No Condemnations

The Bible Does NOT, ANYWHERE Condemn The Loving Togetherness and Sexual Union of Ordinary Homosexuals and Bisexuals

by Michael Kioni Dudley, Ph.D.

Part 1

St. Paul is the only writer in the Bible who actually addresses and condemns the attraction and sexual enjoyment shared by ordinary homosexuals and bisexuals.  Part 1 of this paper will show, however, that what Paul thought he was observing and condemning was a misapprehension of reality, a misapprehension that has only been able to be corrected two thousand years later by modern research in the last few decades.  This paper will also show how, with today’s knowledge about the causes of homosexuality and bisexuality, churches can use St. Paul’s description in Romans 1:26-27 as a Biblical basis to open the door for full church support of homosexual and bisexual life and same-sex marriage.

In the worldview of St. Paul’s time, there was no such thing as “a homosexual” or “homosexuality.”  The Hebrew understanding of humankind was based on the story of creation in Genesis in which God created man, and God created woman.  Period.  The God-given nature of man was to desire woman.  And the God-given nature of woman was to desire man.

That clearly was St. Paul’s view when he wrote Romans 1:26-27:

26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.

27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. (NKJV)

The fact that women “exchanged the natural use for” shows that they were created as heterosexual women for whom female-with-male sex was natural, and they turned away from this.  And “Likewise the men, leaving the natural use of women, burned in their lust for one another.”  That is, men, all being heterosexual, allowed unnatural lust for other men to burn within them, and then abandoned their natural heterosexual orientation to commit shameful acts with other men. 

These verses by Paul clearly show us that what Paul and other writers understood about gays and bisexuals two millennia ago is totally different from what we know today.  As different as apples and oranges; as different as white and black.  They were talking about straight men and women, tempted by the devil, turning away from their straight selves to enjoy sinful, lustful pleasure with people of their same sex—choosing sin over righteousness.

We today are talking about men and women whom God has created as homosexual or bisexual, people who were born that way, who are not turning away from anything, but rather are following the nature that God has given them, being true to that nature.  

Paul’s declarations of the sinfulness of homosexual actions were consistent with his worldview.  But that worldview had gotten it wrong.  The sin he thought he saw just wasn’t there.  And it isn’t there today. 

The words in Romans clearly give the Biblical view, a view that our modern understanding contradicts.  This contradiction provides Churches with a Biblical basis to turn away from their whole understanding and teaching on the sinfulness of homosexual and bisexual love and lifestyle. 

Of course, establishing that gay and bisexual men and women are born gay and bisexual is key to this argument.  The points below are taken from a very informative article, “The causes of human sexual orientation” by Christopher C. H. Cook, published online on September 16, 2020,[i] which discusses most of the scientific studies now available.    

• Genetics — Studies of the association between genetic markers and the trait of homosexuality across the population as a whole have found evidence that, in homosexual men, same-sex sexual behavior is significantly associated with five different genetic loci, among them a region of chromosome 8 and a region of the long arm of the X chromosome (Xq28).

• Hormones — It is entirely possible that differences in adult sexual orientation are also the result of within-the-uterus exposure of particular brain regions to atypical male hormone levels (specifically lower levels of testosterone) during a crucial period of development.  This has been shown to happen in mice and sheep, and there is evidence that it happens in humans as well. (Male-male and female-female sex is found in numerous animals.)

• Strong evidence from neuroscience and neuropsychological research also suggests differences in brain organization and functioning between heterosexual and homosexual men and women. In general, this evidence shows that gay men and heterosexual women are more alike in neural correlates, while lesbian women and heterosexual men are more alike.

• The non-social environment — One of the best-evidenced findings in research on male homosexuality is that of the fraternal-birth-order effect (FBOE).  This occurs only among males, and only among males with older brothers.  Sisters and younger siblings do not affect it.  In males with older brothers, the likelihood of homosexual orientation is increased.  And among those with three or four older brothers, the likelihood may be more than doubled.  This may be caused by a rise in H-Y antibody levels within the mother that is triggered in a first pregnancy with a male fetus, and which rises in subsequent pregnancies with males. H-Y antibodies are said to exert an impact on the developing brain of male fetuses in such a way as to alter sexual differentiation. 

