What the Bible Actually Says About Homosexuality—
How Scripture is Misinterpreted to Judge, Condemn and Create Division. Part two in the PRIDE series
Instead of recreating the wheel and putting the following information into my own words, I’ve decided to feed two birds with one seed, so to speak, by sharing the respected work of another to cover this issue. I’d like to introduce you to a majestic book by a gifted author who has done a fantastic job of examining what the Bible actually says about homosexuality, and I hope you will purchase a copy for yourself of this story spanning worlds and centuries.
I’ve obtained permission by the author to share with you an excerpt of the book, The Root of Heaven & Earthby E. A. Grace, described in part, as an epic tale that unravels mysteries arising out of our deepest past, and offers a glimpse of the surprising promise that lies ahead.
The excerpt begins on page 445: Laura, Indira, and Raymond are sitting around the campfire eating dinner and having a philosophical conversation.
“Right,” Raymond responded, “and round and round it’s gone, with prejudice encouraging further prejudice.”
“It’s amazing how an official view like that can become established,” Laura said, “even if it’s incorrect, and then just keep being passed on and on, reinforcing itself. Like all that stuff in the Bible that people think of as condemning same-sex relationships as immoral—if you go through it bit by bit and look closely at the earliest texts, it’s clear that’s not what was intended. That impression is based on mistranslations and other kinds of misunderstandings.”
“Oh, really?” Raymond answered. “That’s interesting. Like what, for example?”
“Like, well, for example, if you read a correct translation of the ancient texts and add to that an awareness of the times in which they were written, it’s really quite clear that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for the sin of inhospitality, not for any sexual misconduct,” Laura said. “The idea that it had something to do with sex between men is based on a mistranslation of the Hebrew word that means ‘to know.’ It’s actually extremely rare for this word to imply carnal knowledge—but even so, when the townspeople say they want ‘to know’ the strangers who have come into their town, it’s commonly translated as meaning ‘to have sex with them,’ rather than meaning that they want ‘to know who they are’—even if this second translation would seem much more obvious.”
Laura shook her head a little. “Anyway, what most readers don’t know is that the value of welcoming strangers into your home—or in this case, your town—was a very common and important one in Biblical times. Outside of urban centers, travelers had no inns to stay at. They depended on the hospitality of strangers for their welfare—for their survival, even, traveling through a desert region.
“The people of Sodom and Gomorrah were hostile towards the angels, who had come as strangers into their town. The town was destroyed, but Lot was spared, because Lot, unlike the rest of the town, showed the angels hospitality by feeding them and giving them a place to stay.
“It was the same with Jericho,” Laura added. “When it was destroyed, the only ones spared were a prostitute and her family—because she, again, had offered hospitality (in her case, by giving lodging and protection). Hospitality was a very important value.”
Laura paused and rubbed her neck thoughtfully. “There’s other information, too,” she went on, “including a passage in the New Testament—something that Jesus said—that indicates that he also thought the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was inhospitality. It all really adds up, if you know all the details.”
“That’s all very interesting,” Raymond said. He looked thoughtful.
Laura picked up a stick from a pile of wood next to the fire and tapped the ground with it absentmindedly. The look on her face told me she was having trouble remembering some details she wanted to share with us. Finally, Laura shook her head and went on. “Anyway, another example,” she said, glancing at both of us, then thoughtfully poking at the fire, “there’s a passage in Leviticus that gets translated as, I think: ‘Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind,’ but a literal translation of the ancient text would actually be: ‘Thou shall not sleep the sleep of a woman with a man’—which is pretty ambiguous, it seems to me.” Laura again looked over at Raymond and me.
“Whatever, exactly, that means,” she went on, “the line which follows it appears to condemn it. It’s usually translated as: ‘It is an abomination.’”
Laura frowned. “But that’s a mistranslation,” she said. “The word translated as ‘abomination’ is actually a Hebrew word, ‘toevah’, which means basically ‘this is something that is unacceptable within a given cultural or religious framework.’ For example, in Genesis, Moses refers to Jewish religious practices as being toevah from an Egyptian point of view. He’s certainly not saying such practices are fundamentally immoral—just not accepted by Egyptians.
“So, what we’re being told,” Laura concluded, “is that sleeping ‘the sleep of a woman with a man’ was considered unacceptable for the Jews of that place and time. They were being told in that passage not to be assimilated into Canaanite culture. Apparently, the Canaanites had the reputation of sleeping that sort of sleep, and it wasn’t considered a very Jewish thing to do. The larger point was: ‘Don’t disregard our social conventions. Don’t put at risk the security and communal identity that conventional practices help provide.’”
