Romans 1 and the Cause of Homosexuality

OR, WHAT DETERMINES SEXUAL NATURE?

We do not know exactly what causes homosexuality. Research into the subject is ongoing. We can be quite sure, however, about some things that do not cause homosexuality. Bad parenting, for instance, does not cause homosexuality. In spite of the fact that some prominently placed preachers claim that a weak father and a domineering mother will create a homosexual boy, the best research says otherwise.

We can also be certain that idol worship does not cause homosexuality. Some homosexuals may worship graven images, but others are devout monotheists. I have known some homosexuals who are, in fact, committed, church-going, God-fearing, Jesus-loving, devout, dedicated, pious Christians.

Yet, in the first chapter of Romans, the Apostle Paul states quite unequivocally that homosexuality is caused by idolatry.

Claiming to be wise, they became fools; and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading 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 forever! Amen. For this reason 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. (Romans 1:22-27)

Either we have here another case of the general revelation contradicting the special revelation or the Apostle Paul had in mind something other than what we know of homosexuality. From context, I am inclined to think that Paul was referring to orgiastic pagan temple rituals.

Again, though we may not know exactly what causes homosexuality, we do know that it occurs quite naturally. Yet, in Romans 1, Paul refers to homosexual sex as unnatural. In the time of the Apostle Paul, sexual identity was thought to be determined by anatomy. What kind of genitalia you were born with determined your sexual nature. We now understand sexual identity to be much more complex. Factors such as “chemistry, brain, and hormones” contribute to our sexual nature.

In an earlier post I wrote that the Bible does not say what we think it does about homosexuality. In fact, the Bible says nothing about homosexuality as an orientation. In the five passages that address the subject, the Scriptures are negative about homosexual behavior, but none of those passages can legitimately be used to universally condemn all homosexual behaviors. This does not mean that the biblical writers would approve of same-sex acts. The truth is we now understand homosexuality very differently than they did.

The quote from Romans is taken from the New Revised Standard Version. The phrase "chemistry, brain and hormones" is borrowed from The First Paul by John Dominic Crossan and Marcus J. Borg, HarperOne, 2009, page 163. I lifted Emil Nolde's painting of the the worship of the Golden Calf from this website.

Those Pesky Arsenokoitai

WHAT WAS PAUL THINKING?

Some commentators suggest that, because 1 Corinthians 6:9 is the earliest known use of arsenokoitai, Paul minted the word. Color me skeptical.

I assume that when the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he wanted to be understood by them. Including a newly coined word in list of those who “will not inherit the kingdom” is a poor way to be understood. It seems to me much more likely that Paul would use a word that he thought was in the Corinthians’ vocabulary. Probably the word arsenokoitai was in common, if infrequent, use.

Among the commentators who think that Paul minted the word arsenokoitai, there are some who suggest that he based it on Leviticus 20:13 in the Septuagint. (The Septuagint is an ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. When Paul quotes the Old Testament, it is from the Septuagint). A New English Translation of the Septuagint (2007) renders Leviticus 20:13 as,

And he who lies with a male in a bed for a woman, both have committed an abomination; by death let them be put to death; they are liable.

It reads a little better in the Greek. Trust me. At any rate, the components of the word arsenokoitai, arsenos (“male”) and koiten (“bed”), occur together in this verse. Still it is highly conjectural to think that Paul had this verse in mind when he wrote 1 Corinthians 6:9. Again, assuming that Paul wanted the Corinthians to understand him, we would need some reason to think that the Corinthians, a Gentile congregation, would know this verse from Leviticus. It’s not impossible, of course, but it assumes a lot.

The fact is, we cannot know exactly what Paul was thinking when he used the word arsenokoitai. He apparently had something specific in mind, but it is beyond our ability to know just what that was. The variety of ways that English translations handle the word demonstrate this.

There are some things we can be sure Paul did not mean by arsenokoitai. He did not mean “homosexuals” that is, “people who have a same-sex attraction.” The concept of homosexuality did not exist in Paul’s day. Neither did he mean persons living in a committed, covenanted, publicly accountable same-sex relationship (“gay marriage”). That, too, is a new concept.

In short, Paul’s inclusion of arsenokoitai in the vice list of 1 Corinthians 6 cannot be taken as a blanket condemnation of homosexuality, homosexuals, or all homosexual acts. It cannot be taken as a condemnation of gay marriage.

This does not, however, mean that Paul would have approved of gay marriage. The truth is, he saw even straight marriage as a compromise for those who could not live in celibacy.

It would be nice to think that, if Paul knew what we know about homosexuality, he would have given the thumbs up to life-long, committed, publicly accountable same-sex relationships. Unfortunately, we cannot know what Paul would think.








For this post I cribbed another cool image of the Apostle Paul from http://www.rembrandtonline.org/

Paul's Weird Word

ARSENOKO-WHAT?

There is a vice list in 1 Corinthians 6:8b-10, a list of several types of people who will not “inherit the kingdom of God.” The Apostle Paul uses a weird word in the original Greek of this passage. I quote it here from the King James Version of the Bible, emphasizing the phrase used to translate Paul’s unusual word. I am using the KJV intentionally because it was made before the word “homosexual” came into use.

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Paul’s unusual Greek word was arsenokoitai. It is a plural compound noun made from the words arsen which means “male” and koitai meaning “beds.” What makes it strange is that 1 Corinthians 6:9 is the earliest known use of this word. The same word occurs in a vice list of those who are “under the law” in 1 Timothy 1:10. This is its only other use in the New Testament and is most likely derived from its earlier use in 1 Corinthians.

A word’s meaning is not determined by its etymology. In English, we can understand a thing without actually standing under it. Knowing that arsenokoitai is literally “male-beds” obviously does not define the word. Meaning is derived from context and usage. Since 1 Corinthians 6:9 is the first known use of arsenokoitai context becomes key. From the context of the New Testament vice lists, it is safe to say that being one of the arseonkoitai is not a good thing. Saying exactly who the arsenokoitai are is more difficult.

In my next post, I’ll look at the ways various English translations have treated the word. I should point out first that some translators couple the word arsenokoitai with the word preceding it, which the KJV translated as “effeminate.” That word (which does not occur in the 1 Timothy vice list) is malakoi, a plural noun that could be translated literally as “softs.” In New Testament era Greek it had a range of meaning that spanned from “cowards” to “catamites” and “cross-dressers.” It occurs to me that the derogatory English word "sissy" carries much the same range of meaning.




The picture of St. Paul in prison was taken from http://www.rembrandtonline.org/. Cool website!