Another question for christian gays

There is nothing wrong with any of it. I am a gay Christian and am at peace with both of those parts of my life. God made you with these feelings and you should not hide part if yourself because people misinterpreted different verses.

First you should read "What the bible does and doesn't say about homosexuality," Google it. Next you need to watch "For the bible tells me so," this movie helped me a lot and am sure it can help you too. That movie is on instant netflix and I believe YouTube as well, but at a poorer quality. Do some research on this subject and you'll be surprised how accepting the bible is of us.

 

jake v.... i have not read the book but i will try and check it out. but i had a question for you. can you quickly break down what that books says about gay intimacy not being a sin or wrong and what is their basis for this asssertion. i am curious to know. so many people get down about this and with many churches there is no answer other than" don't do it. but if you are naturally attracted to men and not women and you're a man, then are you supposed to just live alone for your life?

 

Ok to begin, "what the bible does and doesn't say about homosexuality" is just an article not a book.

The story of sodom and gamorah is not about homosexuality. That story is about rape and not accepting strangers as welcome guests.

Leviticus is a book I feel has little bearing in many regard to our lives, and not just about homosexuality. In this book we are told that eating shellfish is an abomination, other abominations are having a round haircut and wearing clothes of mixed fabrics.

Next is the interesting verse about eunuchs. In the one verse it is speaking to how men become eunuchs, "some will be made (eunuchs) at the hands of kings, some by other men and there are men who are born eunuchs." The last part is not about being born lacking genitals its about men who lack a sexual desire to the young girls who eunuchs would oversee.

The other few verses speaking to homosexuality say that people leave their NATURAL feelings and burned with lust for one another. This is talking about a straight person having homosexual relations. Being gay is your NATURAL feeling, so this verse would be talking about you having straight sex.

The bible and God are not out to get you! You are loved by many Christians and they will embrace you, but its hard to realise this when a minority of Christians scream at the top of their lungs how much they and God hate us. You need to realise that God loves you and will never forsake you.

 

What the Bible Says - And Doesn't Say - About Homosexuality

 

Hey Kylegf2011,

The argument between Liberal and Conservative Christians regarding LGBT issues, centres on the believe that Conservative Christians believe either a) Being Gay is Wrong, or b) Homosexual sex is wrong; while Liberal Christians, believe that quotes against homosexuals or homosexual sex are either 'mistranslated' or not talking about consensual relationships at all.


Here are three BIG points that other LGBT Christians reiterated to me when I was searching. Each has helped me to reconcile my faith with my sexuality.

1. Regarding the “importance” of The Bible itself. The Bible itself says "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:16) But like many other things in Christianity this is translated to mean different things to different people. Some believe that this quote means that we should literally accept everything written (fundamentalist Christians) and some believe that the book is “useful” for teaching and training about God & life (mainstream Christians).

2. There –IS- wide spread disagreement on all of the passages regarding "homosexuality" in the Bible, mainly due to the fact that there is no one word for "homosexuality" in the Greek language, thus it is translated differently. Conservatives Biblical theologians, suggest that all 6 instances of homosexuality in the Bible condemn it in all forms. While, Liberal theologians, suggest that the 6 instances don't refer to "consensual" homosexual relations, but rather, rape, bestiality, masturbation etc.

Example 1: Leviticus 20:13
“If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them.”
- The Hebrew word "to'ebah" is generally translated as "abomination." Many leading scholars interpret these passages as referring only to male Jews who engaged in same-sex behavior in Pagan temples. The term would better be translated as "ritually improper" or "involving foreign religious cult practice." Elsewhere in the Hebrew Scriptures, the same word is used to ban wearing of clothing made up from two materials (like cotton-polyester in today's world), or having a tattoo, eating shrimp, eating pork, seeding lawns with a mixture of grass types, etc. It is also important to note that none of the passages invoking "T'ebah" are valid for Christians or non-Jews today, according to St. Paul's Gospel in the New Testament.

Example 2: Romans 1:26-27
“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: 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 one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.”
- St. Paul directed this book to Christians in Rome -- a city known for its sexual debauchery. Earlier verses in Romans 1 describe how some former Christians, presumably all heterosexuals, had reverted to Paganism.
- They once more worshiped idols, and engaged in ritual sex orgies. In the original Greek, the phrase translated "vile affections" does not refer to passion or lust. it appears to refer to the "frenzied state of mind that many ancient mystery cults induced in worshipers by means of wine, drugs and music."
- The "women did change" (or "exchanged" or "abandoned") their normal sexual activity, which had been with a man or men. They engaged in sexual activities with members of the same sex, in violation of their heterosexual orientation.
- In the original Greek, the phrase "para physin" is often translated as "against nature" or "unnatural" or "immoral." It actually means "Deviating from the ordinary order either in a good or a bad sense, as something that goes beyond the ordinary realm of experience."

