Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Doesn't the Bible say that Men Shouldn't Sleep Together? (Spoiler alert: Not Really)

Someone asked me today: "the Bible in Leviticus forbids a man lying with another man as he would with a woman, and for most Christians, the Bible is the primary authority. You've said before that the verses used to condemn gay people are aways in the context of exploitation or violence and have nothing to do with loving relationships, but 'do not lie with man as with woman' doesn't seem to be about violence or exploitation, unless I'm missing something."

I took it to be an honest, snark-free question, so I did attempt to answer it (as follows):

Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone) is a late concept. The earliest church (which had not yet codified a new testament) depended on a few doctrinal statements (such as found in the aposte's creed). Believiing in the bible or believing the bible was inerrant were not requirements in the early church (they would wait almost 400 years for the new testament and 1500 years or so for "sola scriptura").

Leviticus is telling men not to treat other men the way they treat women (as property to own and use - do not exploit other men).

Sodom & Gomorrah (Genesis 19) pictures an attempted gang rape of men (to prevent it, Lot offers his daughters to them...do not treat men the way you treat women is the patriarchal standard) - Lot, the ONE righteous man in the story (who offered his daughters to a rape gang), winds up having incest with his daughters in a cave (and not being chastised for it in the tale).

Romans 1 refers to pagan orgies that get so wild people get hurt ("due penalty in your bodies")...Paul blames it on idolatry.

1 Corinthians 6:9 condemns male prostitutes and their male customers (exploitation, objectifying men the way women are objectified, commodified like property)

1 Timothy 1:10 - (probably an early second century text, not authentically Pauline) scholars are universally stumped by what is meant, but the most common guess is that it is also about prostitution.

All the so-called prohibitions are in the context of violence (Romans 1, Genesis 19) or exploitation (Leviticus, Paul, Deutero-Paul). Meanwhile, Love is a fruit of the spirit, love is not conemned, Paul says there is no law against love, Jesus said love is the hallmark of discipleship, Jesus understood the commandments to be about simply love of God and neighbor (the Good Samaritan parable shows that anyone who chooses kindness is a good neighbor), and one New Testament writer defines God as Love. Love is not condemned, and the very few verses weaponized against LGBTQ people do not even mention consensual, joyful interactions, covenantal fidelity, or mutual affection or attraction.

No comments: