Jesus and the Gays IV: 1 Timothy & 1 Corinthians
Jesus and the Gays II: Sodom

Jesus and the Gays III: Leviticus

This is the third in a series of videos that challenges the assumption that the Bible condemns gay and lesbian relationships.   Notes from the lectures can be found under the video clips.

  

 

  1. Leviticus 18:22 & 20:13

    1. Priorities in Leviticus, important for a small fledgling, imperiled community

      1. Procreation

        1. Not “one man, one woman” but rather wives and concubines.  Have sex with slave if wife is barren.

        2. Don't’ waste seed

      2. Remaining pure, homogeneous - be pure as God is pure

        1. Don’t intermarry (that would threaten the survival of the nation)

        2. Don’t cross/breed animals, don’t sow field with 2 kinds of seed.

        3. Quarantine people who are not homogeneous, i.e. who have blemishes or skin rashes.

        4. Side note: Jesus pushed away from the purity codes.  For Jesus, compassion was more important than purity.

      3. Support of what was considered the natural order of things: Men are men - don’t be like women.  Children obey parents - children who curse father or mother are to be put to death

    2. Lev. 18.22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.  

Lev 20:13  If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them.

  1. Why add “as with a woman?”  Why not just say “You shall not lie with a male?”   The emphasis is on the man taking the submissive role of a woman in the sex act.  This is a violation of the natural order of things as perceived by the author of Leviticus - a natural order in which men should be men.  (Anti-gay bias is often tied to misogyny)

  2. If we do not consider the other prohibitions in Leviticus, why would we single out these two?  Is there a strong anti-gay message in the broader sweep of scripture that would warrant pulling these out of the trash heap of discarded, outdated Levitical laws?  Or is it just being done to support a contemporary anti-gay worldview that is foreign to the gospel?

 

 

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