lakerz12 wrote:Dennis 37 wrote:Wone wrote:Whatever is an atrocity to God I'm against.
Let me star by saying I believe in Jesus. The Jewish religious leaders of the time, basing their opinion on old testament writings, criticized much of what Jesus did as an atrocity to God.
Do you realize that the book of Leviticus was handed down orally for centuries before being written down in ancient Hebrew. Even if the final text didn't vary from the original, which is highly unlikely, it would have been effected by cultural bias and poor transcription. Then there is the translation difficulties. Just google alternate Leviticus translations and you will discover enough to create doubt in your mind about the intended direction of that Leviticus passage, not to mention that the old Hebrew text made no mention of women. So lesbians aren't even in the conversation.
What about 1 Cor. 6:9-10 and Rom 1:26-28?
1 Cor. 6:9-10, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God."
Rom. 1:26-28, "For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper."
I'll start with effeminate which is often highlighted as a type of gay person. The rest you can google yourself, or I'll get back to you tomorrow as it is late here in the east.
Keep in mind this is originally a Greek text. The Greek word translated “effeminate” in verse 9 is quite broad. The word is malakoi, and it literally means “soft.” So Paul is saying “soft people” will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Dale B. Martin, Arsenokoitês and Malakos: Meaning and Consequences (Source: Biblical Ethics and Homosexuality: Listening to Scripture edited by Robert L. Brawley; Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville Kentucky, 1996), page 124. Nissinen also offers “frailty of body or character, illness, sentimentality, or moral weakness” as other possibilities for the meaning of this word in other contexts (page 117).
This common Greek word had different connotations depending on the context in which it was used. In terms of morality, it generally referred to something like laziness, degeneracy, decadence, or lack of courage. (See note 2.) The connotation was of being “soft like a woman” or like the delicate expensive fabrics worn by rich men. In the patriarchal culture of the time, women were thought to be weaker than men, more fearful, more vulnerable, and more vain. Thus, men who ate too much, liked expensive things, were lazy, or liked to dress well were considered “soft like a woman.” Although this type of misogynistic thinking is intolerable in our modern society, it was common in ancient times and explains why the King James Version translated malakoi as “effeminate."
While I will get to the other points tomorrow, the point is that the translators of the Greek to King James version were no more tolerant of gays than the translators of the ancient Hebrew to Leviticus were.
What I do know is in no translation of the four most important books of the bible does Jesus say anything about homosexuality. Nothing.
One should be able to identify a Christian through his compassion and charity, not by what he says.
I'm glad LeBron made the Celtics and the Thunder and the entire NBA, SUBMIT to his dominance.
