CAMP Spirit

Last issue, in beginning the discussion of homosexuality in the world religions, we looked at how Judaism has regarded same-sex behavior, concluding that any supposed condemnation results from a narrow reading of the Levitical Holiness Code that was established to keep the Hebrew nation "pure" and undefiled once they came into contact with non-Jews. When one turns to Christianity, the traditional prohibition of homosexual acts is the same, but the scriptural emphasis is different. In addition, within Christianity, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism have addressed the issue of homosexuality in different ways and with varying emphases.

Christian tradition sees the story of the destruction of Sodom as the ur-text for the prohibition of homosexual activity. Even though the Bible itself interprets the Sodom story as an indictment of godless wickedness and inhospitality, nevertheless, beginning sometime after the books of the Old Testament were composed and before the New Testament was compiled, interpretations of this story began to change, continuing into the early centuries of Christianity. "Sodomy" became a synonym for homosexual activity, while "sodomite" became the term for those who indulged in such activity. This may be seen in the fact that many translations of the Bible use the word "sodomite" anachronistically to refer to those who commit same-sex acts, when in biblical times a "sodomite" would have merely referred to an inhabitant of Sodom.

This attitude was strengthened by two passages in the New Testament in which the apostle Paul condemns relations between those of the same sex; it is believed that Jesus never addressed the subject. Modern interpreters of these passages have focused on their social and historical context: Paul addressed Christians in the cosmopolitan cities of Rome and Corinth who were living amid practices that Paul believed would lead them away from their commitment to God in Christ. Thus, in Romans 1:26-27, Paul writes:

Therefore, God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error. (New Revised Standard Version)

The first verse is said to be the only place in the Bible where lesbianism is addressed; however, this is not a unanimous opinion. Lesbianism is assumed here only by analogy to what follows regarding men’s relations with one another. Paul uses that term "unnatural" to refer to the acts of both the women and the men. Nevertheless, this does not mean that he is referring to homosexual relations in both instances. The key to understanding these verses is what would have been considered "natural" in Paul’s day. In a patriarchal culture obsessed with gender roles and women remaining "in their place" ("under" the man, both literally and figuratively), it is more likely that Paul was referring to women being aggressive in their sexuality and performing heterosexual acts such as oral and anal sex that were considered "unnatural" because they did not involve either procreation or female passivity. As regards the men, "unnatural" relations in Paul’s day most likely involved the aversion to penetration of one man by another and to men assuming a passive role toward another man.

The other Pauline text used to condemn homosexuality for Christians is I Corinthians 6:9, where, in discussing the various types of people who will not merit entry into the kingdom of God, Paul states:

Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes [Greek malakoi], sodomites [Greek arsenokoitai], thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers —none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. (NRSV)

The difficulty with this passage is the two words malakoi and arsenokoitai, which are translated imprecisely in all versions of the Bible and sometimes even conflated as though they were one word (e.g., "homosexual offenders" in the New International Version), betraying the ambiguity involved in these Greek words.

In the original Greek, they are two separate words of uncertain meaning. Malakoi (which simply means "soft" and must therefore be interpreted by the reader) could refer to those who were weak-willed or lacking in self-control; it is a term used by later Catholic and Protestant authors to refer to those who masturbate. It is possible that it referred to men who were "soft" in the sense of being "effeminate" (and thus in a patriarchal society looked down upon for not acting like "real men"), suggesting to some scholars that Paul is referring to the passive partner in a pederastic relationship.

Arsenokoitai (which comes from the words for "male" and "bed") is a compound that was apparently coined by Paul, created to stand for a particular group in Corinth. Who this group is has been a matter of conjecture. One view is that if malakoi refers to the passive partner in a pederastic relationship, then arsenokoitai must refer to the active partner. Another position holds that Paul is discussing so-called cultic "prostitutes" in service at the pagan temples in Corinth, thus associating this term with a phenomenon of worship involving sexual acts between the worshiper and the temple attendants, both male and female. However, to me it is irresponsible to rest this argument on a phenomenon as disputed and misunderstood as that of temple prostitution; if there were indeed sexual acts performed in the context of pagan worship, to call them acts of prostitution displays a Western sex-negativity and an intolerance of other forms of worship.

Having examined Christianity’s scriptural prohibitions of homosexuality, it is important to note that these scriptures were not really discussed or subjected to historical critical interpretation until the mid-1950s; since then there has been a significant amount of study devoted to this topic. However, for the majority of the Christian Era, these texts were read literally, especially in Protestantism, as definitive condemnation of homosexual acts. In the past thirty years, however, many Christians have begun to question the correctness of the churches’ prohibition of homosexuality. Although conservative and fundamentalist Protestant churches exclude homosexuals entirely, caucuses have been formed in many of the major denominations to address the issue and to provide ministry for gay and lesbian persons. Some denominations are welcoming and affirming of gays and lesbians in every way, while others claim to be welcoming but still exclude gays and lesbians from the clergy and from marriage. Roman Catholicism has fortified its scriptural prohibition of same-sex affinity with a theology of natural law as enunciated by Thomas Aquinas, whereby acts not found "in nature" and which did not lead to procreation were consequently not of God. The Vatican has continued to insist that active homosexuality is incompatible with Catholic salvation, while at the same time urging an attitude of compassion for gay and lesbian persons.

For Further Reading:

• Bernadette J. Brooten, Love Between Women: Early Christian Responses to Female Homoeroticism, University of Chicago Press, 1996
• Gareth Moore, A Question of Truth: Christianity and Homosexuality, Continuum, 2003
• Martti Nissinen, Homoeroticism in the Biblical World: A Historical Perspective, Fortress Press, 1998