On Wednesday nights, we are having a Bible Study, exploring arguments for and against inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in church. Each week, I will write an article summarizing what we talked about in class. Last week we looked at the three texts in the Old Testament that seem to mention same-sex relationships and have often been used as justification for exclusion of LGBTQ+ people. Tomorrow, we will look at the three texts in the New Testament that have been used for the same. All in all, these 6 texts are the only texts in all of scripture that explicitly mention same-sex relationships. 

There are 66 books in the Old Testament, 1,189 chapters, 31,173 verses…and only 6 verses about homosexuality. Jesus never says a word on the subject. There are, however, approximately 750 verses that deal with issues related to heterosexuality.

I want to take a step back and talk a little bit about the purpose of scripture. What is the purpose of scripture? Well, it’s complicated. But there are parts of scripture that are lifted up as quintessential texts that give us the character of God and the way humans should live in response. We talked about this in our sermon on Sunday. Then there are texts, like the book of Leviticus, which are very specific, dealing with a nation in a particular time, and laying out a code of ethics for how they should live. What’s difficult for us, today, is understanding what we should do with these texts. Do we simply read them or dismiss them, do we follow them, or do we take and leave parts of them?

For Christians, the lens we read all of scripture is “Jesus”. The actions and teachings of Jesus become the lens through which we read and understand all of scripture. Thus, we should always ask when reading the Bible, does this sound like Jesus? If so, it’s something we want to do. If not, it’s something we should not do.

Also, it’s important to know the difference between the Norm and Normative. What is the difference? Norm isn’t just a character on Cheers, but a “Norm” is something that people just did. In this family, we always take our shoes off when we enter the house. In this church, we have communion every Sunday. In this classroom, we never use the teacher’s first name. Norms are customs and behaviors that are done or expected for a group of people. But just because they are the norm, doesn’t mean they are the only right way to do something. Other families, churches, classrooms, and groups may do other things which are the norm for them.

“Normative”, however, is “what we should do.” Be kind to one another. Do not murder. Drive the speed limit. These are rules to follow. Not just what we’re accustomed to doing, but what we should do or have to do.  

When reading scripture, we are often asking, is what’s in this text the Norm (what they just did) or is this Normative (what we should all do)? Sometimes the answers are easy, like “Don’t eat shellfish”. We don’t believe that is normative, but it is what they did. What about “don’t eat pork” or even the prohibition against touching pork skins altogether?! Those prohibitions are in Leviticus, but don’t tell the NFL or the Iowa Pork Producers that! 

It gets more complicated when we get to verses like our first 2 passages, Leviticus 18:22: “²²You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” Or Leviticus 20:13: “¹³If 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.” What’s are these texts saying? And are they normative for us today?

We step back, first, and look at the purpose of Leviticus. Scholars have called Leviticus a “holiness code”. It is a text that prescribes the way the people should live, and the interest is that they live in a different way, set-apart-from the cultures and nations around them. Why is this important? Because when Leviticus was written, the people were coming out of Exile, returning to their homeland, and it was important that they not forget who they were, that they were different. 

A lot of the prohibitions in Leviticus have to do with refraining from doing the things that the surrounding nations did. Some of the concerns were hygienic, concerns with food or practices that might bring about disease. A lot of it has to do with idol worship, and refraining from any practice, behavior, or food that was connected to idol worship. 

But what about these two texts, Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13. On the surface, they seem to be condemning same-sex relationships. But you have to first understand the culture and to what they say and what they don’t say. Regarding the culture, in those days, there were not same-sex relationships like we have today. Men did not marry men and women didn’t marry women. In fact, most marriages were not based on love at all, but were more for economic security, political alliances, and procreation. “Falling in love” wasn’t seen as a good reason for marriage.

That is to say, what we are concerned about is not what Leviticus is concerned about. This text is not addressing a loving, same-sex relationship or marriage, mostly because those didn’t even exist back then. It isn’t talking about a relationship. Instead, all it speaks of is “a man lying with a man as with a woman”. What does this mean? “To lie with” is a euphamism for sexual relations. That’s what it’s talking about and all it’s talking about. Does that mean it’s okay for men to kiss? The text doesn’t say. What about two men falling in love or getting married? The text doesn’t address this, only “lying with.” 

