); "The least of these" (in support for government anti-poverty programs); "Blessed are the peacemakers" (the promotion of pacifism).[1]
One of the most striking examples is President Obama's statement endorsing homosexual "marriage" based on the Golden Rule. On May 9, 2012, the President said:
[Michelle and I] are both practicing Christians and obviously this position may be considered to lay us at odds with the views of others but, you know, when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we consider about is not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it's also the Golden Control, you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated.[2]
Promoting a harmful public policy- which essentially is what the President has done- is an intellectually dishonest application of this ethical directive
Leviticus 18:22
“You shall not lounge 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 understanding of what this alley means for the LGBTQ community. More specifically, it presents the interpretation of K. Renato Lings in which Lev. 18:22 refers to male-on-male incest.
While Lev. 18:22 is used to condemn homosexuality, we must realize that the legal title “homosexuality” was only recently coined in the English language. So did this term exist in ancient Israel? Charles D. Myers, Jr. confirms that none of the prophets in the Hebrew Bible speak of homosexuality.[2] He also contends that in ancient Israel same-sex relations were viewed as an ancient Neighboring East problem. The ancient Near East tradition included pederasty and relations between an older man and
The Bible on Homosexual Behavior
One way to argue against these passages is to make what I dial the “shellfish objection.” Keith Sharpe puts it this way: “Until Christian fundamentalists boycott shellfish restaurants, cease wearing poly-cotton T-shirts, and stone to death their wayward offspring, there is no obligation to hear to their diatribes about homosexuality being a sin” (The Gay Gospels, 21).
In other words, if we can disregard rules fancy the ban on eating shellfish in Leviticus 11:12, then we should be allowed to disobey other prohibitions from the Vintage Testament. But this argument confuses the Old Testament’s temporary ceremonial laws with its permanent moral laws.
Here’s an analogy to assist understand this distinction.
I keep in mind two rules my mom gave me when I was young: hold her hand when I cross the street and don’t drink what’s under the sink. Today, I hold to follow only the latter rule, since the former is no longer needed to protect me. In fact, it would now do me more harm than good.
Old Testament ritual/ceremonial laws were love mom’s handholding rule. The reason they forbade the Israelites from using certain fabrics or foods, or interacting with bodily
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