The Bible and Homosexuality

[Charlotte91]

I saw this on a friend's status and had to share....

So I suppose while we're making Biblical laws we'll also be mandating (NO CHERRY PICKING!!)
-worshipping other gods
-anti adultery
-bearing false witness
-keep the Sabbath day holy (worked on the weekend ever? There goes Walmart!)
-coveting another man's wife and property
-honoring thy mother and father, in fact, Any person who curseth his mother or father, must be killed. (Leviticus 20:9)
**FROM THE SAME BOOK AND PASSAGE AGAINST HOMOSEXUALITY:
-Don't let cattle graze with other kinds of Cattle (Leviticus 19:19)
-Don't have a variety of crops on the same field. (Leviticus 19:19)
-Don't wear clothes made of more than one fabric (Leviticus 19:19)
-Don't cut your hair nor shave. (Leviticus 19:27)
-If a man cheats on his wife, or vise versa, both the man and the woman must die. (Leviticus 20:10).
-If a man sleeps with his father's wife... both him and his father's wife is to be put to death. (Leviticus 20:11)
-If a man sleeps with his wife and her mother they are all to be burnt to death. (Leviticus 20:14)
-If a man or woman has sex with an animal, both human and animal must be killed. (Leviticus 20:15-16).
-If a man has sex with a woman on her period, they are both to be "cut off from their people" (Leviticus 20:18)
-Psychics, wizards, and so on are to be stoned to death. (Leviticus 20:27)
-If a priest's daughter is a whore, she is to be burnt at the stake. (Leviticus 21:9)
-People who have flat noses, or is blind or lame, cannot go to an altar of God (Leviticus 21:17-18)
-Anyone who curses or blasphemes God, should be stoned to death by the community. (Leviticus 24:14-16)
-Don't let cattle graze with other kinds of Cattle (Leviticus 19:19)**"Jesus came to change the laws, so these are outmoded, and we don't need them", but throughout Leviticus God states that these laws are to be followed forever.**
hey...don't cherry pick...same book you reference for homosexuality, has a comprehensive list of things too, so....let's go! Come on!! We have one, let's get this going!

[Ambersky]

and no Shellfish.. Bang goes the Aussie Christmas..

[TeniBear]

Some of them are a little overly specific

[surprised]

While it's true that the church often treats homosexuals appallingly, I think it's important to realize that it's not this simple. Old Testament scholarship is really complex and involves working in an ancient language, understanding an ancient culture and then seeing this through the lense of the New Testament. Wonderful people who have spent many years trying to understand all of this come to equally strong but opposite views. So I'm not sure it's something than be sorted out in one Facebook post.

The more important thing to realize is that Jesus came to love everyone - homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual, black, white, male, female, rich, poor... You get the idea. And it's the church's job to reflect that love to everyone. For those who have experienced the failure of the church to do this, I'm so sorry. Please know that God loves you. No matter what.

[Miss_Dee]

Can't remember where it is, but there is mention that when a woman has her period, she is to be essentially cast out and exciled until she has stopped bleeding. Also, if a man dies, his brother should lay with his wife.

I read a very interesting article awhile back about the bible's take on homosexuality. It basically points out that thanks to poor translation, the Church has been condemning gay people when they really shouldn't be as it's not a sin worthy of spiritual death. I'll try and track it down and post it here.

[~Trish~]

Interesting post. I do not believe that the laws stated in the above post in Leviticus are to be followed now. Thanks to Jesus dying for us on the cross we no longer live under that law. The Bible actually says in Galatians 3:10-14:

¹⁰ For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse,as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” ¹¹ Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” ¹² The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.” ¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” ¹⁴ He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

Jesus became the curse of the law and it died on the cross with Him.

Verses 16-19 go on to say:

¹⁶ The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ. ¹⁷ What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.
¹⁹ Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come.

The seed HAS come . I really feel that whoever wrote the quoted in the OP hasn't grasped the rest of the Bible? Yes, the church (some of them) has shunned homosexuals. This makes no sense to me, we are ALL sinners so if you can't go to church as a sinner then there would be some empty seats lol! When he walked here on earth Jesus loved everyone without prejudice. He became unpopular with the "Holy" men, but very popular with those He loved. This is how I want to live, I want to love and care for people from all walks of life with no exceptions.

I dunno, I find it hard responding to the quote in the OP. I kinda don't get it . Sorry if I've missed the point.

[TeniBear]

Trish, that's the point (as far as I can tell from reading similar points.) The book that the "gays are bad" viewpoint comes from is one that also holds the above "laws", and that was meant to be overruled by Jesus' death.

I'm not an expert on it, being non-theist, but I've read a lot of things pointing out the inconsistencies, especially this one.

[~Trish~]

I don't believe there are inconsistencies in the Bible, it just takes a lot to get your head around it all (I'm still getting there lol). The laws were put into place back then because God gave man free will and things were getting out of control so he had to create some rules and regulations to help people live better. He used this law to show people that it's pretty much impossible to be perfect all the time and to follow all the rules - it showed man that we need a saviour to abolish the law because we just can't do it ourselves! He wants nothing more than for us to reach out to God and find Him as our Saviour through Jesus Christ. We wouldn't feel the need for a saviour and we wouldn't reach out to God without the law ITMS?

[Smoke Jaguar]

My take on this is that keeping marriage from gay couples is as outdated as killing a woman accused of adultery. It breaks none of the 'new' rules Jesus brought in the NT, though it does fly in the face of the sensibilities of Paul, who is also really horrible about women and I wouldn't abide by Paul's laws either
Pretty much, making laws based on a Bible that is still so subject to interpretation due to language, cultural traditions tied to geographic locations etc is a house of friggin cards. If the NT is about free choice, then trying to make laws align with confusing bible teachings and having them apply to Christians, Jews, and non-Christians alike is just an abysmal grab at religious privilege.

[Amaunet]

The more important thing to realize is that Jesus came to love everyone - homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual, black, white, male, female, rich, poor... You get the idea. And it's the church's job to reflect that love to everyone. For those who have experienced the failure of the church to do this, I'm so sorry. Please know that God loves you. No matter what.

Beautifully written!