This section contains a lot of information for those who want to know more.

Firstly, the Bible as the authoritative Word of God is discussed. Then the author’s personal opinions on the sodomy verses in the Bible are offerred, as well as some further information regarding other sexual activity.

The reader is encouraged to study the scripture passages in this section, and in the entire website, for yourself and pray for understanding from the Lord and his Holy Spirit.

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In addition to the sodomy verses, there are other Bible verses that some religious authors say are guiding principles denying that people can be gay, like ‘God created us male and female’ and therefore we should all be heterosexual. But that is an interpretation made by people who have no understanding that being gay is not a choice, since gay people are born gay. Should we be excluded from God’s love and salvation because of the way he made us? Would God create a group of people that could never be part of his kingdom? Of course not! That is an irrational concept with no basis in scripture at all.

Prejudiced, anti-gay religious commentators are similar to the religious rulers described in the Gospels, whose self-serving views were refuted by Jesus since they were not based on love or a true understanding of God’s Word, but on human tradition.

The apostle Paul writes: “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” Colossians 2:8.

All people, including gay people, are created by God through Jesus Christ. Nothing coming from or through Jesus can be inherently sinful or evil.

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God the Father is totally and utterly holy. It is his will that all people be holy too, “since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” 1 Peter 1:16.

He gave us his Word, the Bible, in part to explain how we are to live and what it means to be holy.

We all fall short of God’s high standard (except for Jesus), but Christians are called to try to be holy, not as a requirement of law or adherence to rules, but because our love for God inclines our hearts to please him.

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In Christian theology, the Holy Bible is known as the Canon of Holy Scripture. This roughly means it contains the principles by which all things are measured or judged. It’s an expression that defines its authority and infallible nature against which we can ‘weigh up’ all aspects of life.

The Bible is expressed through divine revelation to humans inspired by the Holy Spirit, which is why it’s often called the Word of God, and as such carries with it the absolute authority of God the Father who created all things.

“For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:21

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” 2 Timothy 3:16

The Bible is not like any other book. It contains divinely inspired words that transcend time and space, and are as true and effective today as when they were written. Jesus confirms the authority of scripture by quoting it extensively, preceding his quotes with words like ‘it is written’ or ‘have you not read’.

The Old Testament was written mostly in ancient Hebrew, with some Aramaic, and the New Testament was written in ancient Greek. There are hundreds of translations, usually called ‘versions’, from those ancient languages into the modern languages used in the World today.

“By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God” Hebrews 11:3a.

“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Isaiah 40:8.

Jesus said: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Mark 13:31.

It is highly significant that Jesus is called ‘the Word’ in the opening of John’s Gospel. For “[Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power” Hebrews 1:3a

The Word of God is not just a collection of books written long ago, it is the eternal and infallible blueprint of the universe as expressed by God, the creator of the universe, and Jesus Christ his Son. It’s applicable to every part of our lives in this world. There is nothing more beneficial for a Christian than reading the Bible everyday. It is food for your soul.

Theology is a deep and detailed area of study, and not the purpose of this website. For those who are interested in learning more, there are a great many books, archaic and modern, dedicated to this fascinating and enlightening subject. For example ‘In Understanding Be Men’ by T.C. Hammond might be a good place to start.

Regarding context:
Some say using individual verses or parts of verses from the Bible to prove a point is taking those words out of the context in which they are written, and therefore is not valid.

If this argument is to be accepted, then all of the apostle Paul’s letters, which are written to specific audiences, would be out of context for us today, since we are not those to whom they are addressed. Also most of the Old Testament would be out of context for those who are not Jewish, since the Old Testament is mainly concerned with God’s interaction with the Israelites.

Context is important sometimes, but the objection regarding using individual sentences or phrases from the Bible out of context is clearly a mundane argument, which wrongly places a human limitation on the divine Word of God. Jesus and his apostles quote the Hebrew scriptures (the Old Testament) out of context numerous times to support what they are saying or to confirm a prophetic outcome, because they know the power, truth and infallibility of the Word of God. Following their example is completely justified.

It also should be noted, the chapter and verse numbers in our modern Bibles were added for ease of reference centuries after the original texts were written, so quoting sentences and phrases not aligned with verse numbers is not an issue. See this Wikipedia link for more info.

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The Genesis and Judges passages are strikingly similar in the actions they describe, done by men of two different Gentile towns at two different times in history. One of those towns was Sodom, from which the word ‘sodomy’ is derived.

These are examples of evil, godless people provided in the Bible for our sake, to contrast the difference between people who go their own way and people who conform to behaviour that is acceptable to the God who created us all.

In the language of the times to ‘know’ someone in this way was to have penetrative sex with them, in this case anal sex.

It is demographically impossible that the entire male populations of the towns in these passages were gay. The percentage would be the same for all populations, typically a relatively small number.

So these passages are not about being gay; they are not even about sex. The threatened sodomy of the male visitors was to humiliate and dominate them (similar to rape carried out by heterosexual men in prisons). These passages are about godless, evil people intending sodomy as a means of injury, abuse, domination and control.

It boggles our modern minds as to why in both cases women would be offerred to the wicked men; perhaps to prevent sodomy occurring, or perhaps because there was such little regard for women in those ancient days, but more likely due to the tremendous fear of being overrun by the aggressive mob of godless men intent on doing great evil.

When referring to Sodom and Gomorrah, Jude mentions sexual immorality and ‘unnatural desire’, but the Greek Word translated ‘unnatural’ is ἕτερος heteros; [meaning] of uncertain affinity; (an-, the) other or different.