• The social environment — The scientific research that has been published suggests that the social environment—experience in the world–does not appear to exert any impact on the development of sexual orientation.  That is, the social environment, during childhood and adolescence, does not influence adult sexual orientation. 

Further, the overwhelming consensus among psychologists and psychiatrists, and the American Psychological Association, is that conversion therapy and other therapeutic interventions cannot change sexual orientation.[ii]

Millions and millions of gay and bi men and women across the world know that they were born gay or bi.  They know that from childhood, often before the age of reason, they were different.  Little boys preferring little-girl toys like dolls and purses and avoiding roughhousing with other boys, and little girls preferring little-boy toys are examples.[iii]  As they matured, they found that homosexuality or bisexuality was indelibly inscribed in their deepest being, and could not be changed.  If there were any chance of changing their nature, surely most would have changed rather than endure rejection, exclusion, taunting, insults, homophobic hatred, threats, beatings, and murder, or suffer imprisonment, thrashings, and execution, or in their ongoing struggle with Church condemnation and self-condemnation for their sin, turn to self-hatred and suicide.

As Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have spread, male and female homosexuality and bisexuality have been driven into secrecy, but the earlier histories of most of the peoples of the world tell of homosexuality and bisexuality being common among them and accepted as normal.[iv] 

Homosexual behavior has also been documented in over 450 different animal species worldwide.[v]

Collectively, all of the above leave no question that gay and bisexual men and women are born as such.  This is the nature God has given them.  The teachings of Paul and the teachings of the Church that have come down to us are not only based on a huge mistake; they have done great damage.   They must be repudiated; they must be completely changed.

Because male and female gays and bisexuals are born as gays and bisexuals, they have the right, as human beings, to live according to their nature.  They must have freedom and support for their being attracted to same-sex people just as straights are supported in their attraction to opposite-sex people.  They must have support for their loving, for their desiring touch, experiencing arousal, kissing, and experiencing sex together, preferably, eventually, in marriages that last a lifetime.  Sex between them as committed partners absolutely must not be seen as sin.  God made them specifically for these unions.

The leaders of several Jewish and Christian denominations have begun the move to bless gay couples and to offer gay marriage.  For Churches not comfortable with moving towards gay marriage too quickly, the next step might be resurrecting the ceremony called adelphopoiesis which united same-sex couples (normally men) in a church-recognized relationship analogous to brotherhood.  This ceremony existed in the Catholic Church until the 14th century, and in the Eastern Orthodox Church until the early 20th century.[vi]  The third-century saints, Sergius and Bacchus, young Roman nobles and soldiers martyred for their faith, who were called erastai or lovers in the earliest known texts about them, are thought to have been united in this ceremony.[vii]  (Yes, there are several canonized saints who were openly gay or bisexual.)

Eventually, however, Churches must fully recognize that their teachings are false.  And all Churches must eventually open themselves to supporting full gay marriage, and to considering normal sexual activity between gay and bi couples as true, virtuous love. 

Before moving on, let us note that it must be granted that Churches have never had any reason to question their doctrines, since it is only now that we can firmly say that gay and bi people are born that way.  But that does not change the wrong done by Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religions. To help make things right, besides changing their doctrines, Churches also must work actively and aggressively to open minds across the world to full acceptance of homosexuals.

Part 2

Let us now discuss the Old Testament and its times: There is no sound, defensible condemnation of ordinary homosexual and bisexual togetherness and sex anywhere in the Old Testament.

The Ten Commandments forbid only adultery and coveting a neighbor’s wife.  These two Commandments show that God was aware of sex and gave explicit laws regarding sex.  He also gave all of the commandments that he wanted to give regarding sex.  Throughout history, the Jewish people have shown that they understood this.  Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines.  Polygamy was practiced among the Jewish people down through the first thousand years after Christ.[viii]  Jewish people still take concubines today.[ix]   Why?  Neither polygamy nor having concubines is forbidden by the Ten Commandments.  The world needs to realize that God also gave no commandment that forbids ordinary gay and bisexual love and sexual enjoyment.  

