When is homosexuality wrong? Homosexuality is wrong anytime heterosexuality is wrong! It is time for the Church to face the fact that homosexuality and therefore homosexuals are here to stay. It is also time for the Church to acknowledge the fact that the majority of homosexuals are normal, healthy, and well-adjusted people. The vast majority of homosexuals are not perverts, queers, faggots, or abnormal as some would want people to believe. Homosexuals are members of the human family and believers are also part of the Body of Christ. We have addressed the passages of the Old Testament that are mistakingly used by some to hurt and hate homosexuals. As Christians, we also need to address the New Testament. Here the writings of Paul have been used to again support the agenda of those who would have us believe that hate is acceptable, expected, and Christian. ROMANS, CHAPTER 1 This letter from Paul was addressed to a group that had formed a church in the pagan city of Rome. At that time, the city of Rome was the center of military might, intellectual thought, as well as many paganistic practices (for example, think of the many Roman gods worshiped from whom we derived the names of our planets). In many respects Rome could be likened to Sodom of old. Roman rule was extensive. Rome too was a wicked city exhibiting considerable ungodliness. The wickedness of Rome seemed to deepen with each new ruler and generation. They had a vague concept of a creator-god, but refused to believe in the one true living God. Their worship was then that of the creature and not the Creator. They worshiped many fertility gods and goddesses such as, Aphrodite, Hecate, Artimus, to name only a few. It should also be noted that male brothels were very common, so common in fact that April 24th was the national holiday for male prostitutes. In Chapter 1 18-32 Paul writes "For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature, namely His eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse; for although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise they became fools, and exchanged the glory of immortal God for images resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural and the men likewise gave up natural relations with woman and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct. They were filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity, they are gossipers, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve those who practice them." Now that was quite a mouthful, so we should proceed through that slowly and focusing on what is being said, why it is being said, to whom, etc.. again, we need to use the outline described in the chapter on Leviticus. First who is the letter written to? The church in Rome. Why was is written? The letter describes a group of people who had literally turned from knowledge of the true and living God and had turned to idols ("Claiming to be wise they became fools, and exchanged the glory of immortal God for images resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles."). Thus, it is important to reread verses 18-32 and everywhere   the words "they, them, and their" is used substitute the words: "THE PAGANS" - without doing do one does not come away with a clear and precise understanding of the writing. Without understanding the context, misunderstanding and erroneous interpretation will result. One cannot ignore the historical context in which each of the books was written and fully understand the social, religious, cultural aspects of each group addressed. If one knows the historical facts then one can accurately extract the timeless and universal truths, otherwise one comes away with no useful information. These sexual acts (some homosexual and some heterosexual) were being performed by pagan people in their pagan temples and with their pagan priests and priestesses. These were part of their religious ceremonial rituals. Sexual acts in religious settings was very common in the ancient world and the priests were both male and female. As Biblical Christians we cannot conceive of sex acts being part of worship. Sex is meant to be reserved as the intimate expression between two people in a bound relationship. The sex acts described above were performed in open defiance to God. Both heterosexual and homosexual acts were performed in open defiance to the rules that the Bible and Christ had laid down. In Romans 1 nearly everyone who was participating in these sex acts were heterosexual - why? - because the vast majority of people on earth are heterosexual and these sex acts were not to show love, but were motivated from depraved minds acting out of lust ("Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts"). Sex had been separated from love, responsibility, and commitment and was merely a social activity - this is a carry over from the Greek culture. Lust comes from Satan - Love comes from God. Romans 1 does not paint a picture of people who were naturally homosexual engaging in loving consensual sex rather they were heterosexual who "abandoned" their nature (heterosexuality) for perverse pagan sex acts. The also abandoned their nature of worshipping the one true God for idolatrous acts. The verses support the fact they were heterosexuals acting out of defiance by stating the woman EXCHANGED natural relations for unnatural and men ABANDONED natural relations