What is a eunuch by birth? A curious, enigmatic, debated, and often dismissed, verse is found in the nineteenth chapter of the New Testament’s Gospel of Matthew. Some scholars for the past 40 years or so have argued that it includes a reference to men
The Bible’s feet fetish In the movie The Big Chill, during a weekend of reminiscing about their college days in the ’60s, the once-aspiring journalist who is now a reporter for a gossip magazine says, “I hate to think that all we stood for back
During the reign of Hezekiah from 726-697 the southern kingdom of Judah was prosperous. Judah had been made a vassal state of Assyria after the Syrio-Ephraimite war in 734-732 and was flourishing under these conditions despite paying heavy tribute to Assyria. Material wealth among the
When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face. And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee. (Genesis 38:15-16) When we read Scripture we
Karl Barth, the premier theologian of this century for Germany, and the major contributor to the document that freed the German Church from Hitler’s influence, said that all Christian theology must begin and end with the person of Jesus Christ, or it is not Christian
Back to Index Genesis 19 describes how two angels visited Sodom and were welcomed into Lot’s house. The men of the city gathered around the house and demanded that Lot send the visitors to the mob so that they might know the angels. [The Hebrew
Back to Index In summary: Homosexual activity in the temple by male prostitutes is clearly prohibited by the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Homosexual activity in general may have been prohibited at the time by the Holiness Code, but that code is no longer binding on
Most people seem to “know” that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by God because of homosexuality. Well, I haven’t been able to find the phrase, “homosexuality” anywhere in Genesis or Judges or anywhere else in the Bible refering to Sodom and Gomorrah.
Arguably, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is the biblical story most often used to condemn homosexuality. Yet as popular as Genesis 19 is with religious zealots, this story is the weakest of all passages used against gays and lesbians. A close reading of the
“Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say the Lord will surely separate me from his people; and do not let the eunuch say I am just a dry tree. For thus says the Lord to the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who