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A friend recently wrote, "I recognize that there is one passage in 1 Corinthians
that speaks specifically about 'homosexuals.' I'm still working through that one."
I responded, to his surprise, "I don't believe this verse does speak specifically
about homosexuals."
Even when English translations of the Bible specifically use the word "homosexual"
or "homosexuality," it most often reflects a philosophical and theological bias on
the part of the translator, and the sponsoring organization or agency which
publishes that translation.
Because he is frequently the victim of such biased translation, Paul is often
unfairly maligned and underappreciated by LGBT Christians. He was the author of the
oldest Christian documents known to scholars -- his New Testament letters to the new
communities of faith at Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossus,
Thessalonica, and to three individuals -- Timothy, Titus and Philemon.
Corinth in Paul's time was a Greek city under Roman occupation, a cosmopolitan
crossroads of the ancient world
where so many different cultures and nationalities rubbed shoulders that Greek was
the accepted common tongue, as English is today in most parts of the world. This
was true throughout most of the civilized world in Paul's time, the first century of
the Christian Era, and Paul's new churches were usually planted in such
sophisticated urban locations.
Paul was a non-Palestinean Jew, and through extensive education and training became
a Pharisee (especially observant and influential Jews -- the name itself means
"separate ones" in Hebrew), but he was thoroughly immersed in the Greek civilization
of his birthplace, Tarsus in Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. Paul was a native
speaker of eloquent Greek. Some of his passages are among the most poetic and
beautiful in all the Bible.
Paul had all the necessary linguistic tools to be precise about his meaning; he knew
the Greek words in common usage that would convey it unambiguously. There are
numerous instances in his letters in which Paul uses idiosyncratic Greek words,
perhaps because he was struggling to convey monotheistic concepts as well as the
"new" message of Jesus to Gentile Christians who were unfamiliar with them.
They were not unfamiliar with temple prostitution, either with the opposite or same
sex. They were not unfamiliar with male-male bonding among soldiers, between master
and slave or teacher and student. They were not unfamiliar with concepts of idolatry
and polytheism.
The Greek words Paul uses in 1 Cor. 6:9 (and 1 Timothy 1:10) are "malakos" and
"arsenokoitai." The King James monarchial, patriarchal translation of nearly 400
years ago (1611) -- addressed to men, and not much concerned with women except as
property and in keeping them in their rightful place -- rendered these "effeminate"
and "abusers of themselves with mankind."
The Revised Standard Version (1952) combined the two words into one translation,
"homosexuals," a terminology and concept -- of biological sexual attraction to the
same gender -- that did not even exist in English or any European language until the
mid-19th century. The New RSV (1989) translated them separately again, as "male
prostitutes" and "sodomites."
The New International Version (1978) translated them "male prostitutes" and
"homosexual offenders," recognizing what some scholars believe may have been closer
to Paul's intent, to identify specific forms of same-sex practice that were regarded
as deplorable. It seems that how these words are translated often has more to do
with preconceptions and convictions of the translators than the sense of the
original Greek language.
"Malakos" (literally "soft") was not commonly used by Greek speakers of Paul's time
in sexual contexts (nor is it today). In Paul's usage, it may be suggestive of some
kind of effeminacy or weakness, but it is not a word which other speakers and
writers of Greek used to refer to homosexual behavior or practitioners. "Malakos,"
indeed, is used in several other
places in the New Testament in ways that have nothing to do with sex (e.g., Matt.
11:8 and Luke 7:25). The word's usage overall is uncommon.
When "malakos" or similar words are used by other Greek speakers and writers, they
are never unambiguous references to sex between males. There were plenty of other
words in ancient Greek language -- "erastes," "eromenos," "paedika," "paederastes"
and others -- which Paul would have had at his command. If Paul intended
unequivocally to condemn all manner of sex between males, it is extremely puzzling
that he didn't use words which his Greek-speaking audience would find familiar and
unambiguous.
Oddest of all, "arsenokoitai" is a coinage attributed to Paul, having been found by
scholars nowhere else in any pre-Pauline Greek writing, and being found after Paul
only in discussions of and attempts to decipher his usage.
Paul seems most specific and unambiguous in Romans 1:26-27, but this passage is by
no means as clear a denunciation of modern same-gender sexual expression as those
who cite it would like to present. If these two verses are read in context from
verse 18 forward, what seems evident is that here, once again, the subject is
persons who worship other gods.
"They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human
being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles." (Romans 1:23) It is these
idolaters whom God gave up to unnatural passions (i.e., that are contrary to one's
nature, as same-sex behavior would be for a heterosexual), and whom Paul condemns.
Finally, it is wise to read Paul in the context of his own admonition in 1 Corinthians, that what he prescribes for the seedling churches whom he addresses is not necessarily mandated by God, but sometimes merely Paul's own opinion. Paul, you see, did not know he was writing "Scripture" (and nothing else in the New Testament yet existed), but only letters of comment and advice to friends in the faith, much as each of us might do.
Paul says, "... I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy." So do we all.
Lawrence A. Reh is the pastoral director of First Light, Ministries of Revelation and Reconciliation, in Alameda, CA. First Light is an affirming and nurturing spiritual outreach to LGBT people who have been injured and alienated by the exclusionary and condemning policies of organized religion. He is an M.Div. graduate of San Francisco Theological Seminary with training in counseling, theology and pastoral care, and 40 years of experience with homophobia in the world and the church.
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William L. Countryman
Daniel A. Helminiak John J. McNeill
Letha Scanzoni and Virginia Ramey Mollenkott The New Testament and Homosexuality Robin Scroggs
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