with women and were INFLAMED with LUST (not love) for one another. As a homosexual, it is natural to engage in love and sex with the same gender, but it would be unnatural for a heterosexual to do so. These men and women were heterosexual who were engaging in unnatural (for them) acts in paganistic settings. Also, within the historical setting it was very common for the Greeks to marry and produce children and thus heterosexuality was the norm. However, it was also very common for married men to use young boys for sexual purposes - this was widely accepted as perfectly acceptable. Thus, Paul saw on a daily basis the many heterosexual people EXCHANGING and ABANDONING their normal sexuality for perverse LUST and undoubtedly pedastry. Because Paul knew how common place child molestation was He undoubtedly has this in the front of his mind and was certainly condemning pederasty and all Christians (homosexuals and heterosexuals) will do the same - then and now. Like all of us, Paul was a product of his own time and experiences. Since homosexuals comprise a minority of the population, Paul was unlikely to have encountered a homosexual couple who was married and in Christ. But his writings were inspired by the Holy Spirit (who does see many loving, Christian couples) and if these were the focus of the writings these people would also have been specifically addressed. As it was, a homosexual who is in a loving, Christ-centered life was not addressed or condemned by Paul's writings. The Bible spends a great deal of time outlining the acts and beliefs that will condemn someone - it never mentions a monogamous, Christ-centered loving relationship of two people of the same gender. "They were filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity, they are gossipers, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve those who practice them".This section of the passage describes some very sinful behaviors, but it is not describing homosexuals, but rather those who have forgotten the truth of God's Word. Let's look at some of the other vices listed here and where else they are discussed in the Bible. Mark 7:20-23 "And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do you not see, that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him; because it goeth not into his heart, but into his belly, and pass on? This he said, making all meats clean. And he said, That which proceedeth out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, covetings, wickednesses, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, railing, pride, foolishness: all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man". First, we should recognize that Christ again is explaining how the Law which prohibited the ingestion of certain foods is no longer important under His new covenant. Second, he explains how those things that come from our hearts are what can defile and destroy us. Col. 3:5-11 " Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; for which things' sake cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience: wherein you also once walked, when you lived in these things; but now you put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, railing, shameful speaking out of your mouth: lie not one to another; seeing that ye have put off the old nature, and have put on the new nature, that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him: where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all. Here Paul addresses several vital concepts. He talks about how we were before accepting Christ into our lives by listing the attributes of man: malice, envy, lying, fornication, etc. Then he explains that these are no longer our nature when we are in Christ. That we are all one in Christ. The list is very similar to that of Romans where Paul is reminding those people of what they were without Christ and that they should not reject Him for pagan beliefs and thereby return to that state. These lists contrast how we are in darkness and sin before knowing Christ to the new creation that we become in Christ. Rev 2:14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou have some there that hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication. In this final book of revelation, Christ mentions idolatry and fornication as if they are inherently connected. They are. Fornication according to Webster's is sexual acts outside of marriage. Upon a cursory glance one may read this as focusing on physical intimacy between two people but we know that the book of Revelation is veiled heavily in symbolism, so we need to look at where else in scripture Christ used similar analogies. Matthew 25:1-13 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For the foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there is a cry, Behold, the bridegroom! Come ye forth to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying, Peradventure there will not be enough for us and you: go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage feast: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour. Matthew 25:14-30 . Luke 5: 35 "the day will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them" In each of these stories Christ uses the term bridegroom to refer to Him and maidens to refer to His followers. Thus the marriage is between Him and His church. This fornication in this context would mean relations