And, indeed, there are reasons to believe that same-sex love was acceptable in Israel throughout Biblical times.  The love between David and Jonathan is openly told in the Bible:

As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.  Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.  And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. (1 Samuel 18:1, 3-4)

Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself. (1 Samuel  20:17)

When David was leaving the area because Saul wanted to have him killed, “David fell to the ground and bowed three times to Jonathan.  And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most.” (1 Samuel 20:41)

Ballantine & Sons, 1882 stained glass window, St, Marks Portobello, Glasgow, Scotland

At Jonathan’s death, David said: “I am heartbroken over you, my brother, Jonathan.  You were my great delight.  Your love was more wonderful to me than the love of women.” (2 Samuel 1:26)

The love between Naomi and Ruth is also told openly. Ruth 1:16-17 reads:

“Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay.  Your people will be my people, and your God my God.  Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.  May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”

The most surprising quotation in the Old Testament, however, is in the Book of Daniel (1:9), where it states that it was God Himself who “brought Daniel into favor and tender love with Ashpenaz, the prince of the eunuchs.” (King James Version)  

As is well known, however, there are also four places in the Old Testament where male-with-male sex is seemingly condemned.  Let us look at them.

First, Sodom and Gomorrah.  Genesis 19 tells the story of two angels visiting the house of Lot, and of all the townsmen coming to the house seeking to “know” Lot’s guests.  This is just a story, however, a version of a story known at the time.  It never really happened.  This is clear from the fact that the very same story is found in Judges 19:1-29.  Though the stories take place in different towns with different sets of characters, all of the storyline details are the same.  In both stories, two travelers come into a named town in the evening and sit down in the town square where they plan to spend the night.  A man arrives who invites them to stay in his house.  There, their feet are washed, and they have a good meal.  Then the men of the town arrive and call out to the householder.  The words in the two stories vary, but in general are: “Bring out the man/men who came into your house that we may know him/them,” and “Do not violate my guest/s because he/they have come under my roof.”  To protect his male guest/s, in both stories the host then offers the townsmen two females stating that they can do with them as they please.  In the Genesis version, the angels then pull Lot inside and strike townsmen blind.  They wander away.

It is clear from Jewish texts that throughout Old Testament times, the townsmen wanting to “know” the angels was not at all the focus of this part of the Sodom and Gomorrah story.  The Torah (the Hebrew name for the first five books of the Bible) repeatedly insists on the great obligation of all Jews to take in, feed, and care for travelers.[x]  In the traditional Jewish view of Genesis 19, this requirement of hospitality was the central point of the Sodom a Gomorrah story.   The Talmud and the Midrash (the books of Jewish law and the books of study and commentary on the Torah) tell stories of the great mistreatment of travelers by the selfish people of Sodom.[xi]  The large crowd of townsmen who came to the house certainly showed that they cared nothing about the requirements of hospitality as they caused great alarm and completely destroyed the peace and rest of the guests.  This was the sin in the story according to Jewish writings.  The Talmud and the Midrash treat the sexual aspect of the story as just a part of the disruptive behavior.  They do not at all associate the townsmen’s visit with homosexual acts.[xii]

If the townsmen did not come with the intent of homosexual gang rape, it is interesting to speculate about what made “every last man in Sodom” come.  The Epistle of Jude may give us a hint.  He speaks of the angels who came to earth and mated with women, and follows this by saying that one of the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah was “going after strange flesh.”  

In early Biblical times, there were so many things about the world and life that had yet to be figured out.  The concept of “spirit” was yet unknown.  God, as they conceived of Him, dwelt in a body like humans, and created man in his image and likeness.  Genesis says that God also created angels with bodies like those of men.  Angels were called the Sons of God, and all angels were male.  Genesis 6:1-4 tells that some angels came to earth and mated with women in Nephilim, and their offspring were giants.  If angels had bodies like men, yet created giant offspring when mating with human women, and if word had gotten around that it was angels who were overnighting at Lot’s house, it would have been natural for the townsmen to be curious about the anatomies of the angels and to want to “know” more about them.  The Hebrew word for “know” that is used here (וְנֵדְעָ֖ה wə-nê-ḏə-‘āh) has two very different, but commonly used, translations:  “to know intellectually” and “to have sexual relations with.”[xiii]  Surely the townsmen would want to “know” the bodies of the angels, though it is not clear in which way and to what degree they would want to “know” them.  The reason that Jewish writings don’t focus on any sexual sin when discussing this story may be that there was nothing taking place that was forbidden by the Commandments.  Rather these were possibly just straight, curious townsmen who wanted to know? see?  touch? the “strange flesh” when given this amazing opportunity to encounter real angels.  Again, let us be clear that this understanding of the story is this writer’s conjecture.

