Christians and SSM

[howeird]

Some LJ friends have been discussing what makes one a Christian, and are expressing alarm that some very vocal self-professed Christians are vehemently against same-sex marriage. I was raised in a Conservative/Orthodox Jewish household, and can point you to the passages in the Torah (aka Old Testament) which declare same-sex intercourse to be punishable by death, but it's been 30 years since I read the Gospels, and frankly can't remember if Jesus or his gang of 12 ever said anything either way about same-sex sex. If anyone can enlighten me, I'd appreciate it.

And no, I'm not talking about generic "love everyone" missives, I'm talking about lines which are as explicit as the ones in Leviticus.

AdvThanksance

Comments

[damiana-swan.livejournal.com]

Although, of course, a "sodomite" is technically someone performing the act (or one of the acts) of sodomy, and doesn't actually refer to the genders of the people involved. Opposite sex sodomy is not only possible but common.

[unseelie23.livejournal.com]

Except that's a modern definition of sodomy as far as we know. It was used for "men who schtup other men in the ass" for the most part.

What I was trying to aim at is that, chaste homosexual love doesn't seem to be as much of a concern (barring that odd choice of effeminate in Corinthians).

That actually seems to fit with pre-middle ages church doctrine. There's been a fair amount of academic research on this, and at least one prominent book... the title of which escapes me. I'll have to look when I get home.

[damiana-swan.livejournal.com]

I have to admit I am not a scholar of Aramaic, so I don't know *how* it was used.

One possibly interesting note, though--the "effeminate" term may actually be more related than it appears. I've heard from multiple sources (though not done any research to confirm it) that in modern Middle Eastern society, only the male who is, er, receiving, as it were, is considered to be homosexual. If that was also true 'way back when, that could explain the use of "effeminate".

[unseelie23.livejournal.com]

That might make some sense. Greek homosexual relationships were expected to work a certain way as well... specifically older male taking a younger male under wing to teach. If an older male were to take the more submissive position in the relationship, well, that wouldn't have been acceptable...

[howeird]

I did study the Old Testament story of Sodom & Gomorrah in the original Hebrew (it wasn't till the later books that they wrote in Aramaic) and there is no sexual connotation to what the folks in Sodom did to get fire-and-brimstoned. In Jesus' time, Sodom was known for being hostile to strangers, dishonest in business, and irreverent. The homosexuality aspect comes from a misinterpretation of the word for "to know" which can be used either innocently or in the carnal sense. The men of Sodom wanted Lot to give up his male guests so they could "know" them. Lot offered his daughters instead, the men refused. The attempted barter has the feel of trying to defuse a lynch mob by offering the leaders your daughters.