What do you think this verse means in regards of homosexuality? Leviticus 18:22?

Question

I've grown up in a Christian church my entire life, but I've always had a little issue with what the Bible actually says about homosexuality.

In the NIV this verse says: 'Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.'

I have several bisexual and homosexual friends, and of course being close with them really makes me wonder what does this verse actually mean.

I have tried doing research, but I don't know what to believe. Some of the information that I've found says that the old testament is only against male homosexuality, and not lesbianism. They claim that since women were considered at that time to be inferior, for one man to have intercourse with another man degrades the man taking on the role of the "female". And since the women were inferior, it didn't matter if they had intercourse since they would not have been degraded in social status. This idea makes sense to me, but I don't know if I believe it?

Another idea I came across stated that the old testament was speaking only about the homosexual prostitution practices found within pagan temples. Again, this seems believable, but how do I know if this is right or not?

And also, suppose a woman is emotionally attached to another woman, and they are committed to one another. But, they never have intercourse, is this a sin? Is the sin of homosexuality being attracted to someone of the same s*x, or is that actual physical acts. And, I know there is probably lust, in a situation like that, but heterosexuals lust too, so that is not the sin I am concerned with.

I wish I could go to the minister of my church, but I live in a fairly conservative area. I doubt I would get an answer other than the expected "homosexuality is wrong because the Bible says so"...

So please, if you can give me any insight into this matter, I would greatly appreciate it.

Answer 1

The sin is the action, not the desire.  It even says as much in the Catholic Catechism--the Church does not deny the fact that many have same s*x attraction, but they are called to a life of chastity.  This is the same for anyone who is not married.

There is nothing wrong with Truly LOVING someone, but this is beyond the sexual act.  If you love some one, you will give to them and you would want them to go to heaven.  The sexual act, however, as beautiful as it is, is very powerful, and it's too easy to abuse.  That's why God restricted it to marriage, and even then we have to be careful.

So, once again, the homosexual act is the sin, not the desire or attraction.

Answer 2

Homosexuality is condemned in the Bible. Below are some Bible verses that condemn homosexuality:

    * Leviticus 18:22 - You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.

    * Leviticus 20:13 - If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.

    * Romans 1:26-27 - For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

    * I Corinthians 6:9 - Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

i had met this girl through a motorcycle class....turned out...she wasnt g*y( i dont think), but most of her friends were.

she kept trying to invite me to g*y events...so finally i told her that i didnt support the g**s and i wasnt interested in going to their g*y events.

needless to say i havent heard back from her......so apparently....i wasnt accepted for being straight.....no hard feelings.

Being g*y is a sin....God points it out in a big way.

God Bless You

Peace to all!

with love...."D"

Answer 3

Leviticus also calls bats "unclean birds" so it's utterly irrelevant.

Answer 4

Do not quote me on this, these are simply my thoughts on the matter.

I believe that it is in the act. The verse says not to lie with a man the way one would lie with a woman, so I think it just means that the sexual act is the sin, and not the feelings, at least, all but the lustful feelings. I believe that two people of the same gender can be commited to each other without crossing that line and still it will not be considered a sin. As long as the lust or sexual need is not there, there is not sin. If the persons involved remain celibate, then it wouldn't be considered an abomination.

And it definitely applies to women as well, but gramatically, before the political correctness got to be so bad, it was proper to refer to all human beings as mankind or men. So when it says that, and does not say the reverse, just add a mental 'and vice versa', because God's talking to everyone.

Answer 5

Basically, it means that homosexuality is a sin. It mentions more about it further on in the Bible, so don't let anyone tell you that it doesn't mean anything because it's Old Testament. It says it frequently in NT too

Answer 6

Homosexuality is immoral sin and we should not do it and that goes for other immoral sins like having s*x out of marriage

Answer 7

...I know this one. I wonder how many people know what I'll say?

That's not what it says in the original language. It says, literally, "and with a man thou shalt not lay lyings of a woman."

Think a second. There's no equivalent verse that says to women next that they shouldn't, which is what you'd expect if there's homosexuality. But these people 1. had multiple wives and 2. really, really wanted to know who was the father.

So if you and another man could not lay lyings of a woman--well, it sounds like a prohibition against threesomes, not a recommendation of what couples should do. It doesn't matter if women are laying lyings with women and a man or not--the man's their husband and they can't get each other pregnant. It doesn't matter if men are with men and women are with women--no pregnancy.  

Answer 8

Since the same chapter of Leviticus also says it's a sin to wear clothing of more than one kind of fabric at the same time, you can safely ignore the contents of that chapter.

The only times that homosexuality is mentioned in the NT it is a purposeful mistranslation; the original Greek word used did not mean homosexuality. It implied sexual behaviour similar to adultery. And given that the English word 'homosexuality' did not exist until the mid-1800s, the fact that these days it is in some versions of the KJV bible (translated originally in the 1600s) shows you how honest these translations really are.

Answer 9

It means that men are not suppose to have s*x with other men.  Sin is sin, not matter what type of a spin you put on it and it is against the laws of God.

God sets up laws to keep us safe and secure, like a parent does with a child.  A parent will tell a child not to touch the hot stove because they get burned.  So what does the child do, touch the stove, of course.  We are like that with God, always testing the boundaries and limits, just to see if we get burned with sin.  And we do, maybe we don't see the results of it immediately, but the minute we sin, we are burned.  God gives us limits to keep us from harmingour selff and others.  He loves us and cares about our life.  He wants us to succeed and be happy, but if we continue to sin, we just bring death and despair into our lives.

