What would the world have looked like if the Bible never called homosexuality an “abomination?” That’s the question many will be asking after a recent statement from a Bible scholar.
Harvard fellow and Biblical scholar Idan Dershowitz recently wrote an article through the New York Times that shares the idea that the infamous Leviticus 18:22, which states: “You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination,” wasn’t in the first draft of the bible.
Dershowitz claims that this section, that has altered history greatly, was a later edition to the religious text.
“Like many ancient texts, Leviticus was created gradually over a long period and includes the words of more than one writer.”
“Many scholars believe that the section in which Leviticus 18 appears was added by a comparatively late editor, perhaps one who worked more than a century after the oldest material in the book was composed.”
He added: “There is good evidence that an earlier version of the laws in Leviticus 18 permitted sex between men.
“In addition to having the prohibition against same-sex relations added to it, the earlier text, I believe, was revised in an attempt to obscure any implication that same-sex relations had once been permissible.”
What makes Dershowitz believe this? He says there are clues of a shift in the incest laws of Leviticus or a “strong evidence of editorial intervention.”
According to Pink News, Dershowitz believes there are signs that the passages used to refer to banning incest between female and male relatives.
The idea is that the existence of a ban on incest between men implies that sex between two non-related men would be legal.
As Dershowitz explained:
“Now, apply this principle to Leviticus 18: A law declaring that homosexual incest is prohibited could reasonably be taken to indicate that non-incestuous homosexual intercourse is permitted.
“A lawmaker is unlikely to specify that murdering one’s father is against the law if there is already a blanket injunction against murder.
“By the same token, it’s not necessary to stipulate that sex between two specific men is forbidden if a categorical prohibition against sex between men is already on the books.”
As he simplifies, “that made sense when sex between men was otherwise allowed.”
Certainly, Dershowitz has led the door to a very interesting conversation about homosexuality and the bible. Hopefully, other scholars and religious leaders will pick up on the topic and not chastise it.
Only time will tell.
h/t: New York Times, PinkNews
Galatians 3:13
Galatians 3:13
"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written…"
I. THE LAW BRINGS A CURSE WHICH IN THIS CASE IS LEVITICUS WHICH APPLIED TO THE JEWS.
II. CHRIST REDEEMS FROM THIS CURSE. This great truth implies three things.
Further, regarding any non-reproductive sex whether gay or straight with a condom, OCs, IUDs…etc is rejected by the fools of the Old Testament because they believed that every sperm had a face, mouth and eyes (I've seen an illustration of what they thought) which gets PLANTED IN THE SOIL or womb of a woman. A woman's womb was, in their simple minds, similar to the dirt in the garden where plants grow. However, we know that the woman's egg is the major contributor to the production of an embryo.
He’s reaching. Gay sex is
He’s reaching. Gay sex is against Christian teaching because it goes against the Bible verse of “be fruitful and multiply”. Early Christianity was a minority that needed converts and children born into the religion to build their numbers. Gay sex won’t naturally result in a child. Therefore, it was viewed as “wasteful” and “indulgent”. That indulgence was something they felt separated them from the Pagans.
Pretty sure Leviticus is in
Pretty sure Leviticus is in the Old Testament and therefore a part of the Hebrew Bible and as it is pre-Christ. So it has very little to do with Christians other than it being bundled with the New Testament as the history of Christianity prior to its formation post Christ’s death and resurrection. But that is the primary issue with the argument, these were laws written by men thousands of years ago. Not commandments from God etched into sacred stone tablets.