Laura sighed and shook her head. “In any case,” she said, “‘toevah,’ doesn’t mean ‘an abomination,’ and it certainly doesn’t mean ‘immoral.’ It just implies a practice that is considered foreign and not accepted. Like eating shellfish is toevah—which is another ‘abomination,’ as it’s commonly translated.”
“Eating shellfish is an abomination?” Raymond asked, a little astounded.
“Yeah, the way it’s usually translated,” Laura answered, smiling at Raymond’s look of surprise. After a moment, she returned her gaze to the fire and used her stick to push a half-burned ember back towards the flames. “Anyway, it’s possible to go through the whole Bible that way,” she said, “bit by bit. The most informed interpretations and translations simply do not support the idea that the Bible condemns same-sex relationships as immoral. In fact, some Biblical passages are quite affirming—including applauding some same-sex relationships that may well have been passionate ones—but unfortunately, mistranslations and misinterpretations have left an unreasonably negative impression.
“And I’m sure a great deal of violence and bigotry has been inspired by those misunderstandings,” Laura added, a note of sadness in her voice. She tapped her stick lightly against the ground, lost in thought.
“I have the impression that there’s a lot in the Bible that doesn’t exactly fit well with a modern sense of morality, anyway,” Raymond said.
“Well, yeah, in many ways that’s true,” Laura answered. She looked over at Raymond and nodded a little, then added, “Like in Exodus, it says if you beat your slave so badly that you kill him or her, it’s okay—so long as they don’t die right away. In fact, there are any number of passages, throughout the Bible, that condone slavery—and that would definitely not be considered moral in the modern world.”
“Yeah, that’s the kind of thing I was thinking of,” Raymond said. “I have the impression there’s a good bit of stuff like that, though I can’t think of it offhand.”
I wondered, watching them have this exchange, what Raymond’s religious background was, but like so much else with him, I was having trouble figuring out exactly how he saw things.
Laura looked thoughtful in response to Raymond’s comment. She took a deep breath. “Yeah, let’s see,” she said, looking up towards the starry sky. “It does say, as I remember, that a man and a woman who have sex while the woman’s on her period should both be sent into exile. I guess that’s the sort of thing you had in mind?” Laura asked, looking back over at Raymond, who nodded his agreement.
“And somewhere, I think it’s in Leviticus,” Laura went on, again frowning slightly, “it says that kids who curse their parents should be put to death.” She paused and shook her head. “I mean, you’re right, it’s true—it really is not a modern document. But hopefully we’ve learned a thing or two in the thousands of years since those things were written.
“And of course, there are other, very positive things in the Bible,” Laura added, turning to face me. “What was it you told me, sometime, Indira—that Mahatma Gandhi was inspired, in part at least, by the idea of turning the other cheek, when he came up with the concept of nonviolence?”
I had just taken another bite of stew and hurried to swallow so I could answer her. “Yes, in part—also Hindu teachings, and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau. And his wife, in fact, he said taught him by example.”
“Right—so it was a part of it, though. And it is an important concept,” Laura said, looking back over at Raymond. “I like the Beatitudes, too. I think that’s the only part of the Bible my mother ever had memorized,” she said, smiling a little. “I used to hear parts of it, sometimes, growing up. You know, ‘blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy . . . blessed are the peacemakers . . . ’”
Raymond nodded at Laura thoughtfully, then turned his gaze into the fire, which popped and sizzled as its smoke rose toward the star-strewn sky. For several moments, nobody said anything.” — An excerpt from the book, The Root of Heaven & Earth by E. A. Grace
So often I hear homosexuality condemned by Christians using the Bible as justification for their lack of support of the LGBTQIA+ community, which ultimately stems from a judgement against and belief that being gay is a sin and therefore is wrong. Yet, when we go through and examine the text, we realize that the interpretations we were taught may not be what was actually written or intended—and that the same weight in Leviticus “against” homosexuality is used “against” wearing clothing of mixed fabrics, yet no one condemns a clothing rack as sinful. Most Christians overlook outdated scriptures from a place of wisdom and convenience, why then do so many go out of their way to crucify homosexuality as a lifestyle they cannot support? The most likely conclusion is that they view the queer community as a sense of threat to the traditional Christian version of the nuclear family (parents of opposite genders married and raising biological or adopted children). Ironically, if they were to look at homosexuality in the animal kingdom, they could conclude that queer couples may actually be helping to preserve survival for all people, homosexual and heterosexual alike. If those who have contempt for the queer community were really doing so because of what the Bible said, they would follow every scripture with the same weight and study the actual translations.
The Bible was written in four primary languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, and Koine Greek; and it began as an oral history. Anyone who has ever played a game of “telephone” knows the folly oral translations can bring. This is to say nothing of how many times the Bible has been (updated) rewritten through multiple language translations, under various social and political influences, over thousands of years.
That doesn’t mean it’s a book without merit or worth. I know the Bible is a great source of comfort and the word of God for many who read it, and it is also a book filled with contradictions. It may very well be the inspired words of a perfect God, but those words were passed down through imperfect men. Not only do followers of the Bible have to ask themselves which scripture to follow when two contradict each other, but also, which scriptures to ignore when it suits them.
Leviticus, the same chapter of the Bible most often referenced to support judgment against homosexuals, includes a long list of other “abominations” most Christians have no problem over-looking, like eating shrimp, crabs, and lobsters (Leviticus 11:10), as well as cheeseburgers and charcuterie boards of meats and cheeses (Exodus 23:19), eating bacon and playing football (Leviticus 11:7), wearing yoga pants or swim trunks (Leviticus 19:19), short haircuts above the ears (Leviticus 19:27), having piercings or tattoos (Leviticus 19:28), and working on the Sabbath, which according to the Bible equals the death penalty (Exodus 35:2). Is there anyone not guilty of working on the weekends? The list goes on and on.
If we’re going to cherry-pick which Bible verses to live our lives by, why not choose these instead: 1 Peter 3:8, “Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.” Or Colossians 3:12-14 “…clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience—bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” And lastly, Ephesians 4: 31-32, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Judging others for their gender identification or sexual identity is a choice, not a Biblical commandment. We can choose acceptance, even if one believes homosexuality to be a sin, as we remember the words of Jesus when he he went down from the mount of olives and said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
If you’d like to read more on the topic of homosexuality in the Bible, please check out the references below, cited in the book, The Root of Heaven & Earth by E. A. Grace
o John Boswell. Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980).
o Daniel A. Helminiak. What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality (San Francisco: Alamo Square Press, 1994). A thoughtful discussion about what the Bible does and does not say about same-sex relationships.
o Jeff Miner & John Tyler Connoley. The Children are Free: Reexamining the Biblical Evidence on Same-Sex Relationships (Indianapolis, IN: Jesus Metropolitan Community Church, 2002). Positive references to same-sex relationships in the Bible; 27-55
Biblical passages referenced in in the book, The Root of Heaven & Earth by E. A. Grace : Sodom and Gomorrah: Genesis 19; Jesus on Sodom and Gomorrah: Matthew 10:14–15; Sleeping “the sleep of a woman with a man:” Leviticus 18:22; Eating shellfish: Leviticus 11:10; Beating slaves: Exodus 21:20–21; Condoning slavery: Exodus 21:1–11, Leviticus 25:44–46, Titus 2:9, Ephesians 6:5, Colossians 3:22, 1 Timothy 6:1–2; Sex during menstruation: Leviticus 20:18; Children cursing their parents: Leviticus 20:9; Turning the other cheek: Matthew 5:39; The Beatitudes: Matthew 5:2–11
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Thanks for reading and supporting The Sage Words substack. For more articles related to being queer, please see my full seven-piece PRIDE collection (most are only one to three minute reads):
Part 1: What Does it Mean to Be Queer? The Q in LGBTQIA+
Part 3: Queer Animals, How Homosexuality Keeps the Straight Population Thriving.
Part 4: In the Closet and How to Come Out
Part 5: Camping with my Girl How Gender Roles are Social Constructs
Part 6: Indoctrinated to Hate: The Power of the Media to Hurt and to Heal
Part 7: Drag Queens Were My Fairy Godparents—Feat. Trixie Mattel and The Trixie Motel
Sage Justice is achingly sincere. Balancing wisdom and humor she most often writes deeply personal solution based pieces about the enduring virtues that connect us all: love and healing. She is an award-winning playwright and critically acclaimed performing artist who has appeared on stages from Madison Square Garden in New York City, to The Comedy Store in Hollywood, California. Ms. Justice is the author of Sage Words FREEDOM Book One, an activist, a member of the Screen Actors Guild and an alumna Artist-In-Residence of Chateau Orquevaux, France. She is a co-founder of The Unity Project which fuses activism with art, to educate and inspire, with a special emphasis on community engagement to end homelessness. She has a series of short reels about living with the rare genetic disorder, Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome that you can find in a highlight reel on her Instagram page @SageWords2027.
Photo by Margot Hartford
Sage Justice is the author of “Sage Words FREEDOM Book One” available on Amazon. This series on PRIDE contains excerpts from “Sage Words LEGACY Book Seven.”
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