In both the Genesis and Judges variants of the story, Lot and the other host clearly did not view the townsmen as homosexuals. They showed this by offering them women for sex.  In the Judges story, the gang rape went on all night.  These are not stories about homosexuals, then.  No male-with-male sex takes place in either story.  There also is no statement condemning gay sex in either.  It must be recognized, then, that the two thousand years of Church teaching that has destroyed millions of lives is based on adopted and adapted stories that have nothing to do with, and do not in any way address or condemn, ordinary, loving, same-sex togetherness and sexual enjoyment.  There is no honest and legitimate way for any Church to continue using the Sodom and Gomorrah story as a basis to declare ordinary gay and bi love and sex to be sinful.

And lest it be overlooked, if Churches insist on using the Sodom and Gomorrah story to teach major moral doctrine, the story also states that Lot offered his two virgin daughters to the men of the town for all-night gang rape in order to protect his guests.  Thus, it must also be taught that facilitating all-night mob rape of one’s daughters to protect house guests is good, a virtuous act.

The other seeming condemnations of homosexuality in the Old Testament are in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13.   The original Hebrew verses have very few words and are very hard to interpret. Scholars today argue that one can only translate them as a condemnation of all homosexual activity if one adds words that aren’t there.  Many also note that the Hebrew text of Leviticus 20:13 shows that it is not man-with-equal-man sex that is being described.  If it were, the Hebrew nouns would be ish “man” with ish “man,” not ish “man” with zachar “male.”[xiv]  The use of two different words indicates that two different kinds of males are being discussed.  Many scholars, today and in the past, maintain that both statements in Leviticus either condemn rape of a male by a male family member[iii] or condemn pederasty–the sexual relationship between an adult man and a boy.[xv]  Pederasty had been a common practice in Persia during the Babylonian Captivity of the Jews when Leviticus was put into written form.   It was also practiced among the upper classes in Greece and Rome for centuries.  Greece strongly Hellenized Israel during its occupation (332-167 B.C.E.) and Rome Romanized Israel during its occupation (63 B.C.E.-70 A.D).  It is possible that this condemnation was inserted into Leviticus at one of these times to keep the Jewish people from practicing pederasty.   In Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible, published in 1522 A.D., he used the word knabenschander, “boy molester” to describe the act condemned in Leviticus.[xvii]  Neither “condemnation” in Leviticus, then, actually refers to ordinary same-sex love life between two males of the same age.  Thus, it can be said that there are no true condemnations of ordinary homosexual life in the Old Testament.

Let us now take a look at the stand taken by Jesus.  Jesus also says absolutely nothing negative about loving, homosexual and bisexual togetherness and sex.  He mentions Sodom and Gomorrah three times.  Two clearly show that he is aware of the story of the townsmen coming to Lot’s house and the offenses against hospitality.  In Matthew 10:5-15, in sending the Twelve out to preach, he says that if a home or town does not receive them, it will be worse for them on the day of judgment than for Sodom and Gomorrah.  In Luke 10:1-15, he says the same thing when sending out the seventy-two.

The third time he mentions Sodom and Gomorrah is in a quite stunning, carefully put-together talk about the Coming of the Kingdom, which is found in Luke 17:20-37.  In this talk, he supports ordinary gay and bi togetherness and sex.  

Translators struggle with the context of this talk.  But it all works together smoothly if one accepts that Jesus is using the passage to claim His divinity, and to claim the place in the heavens that Romans believed to belong to their chief god, Juppiter who by this time in history had been accorded the heavenly place and all of the attributes and relationships of the Greek god, Zeus.