outside this marriage. The only thing outside a relationship between you and Christ would be if you had a relationship with something else - idolatry, paganism. So in these verses the usage of the word fornication is spiritual fornication and the foresaking of our vows we have taken to Christ as our Lord and Saviour. Again, throughout these passages, the condemnation is not homosexuality, but rather spiritual infidelity, or idolatry, the rejection of Christ as King. 1 CORINTHIAN; CHAPTER 6 Here in 1 Cor 6:9-10 Paul writes "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 1nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God" Again, first to whom was this addressed? It was addressed to the local church in Corinth. Corinth was filled with many pagan temples dedicated to the many gods and goddesses of the time. It is said that the major temple had over 10,000 priest-prostitutes. What Paul addressed here is similar to that he addressed in Romans Chapter 1. The verses "Do you not know the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God". Are believers in Jesus Christ ever referred to as "the wicked"? NO!!!, Strong's Concordance has over three pages of references to wicked or wickedness - in each passage the words are being used to describe those that have rejected the truth of God's Word and His Son. This passage is not addressing Christians rather it is addressing unbelievers. Regardless of what one does or does not do if they reject Jesus Christ they will not enter the kingdom of heaven. In many Bibles the verse is translated as homosexual offenders or homosexuals. The original Greek word in the letter was MALAKOI. It is related to the word MALAKOS which literally means "soft". Our current word, malleable comes from malakos, and means bendable. The Greek word MALAKOS is used three other times in the New Testament: twice in Matt 11:8 and once in Luke 7:25. The word MALAKOI cannot be found in any text written before 1 Corinthians (note Matthew and Luke were both written after 1 Corinthians even though they are placed prior to it in the Bible.) Translators have a difficult time knowing what Paul was trying to convey with the word MALAKOI since he coined the word himself and it had no prior usage. When comparing its usage to that in the other three Bible books we find that the word was used to describe soft or fine clothing. Speculation is that the word was used by Paul to mean effeminate; however, not all gay men are effeminate and not all effeminate men are gay. We can use the meaning of malleable, or bendable, or spineless. This would describe a person who is unable to stand up for his own beliefs. The Greek Interlinear Bible uses the word "voluptuous" to mean one who behaves in a provocative or sexually loose manner, which brings us back to prostitute. The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament presents the passage actually meaning "....neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor abusers of themselves as women, nor abusers of themselves with men." If one then goes to the Strong's Concordance and looks up each of these terms we find that : fornicators - literally means one who prostitutes himself idolaters - literally means one who worships idols/false gods adulterer - literally means one who commits adultery abusers of themselves as women -literally means one who is soft and without a backbone, spineless abusers of themselves with men -literally means male prostitute Two words Paul could have used were PHILERASTIS and PEDERASTIS to convey the meaning of men who engage in sexual acts with other men for pleasure. These were used to mean homosexuals, many times in reference to the devotees of the pagan deity Eros (from which we get the word erotic). Also notice the similarity of pederastis to the modern word pedophilia. As history tells us, it was common for high ranking men in Roman society to engage in sexual acts with boys. As disgusting (and I believe sinful) as that behavior is, Paul did not choose that word to convey his message. So what could be more abominable to God then pedophilia - paganism, the worshipping of a deity other than the One True God, so as not to confuse other sexual acts with temple sexual acts Paul did not use these words. Other words that Paul could have used to mean homosexual were CANADI and EXSOLETE; however, again he did not use the commonly used vocabulary. St. Jerome's Vulgate version of the Bible translates Qadeshen as EFFEMINATI . This word means someone who dons female clothing in order to serve as a temple prostitute. St. Jerome translated Malakoi as MOLLES, which is a synonym for EFFEMINATI and therefore also means temple cult prostitute. St. Jerome finally describes ARSENOKOITAI as a person who uses the services of a malakoi or molles or the "customer" of the temple cult prostitute. Referring back to the Interlinear Greek-English New Testament the phrase "abusers of themselves as women" fits well with St. Jerome's description of a man who dresses in women's clothing and provides sexual services in the temple. Also the phrase "abusers of themselves with men" correlates well with St. Jerome's description of those who partake in the sexual activities of the temple prostitutes who are male. Thus from several sources it becomes clear that what Paul was referring to in this passage were those people who engage in sexual