What do
the scriptures say about homosexuality?
(All scriptures are KJV unless noted otherwise)
The Bible is not an
authority unto itself. It is the "Manufacturers Operating and Maintenance
Instructions" and "Warranty" that is provided to us for the care
and maintenance and successful operation of our bodies, including our minds.
The authority lies with God who created us and gave us the Bible as
instructions and as a recorded example of what happens when we do
"right" by his standards (and receive blessings and eternal life) or
do "wrong" by his standards (and receive cursings and eternal death)
(See Deu. 30:15, 19).
15 See, I
have set before thee this day alife•
and good, and death and bevil; 16
In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to awalk•
in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his bjudgments•,
that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee
in the land whither thou goest to possess it. 17 But if thine heart turn away,
so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods,
and serve them; 18 I adenounce•
unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not
prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go
to possess it. 19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that
I have set before you life and death, blessing and acursing:
therefore bchoose
life, that both thou and thy seed may live.
All specific mention of
homosexuality in scripture shows it to be condemned by God. The first is the
account of Sodom and Gommorah, (from which it became known as
"sodomy") and in this account it is the only "sin"
mentioned. (Gen. 18:20,
And the LORD said,
Because the acry•
of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their bsin is
very grievous;
19:1-13,)
4 But
before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom,
compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every
quarter: 5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the
men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may aknow• them. 6 And Lot went out at the
door unto them, and shut the door after him, 7 And said, I pray you, brethren,
do not so wickedly.
In the middle of a list of sexual sins including incest, adultery, fornication,
bestiality, and child sacrifice by burning them alive, it is specifically
condemned in Lev. 18: 6-30 (22)
22 "You shall not lie with mankind as with womankind: it is an
abomination."
23 Neither shalt thou lie with any
beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast
to lie down thereto: it is confusion.
24 aDefile•
not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are bdefiled•
which I ccast•
out before you:
The penalty was death, Lev.
20:13.
If a man aalso•
lie with mankind, as he lieth with a bwoman,
both of them have committed an cabomination:
they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
It is condemned in Deu. 23:17-18,
17 There
shall be no awhore•
of the daughters of Israel, nor ba•
sodomite of the sons of Israel. 18 Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or
the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even
both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
(the "price of a dog,
in the context of "the hire of a whore", refers to male prostitution).
It is also mentioned as "wickedness" in Judges 19-21: 19:22-23
Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of
the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat
at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring
forth the man that came into thine house, that we may aknow•
him.
And the man, the master of the house, went out unto
them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so
wickedly; seeing that this man is come into mine house, do not this folly.
It is called
"sodomy" in 1 Kings 14:23-24 and is referred to as an
"abomination" associated with idle worship and orgies (groves).
For they
also built them ahigh•
places, and bimages•,
and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.
And there were also asodomites•
in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the
nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
Asa is declared righteous
for "taking away the sodomites out of the land" (killing them or
driving them out) and for putting an
end to idolatry, 1 Kings 15:11-12.
And Asa
did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, aas•
did David his father.
And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that
his fathers had made.
Lesbians appear to be
included in the term "sodomites" as seen in 2 Kings 23:3-7.
7 And he
brake down the houses of the asodomites•,
that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings
for the grove.
Paul, a prominent teacher of Christianity, shows that both homosexuality and
lesbianism were still condemned after Christ's death and resurrection, Rom.
1:22-32.
22 Professing
themselves to be awise•,
they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the auncorruptible•
God into an bimage•
made like to ccorruptible•
man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also agave• them
up to buncleanness
through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between
themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served
the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God agave•
them up unto bvile•
caffections•:
for even their dwomen did
change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman,
burned in their alust one
toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving
in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
28 And even as they did not like to aretain• God
in their knowledge, God bgave• them
over to a creprobate•
mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, awickedness, covetousness,
bmaliciousness;
full of envy, murder, cdebate•,
ddeceit,
malignity; whisperers,
30 aBackbiters•,
haters of God, bdespiteful•,
cproud, dboasters, inventors of
evil things, edisobedient
to parents,
31 Without aunderstanding,
covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are
worthy of adeath, not
only do the same, but bhave•
cpleasure•
in them that do them.
He also mentions it in a
list of sins in 1 Tim. 1:10.
9 Knowing
this, that the alaw is not
made for a brighteous
man, but for the clawless•
and ddisobedient,
for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of
fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
10 For awhoremongers,
for bthem•
that cdefile
themselves with mankind, for dmenstealers•,
for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is
contrary to sound edoctrine•;
Those who do not repent of these sins shall not inherit the kingdom or eternal
life. 1 Cor. 6:9-10
"Know you 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.".
There are some
"churches" and some "ministers" who accept homosexuality.
Some refer to certain scriptures regarding David and regarding Christ and
express their opinion that these men had homosexual relationships with others.
This requires reading meaning "into" the scriptures. It also requires
that one ignore all the above scriptures as they cannot be explained away.
Please note that we are not condemning
anyone here. Every man or woman condemns himself by his own wrong choices. We
didn't write the Book, we just point out the obvious. We are all free to choose
blessing or cursing, life or death. We encourage everyone to choose eternal
life with God’s blessings.