Answer 10

It is not the attraction itself that is sinful, just as the attraction to pornography isn't sinful, It is the action taken due to that temptation.

Nothing is wrong with 2 women sharing a strong emotional attachment, it is usual for women to have a more emotional relationship with each other than men do with each other anyway.

Also,

Romans 1:26b-27: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust for toward another; men with men working hat which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.

You must also realize that Adam was created and then split into Adam and Eve.  Woman's literal purpose is to the companion to Man.  If God wanted men to be with men, and women with women, then He would have not created the 2 distinct genders to begin with.

Answer 11

Leviticus 19:26-28

'Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it. 'Do not practice divination or sorcery.

'Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.

'Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.

Leviticus has a lot of rules, which nobody follows. Nobody, except the extremely orthodox Jews. Anyone who tries to use Leviticus to condemn g*y people while wearing clothes made of more than one fabric is a hypocrite.

Answer 12

1 Corinthians 6:9 -11

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Answer 13

If God approved of homosexuality he would have made two men or two women in the garden of eden instead of one women and one man.  

Answer 14

I know g**s that are very friendly and just plain nice people. I also have friends who have been divorced several times. Others have trouble in other area's. This verse as well as many others do indeed teach us that God has created us male and female and that sexual relations are to only be between a married man and a woman. You can research many commentators and church history and it has never varied. Only by those who as Paul would say (twist the scriptures) is there any doubt over what God teaches all through His Word on this issue. Now this does not mean that g**s are some kind of monster. They are caught up in a sinful lifestyle that is opposed to Gods way. So are those who live in or are tempted to pornography, cheating on taxes and so on. Just because one is g*y does not make them a worse sinner than someone else. None the less it still is sin and if one wants to have God as their Father and Savior they must turn away from their sin what ever it is. I wonder how many g**s truly mourn over and try to stop sinning while many who openly condemn them live in secret sin. God knows the heart and will judge righteously.

Answer 15

The more objective studies of homosexuality in the bible have found it to be condemning promiscuity, or prostitution. Not a genuine love between two people of the same s*x.

In fact the Archbishop of Canterbury recently had some letters published which declared after much theological study that the true problem expressed in the bible was not with homosexual relationships, but promiscuity in general. Google it, there will be a lot more evidence linked to that also.

Think of it logically - in an overpopulated world, why would any god worthy of worship condemn a harmless, inoffensive relationship of two people who love each other? Gender should be irrelevant.

Also - Jesus never said anything of homosexuality. Paul did, but not Jesus.

Answer 16

Read the entire chapter of Romans 1.

Answer 17

It means that even back then there were homophobic bigots. Didn't it also say somewhere that you could "lay with your daughters" and "stone thy wife to death if she soeth disobey?" HM. Maybe you ought to find some more modern reading material and don't believe everything you read no matter where you read it! You seem like an intelligent person because you DO question the verse, you question the verse because you are an intelligent person who desires to think for yourself and not be TOLD by some ancient book or some guy screaming at you in a church what to think. BRAVO to you hun, Bravo to you! Now go get a masters degree in the field of your choice and show the world what you can do!

Answer 18

What church do you attend?

Not to be rude, but this is very clear in the bible.  The reason that the Old Testament only states men. Is because men did not allow women to do such things.  Women were at most considered at best to be slaves and not of note.

God created Woman for Man. So they might have a partner.  He created Adam and Eve.  Not Adam and Steve.

So first by divine design.  It is ordain by God for Man and Women

Matthew 19:4-6  Puts it into clear perspective.  Man and women are to be of one flesh, unity.  Not man + man or women + woman.  Man + Women = One Flesh.

Jesus gave the women equal voice in the church as it says in 2 Corinthians.  There only limit is, no authority over the man.  And the way the world works today.  Everyone holds that true, that a man should wear the pants and the women should wear the skirt/dress.

So God made equal man and women in opinion.

I tell you what I am going to stop right here and let you listen to the answers

http://www.lote.com/podcast/20080825.m3u Part 1

http://www.lote.com/podcast/20080826.m3u Part 2

Case should be pretty closed after you hear these.

Answer 19

Your question seems to be mainly about lesbianism  Some people regard the book of Ruth as about homosexual love between two women.  It's also said that it's about hesed - loving kindness or agape in Greek terms.  If so, the question would be whether loving kindness can be expressed sexually.  If not, that would imply to me that there could be no virgin birth, as it would imply that God's love for Mary was not an expression of loving kindness when he conceived Christ, which would make it rape.  The choices seem to be:  loving kindness is compatible with rape; there was no virgin birth; homosexuality can be an expression of loving kindness.  Therefore, i would say a true Christian has to commit themselves to believing either in a God who would rape or a God who condones homosexual love.  I personally don't want to believe in a God who would rape.  I can't see how that could be right.

The relationship between David and Jonathan is also sometimes seen as an example of homosexual love.

Answer 20

Trying to find answers in the bible is like trying to find sharp corners on a bowling ball. It's an exercise in futility.

Answer 21

Whats 18:22 in Standard time? Unfortunately I didn't learn military times yet :(

Answer 22

Deary me...how many different interpretations are there of the effin bible man? Do yourself a favour..burn that book and live your life out of the own goodness of your heart. Not to avoid h**l (which isn't real)