As Jesus’ audience—having lived under Greek occupation for nearly two hundred years, and now living under Pontius Pilate and dominant Roman occupation–was well aware, there were two famous symbols of Juppiter and Zeus: the lightning bolt and eagles.

Jesus opens these seventeen verses by speaking of himself as the lightning bolt and closes the passage with Him in “a place where eagles are gathered.”

Zeus

This is a talk about the return of Jesus at the Coming of the Kingdom.  Jesus mentions Noah and the flood and Sodom and Gomorrah in order to tell his listeners that all will be destroyed, all people will die, and sinners will be punished as they were in the time of Noah and Lot.  Then, at Luke 17:34-35, he says that at the end of time, “there shall be two men lying in the same bed; one will be taken, the other left behind.  There shall be two women grinding; one will be taken, the other left behind.”  (“Grinding” was a word commonly used at that time for “making love.”[xviii]  It also has this meaning in Job 31:10.  In the original Greek text of Luke 17 and in the original Hebrew text of Job 31, “grinding” is not accompanied by any word for “grain or wheat.”[xix]  There is just “grinding,” enjoying sex together.) 

The disciples ask Jesus where these individuals will be taken, and he answers, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”  Here he again is claiming the place of Juppiter and Zeus who had eagles around them in the heavens.  But there is more:  in a famous, very widely known story about Zeus, Zeus became enamored with an extremely handsome young man living on earth, Ganymede.  Zeus sent an eagle to earth to bring Ganymede to live with Him in a happy, loving, homosexual relationship–where the eagles gathered.  (Romans knew this story as happening between Juppiter and Ganymede)

Ganymede

In putting himself, and the bodies of those who were lying and grinding together into the same heavenly place where the Ganymede was said to be brought for gay sexual pleasure, Jesus emphasizes the fact that He is talking of gay people and bi-people, and that they can be brought to heaven even if the Coming of the Kingdom occurs when they are engaged in sex.  There is no sin in the love and mutually desired sexual enjoyment shared by ordinary gays and bisexuals.

In light of all of the above, then, it can also be said that the Bible does NOT, in any place, in any way whatsoever condemn ordinary, loving, homosexual and bisexual togetherness and sex.  Period.  Homosexuality and bi-sexuality were given to us as a part of our nature by God Himself.

The world makes a great mistake in rejecting homosexual and bisexual men and women.  The very greatest leaders in history have been gay or bi.   They include King David of Israel, the Egyptian Pharoah Akhenaten, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, the Roman Emperor Hadrian, Richard the Lionheart, St. Joan of Arc, President Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi,[xx] and President John F. Kennedy.[xxi]  Being gay or bi should be one of the most prized qualities among humans.

Finally, the world population explosion provides compelling reason for all religions and nations to not only embrace, but to encourage homosexuality.  In 1940, the world had 2 billion people; in 1980, 4 billion;  now, 8 billion;  in 2060, 16 billion?  The world cannot accommodate 16 billion people.   The U.N. predicts that just 25 years from now, 370 million will not have adequate food and one fourth of the world’s people will lack clean water.  It will only grow worse, with mass migrations of thirsting and starving peoples, and great food wars across the globe—during the lifetimes of most readers of this article.[xxii]  It will help if all nations and religions allow and encourage their peoples to love one another in the ways they were created to love.

Endnotes

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Dr. Michael Kioni Dudley is Catholic.  He lived as a teaching Brother of the Congregation of Holy Cross for fifteen years.  He holds a Master of Arts degree in Catholic Theology from St. Mary’s University San Antonio, and a Master of Arts degree in Asian Philosophy and Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Hawai’i.  He taught Religion at (Catholic) Chaminade University of Honolulu for eight years and in the University of Hawai’i system for sixteen years.  He is bi-sexual.  He was very happily married for forty-three years, but has always been almost exclusively attracted to men.  He is 85 years old.

St. Paul told us to expect prophets in Christian communities.  Throughout his life, Dr. Dudley has been shown things well before others, things at have caused him to speak up and help to guide the future.  His doing this caused The Honolulu Star-Bulletin to name him one of “10 Who Made a Difference in Hawai’i” for the year 2009.  Everything in this article was similarly shown to him over a two-year period.  He believes that this article is a gift from God to the world at this critical time.