activity as part of a worship service from a pagan deity. To look at the rest of the verse, the passage continues to condemn thieves, the greedy, drunkards, swindlers, and slanderers. If this is a blanket condemnation it surely includes those of us who have gossiped or slandered. It includes those ministers who steal money from the sick and elderly and build huge churches to their own praise. It would include the activities of almost every fraternity and sorority each weekend. Not many would escape the condemnation of this passage. We need to truly remember the lesson of salvation - in Jesus Christ we are saved - without him we are already lost. TIMOTHY 1 Here Paul writes to a young preacher named Timothy "for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers - and for whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine" Here many in the religious "right" say that homosexuals are condemned as perverts. The actual word from the Bible used in Greek is "ARSENOKOITES" (see above). We conclude that the references dealing with homosexuality in the writings of Paul are referring to certain aspects of homosexual acts. Paul does not condemn that which is normal. He does not condemn a natural homosexual (someone created that way) only that which is perverted (contrary to their natural creation). Whenever homosexuals or heterosexuals act contrary to their normal sexuality, it is regarded as perversion in Scripture. JUDE Jude writes "Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the believers. For certain people whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless people who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord." This passage could be written for today where many false teachers in ministry teach falsehoods. We must bear in mind that contrary to what the majority of homophobic Christians believe, being homosexual does not mean that one must be immoral, promiscuous and live a life void of Biblical moral standards. The scripture continues" Now I desire to remind you, though you were once for all fully informed, that He who saved a people out of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels that did not keep their own position but left their proper dwelling have been kept by Him in eternal chains." Here Jude is discussing those who knew the sovereignty of Jesus Christ, but rejected Him for another deity. Finally we read "In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire." Jude was a relative of Christ and was not one to mince words - if he had something to say then it was said. If Jude was addressing homosexuality why did he not come out and state it? The reason is he was not - he was again addressing the paganistic, lustful acts of people who had rejected God and turned their depraved minds over to lustful actions. [see the page on Sodom] The phrase that is listed above as "sexual immorality and perversion" was originally written as "fornication" and "going after strange flesh" The words comprising "strange flesh" are HETEROS SARX. Based on the modern words heterosexual and homosexual, hetero means "different" whereas home means "same". Thus, had the author meant that these people engaged in sexual activities with members of the same gender, the correct phrase would have been HOMOS SARX. The words "strange flesh" would have easily called to the minds of the people reading this letter at that time the vision of altered meat which had been sacrificed to idols. Anything relating to idolatry is perversion as we have seen previously, thus meat given as a sacrifice to other deities than the One True God would have certainly been "strange" and "perverted". Throughout the passages leading up to the discussion about strange flesh, Jude has focused entirely upon people who have forsaken their knowledge of Christ and replaced it with some other idol. The book continues on to discuss other people in the past who had tried to reject the word of God: Cain, Balaam, and Korah. Jude is writing a warning to those who would reject and deny the sovereignty of God. The New Testament does not condemn homosexuality - in all the words spoken by Christ, He never once addressed homosexuality - if it were truly the surefire way to Hell - he would certainly not have been ashamed to say so. Glory to God in the highest!   References Furnish, Victor Paul (1979) Homosexuality, In the Moral Teach of Paul". Abingdon Press Boswell, John (1980) Christianity: Social Tolerance and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century", University of Chicago Press Scroggs, Robin (1983) Homosexuality in the New Testament: Contextual Background from Contemporary Debate, Fortress Press Wright, Dabid F (1984) Homosexuals or Prostitutes: The Meaning of ARSENOKOITAI, Vigiliae Christanae Peterson, William L. (1986) Can ARSENOKOITAI be Translated by Homosexuals?, Vigiliae Christanae Hall, B. Barbara (1996) Homosexuality and a New Creation, in Our Selves, Our Souls, and Bodies: Sexuality and the Household of God, Cowley Publications Martin, Dale B. (1996) Arsenokoites and Malakos: Meaning And Consequences, in Biblical Ethics and Homosexuality: Listening to the Scripture, Westminster John Knox Press Hanks, Thomas (1997) A Family Friend: Paul's Letter to the Romans as a Source of Affirmation for Queers and Their Families, in Our Families, Our Values: Snapshots of Queer Kinship, The Harrington Press