So as argued above, it is not a homosexual desire, but is more likely referring to a desire to do other than good, in this case to abuse, dominate and humiliate; basically the opposite of the love that Jesus said we all should practice toward one another.

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In both of these verses God is speaking with Moses, specifically communicating his views regarding sodomy.

In the language of the times, the expression to ‘lie with’ someone is to have sex with them, specifically penetrative sex, here referring to the act of sodomy, i.e. a man engaging in anal sexual intercourse with another man.

The most important point to note regarding these two verses is that they are not about being gay, they are concerned with a sexual act between men no matter who they are, gay or otherwise.

The second point to note about these two verses is that God says sodomy is an “abomination”. This is a word translated from the Hebrew תּוֹעֵבָה tô‘êḇâ; or תֹּעֵבָה tonebah; meaning something disgusting (morally), i.e. (as noun) an abhorrence. The Hebrew primitive is תָּעַב ṯâ‘aḇ; meaning to loathe, i.e. (morally) detest.
In the book of Leviticus, this word only appears in these two verses.

Being gay is neither moral nor immoral, it’s a state of being, so neither of these verses refer to being gay. But they are straight forward and clear that God regards the act of sodomy as sexually immoral and therefore sinful. There are no caveats, loopholes or any room for variation.

The death penalty in verse 20:13 seems harsh, but is consistent with the New Testament word written by the apostle Paul, who goes on to point out all humans have a saviour from that same penalty: “for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23. However, “if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.” Hebrews 10:26

These verses are written for our benefit. How else are we to know the thoughts of God? Many people dismiss the Old Testament Law as not relevant today, however Jesus said “it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.” Luke 16:17

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These verses contain powerful words, but it is clear the apostle Paul is writing about sexual acts, not about sexual orientation: i.e. having ‘relations’, ‘committing shameless acts’ and being ‘consumed with passion’, also rendered ‘inflamed with lust’ in other translations.

Verse 26 refers to women who “exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature”, but that can’t be referring to lesbians, because lesbians are born gay so are not exchanging anything.

Similarly, in v27 Paul refers to men who “gave up natural relations with women” which also can’t be referring to gay men, because we are born gay so are not giving anything up by not having relations with women. For both gay men and gay women, being gay is natural, since we were born this way.

Therefore the actions described in these two verses, are not referring to being gay, but rather suggest a hedonistic form of sexual behaviour (the practice of seeking maximum pleasure). The use of the words ‘exchanged’ and ‘gave up’ indicate a decision on the subjects’ part to act contrary to their heterosexual nature, to make a choice to pursue this behaviour for pure pleasure. Whereas being gay is not a decision or a choice.

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These verses are similar in nature, listing groups of people who are considered unrighteous, sinners or lawbreakers. These lists are describing things that people do, i.e. sinful activities in which they participate.

The ESV translators of the Bible use the phrase “men who practice homosexuality”, but other English versions vary considerably in their translations.

The Greek word used in both of these verses is ἀρσενοκοίτης arsenokoitēs; meaning a sodomite: — abuser of (that defile) self with mankind.

So it is reasonable to conclude this phrase in both of these verses is referring to men who participate in sodomy, since this would be consistent with the other Bible references examined here.

So it is a reference to men undertaking an action rather than simply having a romantic or sexual attraction and so has nothing to do with being gay, which is neither an action nor an activity.

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This website is mainly about providing information, it is not about telling people what to do or not do.

What a person thinks, says or does is between that person and God, but one of the many reasons he gave us his Word, the Bible, is to communicate how he wants people to live. Read it for yourself and may the Holy Spirit guide your understanding.

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The prohibition against sodomy in the Bible does not mean gay Christians must be celibate or abstain from all forms of sexual activity.

Oral sex:
The Bible doesn’t mention oral sex at all. Some definitions in the world today suggest oral sex is penetrative in nature, so is the same as any kind of sex, but using the mouth or tongue for sexual stimulation is not the same as a penis penetrating a vagina or anus.

The mouth is exposed to the world and used for many purposes, but those other orifices are treated with modesty and privacy, therefore their nature is entirely different.

However, with a lack of clear instruction this has to be a matter for a person’s own conscience, guided by the Holy Spirit.

Masturbation:
There is no prohibition against masturbation in the Bible. Masturbation is completely acceptable, healthy and normal.

There is only one direct reference in the entire Bible to masturbation:
Leviticus 15:16 makes it plain that God acknowledges that a male has emissions of semen not associated with sex with a woman (since that is mentioned separately two verses later, in v18). So v16 can only refer to masturbation and nocturnal emissions (wet dreams). Both are completely acceptable and not considered sinful.

Under the Old Testament Law, after an emission of semen a male would be regarded as ritually or ceremonially ‘unclean’ but that does not mean sinful or a result of sin.

Some misguided authors refer to the actions of Onan in Genesis 38:8-10 as prohibiting masturbation. But those verses have nothing to do with masturbation. Firstly Onan wasn’t masturbating and secondly, the issue wasn’t that his semen was spilled on the ground, it was what his particular semen contained, i.e. his DNA, that mattered.

This is a completely different issue regarding Onan’s refusal to obey the Old Testament Law of perpetuating Israelite genealogy.

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Finally, for completeness, it should be mentioned that some people are of the opinion that Jonathan, the son of King Saul, mentioned numerous times in the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, may be gay.

This is based on verses like 1 Samuel 18:1-3, 1 Samuel 19:1, 1 Samuel 20:30 and especially 2 Samuel 1:26. This conclusion is difficult to justify based on the text alone. It seems more likely these verses are simply describing a very close and loving friendship, perhaps with some hero worship of David on Jonathan’s part. But as always, read the scriptures for yourselves and draw your own conclusions.

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