When it talks about “lying with a man”, it may also be referring to rape. Often in ancient cultures, in times of war in particular but also connected with fertility cults and idol worship, men would rape other men, not out of love (for rape could never be a form of love) but out of domination and a desire to emasculate someone. This would be behavior that we would always want to refrain from and even condemn, for it has nothing at all to do with love, but about domination and control. 

This also begs the question: what about women, because they’re not mentioned at all! Does that mean it’s okay for women to “lie with a woman as with a man”? The text doesn’t address it at all. There are a lot of questions here, which makes us ask, how can we use these texts to be so definitive about prohibiting same-sex marriage? The foundation is very weak. 

One important discussion is the word “abomination”. What does this mean? This word has caused a lot of concern, believing that scripture is saying that same-sex relationships are an abomination to God. Anything that is an “abomination” can’t be good!

This is where a study of Hebrew, the language that this text was originally written in, helps. The Hebrew word used is toevah and can be translated as “abomination” but also as “unclean or impurity”. It akin to our word taboo. There are things in our culture that are “taboo”, but may not be “sin.” There are two classes of condemned behaviors in Leviticus: one is moral behavior and the other is ritual behavior. Leviticus says that women who mensturate are unclean or an “abomination”, but that doesn’t mean it’s sinful to have a natural cycle. This is the same thing happening with eating shellfish or pork. They’re not “sins” but they are “unclean.” 

This isn’t to say that things that are “unclean” are not important. The book of Leviticus takes these things very seriously, and in some cases (even here) may require death as a punishment. But they’re still not the same as moral actions, nor are they lifted up as laws for all people in all times to follow. In Hebrew, the word that means “sin or injustice” is zimah. The authors could’ve used this, but they chose not to. When talking about “men lying with men”, Leviticus doesn’t use the word for sinful, but the word for unclean or taboo. 

There’s a lot more that could be said of these two passages. But what they do not address is a same-sex relationship, as we know it today. To use these two verses to condemn such a thing is taking these verses out of context and building a serious argument on shaky ground.

We also discussed one more text, the story found in Genesis 19. This is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, a story that has been used throughout time to condemn same-sex relationships. Again, it’s important to know what is said and not said here. 

For the sake of time, I will not go into all the backstory to this text, but when we enter the story, we find a man named Lot, the nephew of Abraham, living in the city of Sodom. And Lot is visited by two men who we are told are angels. The men appear very beautiful, and Lot invites them to come and stay at his house. Hospitality was seen as a great value and Lot is not a native to Sodom, but a foreigner himself. It would be a great honor for Lot to entertain two interesting, important guests in his home, and Lot insists they stay with him. They finally agree and Lot and the men return to his home.

Shortly after arriving at his home, however, a mob of men from Sodom arrive, banging on Lot’s door. Lot, in fear, opens the door, and the mob of men demand that Lot give his two angelic visitors to them so that they may rape them. Lot refuses to do so, but then he offers his two virgin daughters to them instead, but they demand he give them the two angelic men. That’s when the two angles strike all the men with blindness, and then Lot and his family flee for their own safety.

That, in short, is the story of Genesis 19. You can see how the story has been connected to same-sex relationships. But, again, look at what the text is actually saying and condemning. There are no commandments here, but we can see from the story that the actions of the mob of men is not praiseworthy. But they are not asking that Lot allow them to go on a date with these two men or be romantically involved with them. No, they are asking to rape his guests. 

In ancient Semitic cultures, hospitality was a core value. It was an honor to host guests and you were expected to do everything you could to protect that guest. Thus, Lot was willing to let his virgin daughters be raped, rather than have these men be harmed. This text isn’t about prohibiting same-sex marriage any more than it gives permission for fathers to offer their daughters up to be raped by mobs of men. That’s just not what it’s doing.

So what is it about? We need only go to scripture to figure this one out. The Bible actually interprets this text for us in Ezekiel 16:48-50: “⁴⁸As I live, says the Lord God, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. ⁴⁹This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. ⁵⁰They were haughty, and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them when I saw it.”

Sodom is mentioned elsewhere in scripture, too, but never-ever does scripture say that the sin of Sodom is homosexuality. To be a Sodomite, according to scripture, is to be haughty, lavishly wealthy, and unconcerned with the poor, needy, and strangers.

That is all for this week. I know it’s a lot! If you made it this far, then you are a good candidate for Bible Class! I hope to see you for the next four Wednesdays as we get serious about scripture, looking at what it actually says and doesn’t say, and seeking to understand how we should apply these ancient words to our lives today.