Example 3: 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
- The Greek "makakoi" does not mean actually mean effeminate. It can refer to a range of behaviours: people with loose morals, cowards, lazy men, etc.
- The exact meaning of "arsenokoitai" has been lost. In one ancient manuscript, the Hebrew "quadesh" (temple prostitute) is translated into Greek as "arsenokoitai." Others suggest that it refers to gigolos; still others suggest it means masturbators or men who sexually abuse boys.

3. The Bible is a set of Covenants (Old Testament [Jewish], New Testament [Christian]) or 'Laws God set for His people', and while this is a common misconception – ALL Christians believe that God has changed these laws as people progressed through time.

A couple of quick examples:

Example 1. In the Old Testament (Covenant), God told the people to sacrifice animals to Him, in the New Testament (Covenant), God tells the people that His son Jesus is the ultimate and final living sacrifice for all, and animal sacrifices should stop.

Example 2. In the Old Testament, the Books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy set forth many laws which seem unsustainable and harsh (One example, is the Jewish dietary laws, no shellfish, pork, no wearing mixed fabrics and stoning for various crimes etc). However, in the New Testament, Jesus revokes many of these 'Jewish' laws when he begins to, for the first time, welcome non-Jewish/Gentile followers.

As we read the Gospels, we see that Jesus endorsed many of the old laws, but he did not follow others, nor did He require His disciples to do so. In later New Testament books, Paul and the other apostles affirm many of these laws to be good but indicate that Christians need not observe others.

And lastly, two things to hold close..."Judge not, that ye be not judged." (Matthew 7:1) and "Let he without sin cast the first stone" (John 7:8).


Hope this helps!

 

I truly believe if God didn't want us to like the same-sex, we wouldn't like the same-sex. I mean it kicks in at a very early age, even before puberty when it's just innocent childhood crushes. It happens exactly the same as it did with girls, it just took me a little longer to figure out because of that. God doesn't make mistakes. Thus, we were meant to be gay, bi, trans - whatever it is that we are. And even those who try to fight against it, in fear of not being accepted if the truth comes out, can't really change it because we're not meant/supposed to. God made us this way, thus it can't be wrong.

 

If it was wrong to have sex with the same sex, then it would also be wrong to kiss the same sex in any way other than friendship. This would be because of Matthew 5 v27-28: "27 You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." It follows (in my mind at least) that kissing would therefore be as bad as gay sex.

Thankfully, we don't have to worry because gay sex isn't wrong.

 

If you've never watched "Prayers for Bobby", I highly recommend it. It's exactly what your question is all about.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZT9b9xp2DU[/YOUTUBE]

 

ooh i have seen prayers for bobby and it really made3 me cry but no i dont think its wrong and i am christian

 

Here's the thing about the Bible: sexual morality was a minor concern to most of the writers of the Old and New Testaments. Their main concerns were idolatry and treatment of the disenfranchised. When Rabbi Hillel was asked to sum up the Torah while standing on one foot he said, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor: that is the whole Torah while the rest is commentary; go and learn it."

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment of the Torah was he replied, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets." Note that although he was asked for just one, he gave two. Why? Because for Jesus, and for the writers of the Old and New Testaments, the two were inextricably bound. To love your neighbor as yourself is the same thing as loving God.

That is the basis and nature of morality in both the Old and New Testaments. So what does that mean for homosexuality? It means that the injunctions against sexual immorality in the Bible are based on them. The writers of the Bible saw homosexuality as wrong because their culture interpreted it as idolatrous and as degrading. The idea of a consensual, loving, committed homosexual relationship was foreign to them. Which isn't to say that, had they encountered one, they would have approved of it. They probably wouldn't have, because the notion would have been so alien to them that they wouldn't be able to wrap their minds around it.

But the point remains, homosexual relationships do not violate the hermeneutic core of biblical morality. They can, as can any sexual relationship, but it isn't something inherent to them.

 

In short: regardless of what the bible does or doesn't say about homosexuality in general, JESUS KISSES MEN IN THE BIBLE. Most famously, when Judas betrays him, he tells Jesus's enemies that they will know which man is Jesus, because Jesus will be the one who kisses Judas. Which he then does.

Therefore, just kissing someone of the same sex can't possibly be forbidden.

 

Kissing in the Levant during the first century did not always have a sexual connotation. The kisses seen or talked about in the New Testament are free of any sexual connotation and would have been very different from French kisses or making out (likely not much more than a peck on the cheek). Even today, a quick kiss on the cheek in many cultures is a sign of friendship and nothing more; it is used as a greeting between friends, even male friends.

 

In that case, all premarital kissing would also be just as wrong as sex--and while I suppose there are some who believe that, I don't think I have ever met any. I don't think even that loony "Pastor" Phelps believes that.

 

The purity movement within Evangelical Christianity believes exactly that. They encourage chaperoned courtship instead of dating, no touching until marriage, and certainly no kissing, let alone sex. These are the people who have their dads and daughters go to purity balls where they dance and give their daughters purity rings to symbolize that her virginity belongs to her father until he gives her away to her new husband.