“I do not feel obligated to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense,
reason and intellect, has intended us to forgo their use.”
~ Galileo Galilei
Many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people have concluded that the Bible condemns them. This assumption is based upon statements by many of the more prominent representatives of the Church who purport to know its contents. But there is a difference between tradition and what the Bible actually says. Traditional Christian teaching often condemns non-heterosexual people and their same-sex relationships.
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Genesis 19:4-13 The residents of Sodom wanted to violently rape the guests of Lot out of their arrogance and show of dominance, and is in no way a condemnation of loving, committed relationships. Leviticus 18:22; 20:13 “Man shall not lie with man” is a small portion of “the Law” which was only given to the Israelites, to primarily keep them from being assimilated into the cultures of the surrounding nations. The vast majority of the Law is not practiced today. Romans 1:24-28 A warning for heterosexuals to not go against their own natural sexual orientation for their religion, or in pursuit of pleasure. It says nothing against gay committed relationships. I Corinthians 6:9-10; I Timothy 1:10 These are victimized by poor translations of “arsenokoites” and “malakos” in versions such as the Living Bible. Both scriptures are actually warnings against prostitution or being weak-willed, and do not condemn loving, committed relationships. Jude 7 The controversy is centered around the term “strange flesh” which has been wrongly interpreted as same-sex relations, but a simple lesson in Greek reveals it is not talking about that at all. |
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Some will concede it is not wrong to be gay “as long as you don’t act on it.” They argue that the Bible lacks examples of where such relationships are affirmed. Again, they would be mistaken. Here are just a few... The Centurion who seeks healing for his Special Servant Jesus mentions Natural-born Eunuchs Philip and the Eunuch ...and in the Old Testament... The nature of Ruth and Naomi’s relationshipThe nature of David and Jonathan’s relationship In conclusion, here is a promise from Isaiah 56:3-5 for “Eunuchs” |