Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 19

Continuing from last Sunday's post on the topic of whether homosexuality is the worst of sins, and continuing a list of all the scripture on homosexuality:

2) Leviticus 18:22 “‘You shall not lie with a man, as with a woman. That is detestable.

3) Leviticus 20:13 “‘If a man lies with a male, as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

The two statements from Leviticus are both in the middle of a list of forbidden unions, such as not having sex with a man’s neighbor’s wife. There are eighteen forbidden sexual acts in Leviticus 18, and eleven in Leviticus 20. Clearly, homosexual sin is not being highlighted in Leviticus. The two lists are similar. I don’t know why there are two lists.

4) Deuteronomy 23:17 There shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel. 18 You shall not bring the hire of a prostitute, or the wages of a male prostitute, into the house of Yahweh your God for any vow; for both of these are an abomination to Yahweh your God.

(Some other versions of the Bible are not so definite about this, and reading them may leave some doubt as to whether this refers to male homosexual prostitution. However, the World English Bible is used throughout this book, unless there’s a good reason to use another version, in which case the other version is named. And, besides, sodomite implies male homosexuality.)

5) Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things. 24 Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

26 For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error.

Note that the fundamental sin here is unbelief, or idolatry, not homosexuality.

6) 1 Corinthians 6:9b Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortionists, will inherit God’s Kingdom. 11 Such were some of you, but you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God. 12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are expedient. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be brought under the power of anything. 13 “Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods,” but God will bring to nothing both it and them. But the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.

Notice three interesting things about the above quote. First, “homosexuals” is fifth on the list, with “sexually immoral” being first. Second, verse 11 clearly indicates that redemption is possible, for homosexuals and other types of sinners listed. Third, slander, saying something bad about someone that isn’t true, is on the same list, although it’s at the end of it. A search using the New International Version showed that slander is condemned more often in the New Testament than homosexuality is.

7) 1 Timothy 1:9 as knowing this, that law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for man slayers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave-traders, for liars, for perjurers, and for any other thing contrary to the sound doctrine;

There are, then, only seven passages that condemn homosexuality in the entire Bible. Jesus said nothing specifically about it. The brevity of this list indicates that homosexuality is not high on the list of sins.

The above is an excerpt from my recently published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, public domain.

The previous post in this series is here. God willing, the next excerpt will continue  discussion of a this topic.

Thanks for reading!