Homosexuality in the Bible

Biblical reflections by Matteo Maria Donati published on the blog of the mCC Community The Circle november 28, 2019

There are several mentions of homosexuality that are made in the Bible. The different positions of the various Christian churches and denominations on the subject pose the problem of the actual possibility of a coherent and unitary doctrine within contemporary Christianity. The texts that deal with sexual relationships between people of the same sex also occur in very different contexts.

Sodom and Gomorrah ... and the lack of hospitality

The first song of the Bible that deals with the theme, however well known, is found in the book of Genesis, chapters 18 and 19. It is the well -known episode of Sodoma and Gomorra, two cities located near the dead Sea.

In particular, the episode of abraham's nephew, lot, Who Decides to find refuge with his own is narrated clan at Sodoma. At the beginning the inhabitants of the city seemed very hospitable, but then, during the night, around the house where Lot was with his own, a death of people of all ages crowds, and the narrator who writes specific that they had bad intentions: they wanted to abuse them (Genesis 19: 4-5). Yahweh's angels affected oppressors with sudden blindness.

Although over the centuries this episode has been seen as an explicit condemnation of any homosexual act, in reality, carefully examining the text, what God wants to punish is not their sexual instinct (which, moreover, is present in each of us, even if in different forms), but their lack of hospitality, that following the Torah it was considered sacred at that time. This reading, which in the eyes of modern Christians may seem new, was actually already present in Talmud, that interprets it as a lack of charity and a clear violation of the social duty of hospitality.

The same vision of Jesus of Nazareth, when he tells his disciples that the remuneration for the houses and cities that do not welcome them will be worse than that of the cities of Sodoma and Gomorra (Matthew 10: 14-15).

For some scholars, the purely sexual interpretation of the song dates back to the third century BC. C., caused by the comparison between two different cultures: the Jewish and the Hellenic one. Faced with the nudity practices in force in Greek gyms, the most Orthodox religious would have seen in Sodom a sort of prefiguration of the Greek civilization. This hypothesis could find a historiographic foundation in Jubilee Book, in chapter 16 (II century A. C.), in Testament of Nephtals, chapter 3 and in Testament of Levi, chapter 14, all books belonging to Testaments of the twelve patriarchs (end of the second century BC. C.).

Levitician And the condemnation of idolatry

The Versetto del Levitico where it is written: «If a man lies with a male as he does with a woman, they have committed both of them an abomination; Both will be put to death. Their blood will fall on them " (Levitico 20:13) has been interpreted for centuries, both by Jews and by Christians, as a clear ban on homosexual acts in general.

In reality, this reading does not take into account the context in which the book was written, nor of the objective that the book arises, which is to distinguish the behavior of the monotheistic Israelites from the inhabitants of Canaan, who followed polytheism and sacred prostitution.

For this reason it is more logical to think that the conviction is not so aimed at homosexual acts in general, but to sexual and homosexual acts as part of sectarian rituals of the Canaan religion. This is confirmed by the fact that neither lesbism, nor masturbation are condemned, this because those who participated and officiated these rites were certainly men, who therefore, according to the protocols of the rite, were forced to have carnal relationships with each other.

Davide and Jonatan: a deep love ... and lawful

Samuele's books report the deep affection between Jonatan, son of King Saul, and Davide:

"Saul communicated to his son Gionatan ... that he wanted to kill Davide, but Jonatan had a lot of affection for Davide and warned him" (The Samuele 19: 1-2);

«A big affliction I try for you, my brother Gionatan: you have been very dear to me! Your love for me was wonderful, overtaking the love of women " (II Samuele 1:26).

You have to be blind to not understand the deep love between these two characters, testifying that love between people of the same sex was not condemned within the people of Israel.

The eunuchi ... in the Gospels

The concept of "eunuch" reported in Matthew 19:12 does not concern the image that we have of eunuchs as color "gym", and at the same time of the "castrates" who supervised the women of a gentleman or a prince. We can find this image in Totò's films, but not in the evangelical stories, where the eunuch was the one who did not marry, or in any case who had a sexual orientation not aimed at the female sex.

This concept is explained very well by Clemente Alessandrino in his treaty Stomateis, where he also reports a previous interpretation, that of Basilide, which notes explains this concept.

Jesus and the lover of the Roman centurion

The episode of the servant of the Centurione in Luca 7: 1-10 offers us a very important detail: at verse 2 the author of the Gospel explains that the soldier loved and estimated his servant, a relationship certainly not usual at that time between a servant and his master. This confirms the deep intimate relationship which existed between the two. Jesus in the episode does not launch convictions, but simply heals the sick servant at a distance, which recovers health.

Paolo ... the misunderstood

In the letter of the apostle Paul to the Romans we read:

"Therefore God abandoned them to impulity according to the desires of their heart, so as to dishonor their bodies together, since they have changed the truth of God with the lie and have revered and adored the creature instead of the Creator, who is blessed over the centuries. Amen. For this God has abandoned them to infamous passions; Their women have changed natural relationships in relationships against nature. Equally also men, leaving the natural relationship with the woman, turned on with passion for each other, committing men with men with men, thus receiving in themselves the punishment that adhered to their transfer " (Romans 1: 24-27).

ThispassageIt was literallymission, reading it as a clear condemnation of homosexuality, whenreading between the lines it is clear that the main theme is the condemnation of idolatryand of the cults connected to it, which was mentioned previously.

Conclusions

There are other steps in the Bible that deal with the theme of homosexuality. We can conclude with serenity that there is no clear condemnation of homosexuality. The Bible condemns instead idolatry, considered as an unforgivable sin, because it implies the adoration of other entities that are not Yahweh, which, according to the mentality of the men of the time, would have claimed a cult founded on macabre rituals, where sexual acts were present, mainly between men, and sometimes too human sacrifices. Above all the sources transmit us that they were often sacrificed of the children.