Does the bible say its wrong to be gay

The Conversation. Topic: LGBT. The Bible never condemns same-sex marriage, partly because it doesn't address the issue directly. As Australia faces a postal survey on same-sex marriage, we are seeing a steady stream of articles arguing the Yes or No case. Many on the No side are prone to citing the Bible or appealing to "biblical values".

But what does the Bible actually say about human sexuality and homosexuality in particular? What follows represents a summary of critical biblical scholarship on the issue. Critical biblical scholarship draws on a range academic disciplines including literary criticism, archaeology, history, philology, and social science to offer the most plausible, historically grounded interpretation of the Bible.

It is not simply a matter of personal belief or citing official church doctrine. Australian scholars are among leaders in the field when it comes to sexuality and the Bible. William Loader has written several books on the matter and this Anglican collection of essays is also excellent.

When it comes to homosexuality there are, at most, six passages of the Bible that are relevant. So what do these passages say? The story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19 is well known. This is where the terms "sodomite" and "sodomy" originate, and it has long been associated with biblical condemnation of male homosexual sex.

It is, however, actually about gang-rape. In this story, the men of Sodom seek to rape two visitors who are actually angels. Their host, Lot, defends them and offers them protection in his house, but offers his virgin daughters to be raped in their place.

Leviticus 18:22

It is a deeply problematic and complex story that warrants an article of its own, but what is clear is that sexual violence and rape is harshly condemned, and so God destroys the town with sulphur and fire. Despite the linguistic history of the word "sodomite", Genesis 19 has nothing to say about homosexuality or mutually consenting adults of the same gender expressing their desire and love.

Two of the laws of Leviticus and seem more pertinent. They call a man lying with another man instead of his wife an "abomination". We should note first that the imagined scenario is a married man committing adultery with another male. It is not describing what we would understand to be a sexual orientation.

We might also note the inherent sexism here: women apparently don't have the same desire or their sexuality is deemed too insignificant to be worthy of comment. Again, we need some context. Yes, this verse clearly condemns adulterous homosexual sex in calling it an "abomination" to'ebahbut here are all the other things also called an "abomination" in the Bible:.

Banned likewise is wearing mixed-fabric clothing, interbreeding animals of different species, tattoos, mocking the blind by putting obstacles in their way, and trimming your beard. As you can see, there is quite an assortment of ancient laws, some of which seem to make good sense such as no child sacrifice and others of which the majority of Christians no longer keep such as eating pork and wearing a wool-silk blend.

To claim one set as timeless truths while ignoring the others is patently hypocritical and goes against the grain of the text itself. These two verses in Leviticus are the sum total of what the Old Testament Hebrew Bible says about same-sex activities. The remainder of the biblical references occur in the New Testament, written between approximately 50 and CE in the context of the Roman Empire.

The attitudes and norms of Graeco-Roman culture are critical in understanding these texts. In Graeco-Roman society, there was an acceptance that men might be attracted to other men.