For much of my life, I believed that homosexuality was a sin. Growing up in the American South, being homeschooled, and attending fundamentalist churches, it is no surprise that I once held these beliefs. Oddly enough, it was in my first year of undertaking the study of the Bible that I began to realize Christianity approaches the LGBTQ community in a way inconsistent with the teachings of Jesus. Contrary to what Christianity holds, the Bible does not forbid gay relations.
I am not actively involved in the LGBTQ community. I am what one may consider asexual but heteroromantic; however, I do not believe this is a vital or strict part of my identity. That being said, I understand the importance of sexuality for the majority of people in this world. For many, sexual preferences and gender identity are key components of one’s personal identity. And Christianity is wrong to condemn such orientations as sin. In this post, I would like to address a seemingly everlasting debate: is homosexuality a sin?
I will go ahead and answer that homosexuality is not a sin, and the Bible never declares it to be. I will address two key verses that evangelicals often use to attack gay rights, both from one of my least favorite biblical books: Leviticus. Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 are frequently used to uphold the ill-meaning belief that “God hates the gays.” The problem we have with this, as with most scriptures that I address on Living by the Logos, is that Christians read modern translations of ancient writings in completely different languages, cultures, and parts of the world.
Christianity’s Stance on Homosexuality is Why I Stopped Going to Church
Nearly all branches of Christianity have, at least until recently, upheld the belief that homosexuality is a vile sin. This topic alone is exactly what led me to stop attending church; it did not lead me away from Christianity yet, but it made me lose interest in the popular Sunday ritual. After leaving the Baptist and nondenominational churches of my youth, I joined a tiny United Methodist congregation. Anyone keeping up with church politics knows that the United Methodist Church recently decided to allow LGBTQ clergy. This caused quite a stir among evangelicals, leading to the UMC itself splitting.
The United Methodist Church’s allowance of LGBTQ ministers has been in the works for several years. From the time I joined the UMC in 2017 until I stopped going in 2020, this was a major discussion within my church. The church I attended was a small white chapel, made up of about 50 congregants (all but one being white). I was the youngest member of the church by about 20-30 years. As you can imagine, the church opposed the LGBTQ community entirely.
The reason I stopped attending this church is because every Sunday, the pastor spoke about this issue. Sermons became lessons on church politics; out was the message of Jesus, in was the message of then-president Donald Trump. Keep in mind that I lost my mother (whose body rests at the church) in February of 2019. I was still grieving her loss in 2020. The problem of suffering became the most important question of faith. I needed consolation, I needed to know God loved me, and I needed to know that things would get better.
Instead, I received an endless supply of messages on why churches should not allow gay congregants or pastors. I became so frustrated that, one Sunday morning, I woke up and started getting ready for church. And I remember sitting on my bed wearing Sunday’s best trying to muster the strength to get in my car and go to church. I never went that day. I never went anytime after, either. The only times I have since visited have been to visit my mother’s grave.
What Does the Logos Say About Homosexuality?
“Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.” (Lev. 18:22, NIV)
“If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.” (Lev. 20:13, NIV)
At first glance, it seems like the Bible does indeed condemn homosexuality. However, the majority of English-speaking Christians do not know the biblical languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek). Pastors are not trained to read the Bible in its original languages; seminaries, at best, offer introductory courses on these languages, but not enough to make one fluent. Besides, pastoral education typically relies more on systematic theology than biblical theology, thus pastors are familiar with the Christian interpretation of the Bible and not the Bible itself.
So, if we read Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 out of the English NIV, KJV, ESV, or even CJB, we find that homosexuality is a sin. But with a little familiarity with ancient Hebrew, the verses change drastically, and thus the interpretation does as well. The problem with these translations is that rather than providing a literal translation of the ancient texts, they are intentionally elaborate; thus, the nature of some verses changes completely.1
But is Homosexuality Really a Sin?
I have incorporated literal translations of the Levitical passages from a biblical Hebrew expert below:
“And with a male you will not lie down the bed(ding)s of a woman; it is an abomination.” (Lev. 18:22)2
“And a man which lies down with a male the bed(ding)s of a woman, the two of them have made an abomination. Dying, they will be put to death. Their blood is upon them.” (Lev. 20:13)3
Do you see the differences between the NIV and the literal translation? The verses do not say “lying with a man like a woman,” but “lies down the bed(ding)s of a woman.” Now, we can acknowledge that the phrase “lying with” does mean sexual intercourse. In the Old Testament, we find quite a few words for sex that we would not use today (lying with, knowing/knew, becoming one flesh, etc.). So, although the literal Levitical verses speak of lying on the bed of a woman, the act is still condemned… or is it?
Context is Key
Now that we have looked at the syntax of the verses, let’s look at the context. Any good Bible student knows that context is key… except pastors, context is a foreign language to (most of) them. Well before I began my study of the Bible, I remember reading somewhere about the importance of context in reading the Bible. Christians tend to isolate verses (think Jeremiah 29:11) and thus, they develop a twisted meaning. I remember reading that to interpret a verse correctly, one must not exclusively interpret the singular verse but the preceding and following verses.
Leviticus 18:21 speaks of sacrificing one’s children, while 18:23 speaks of having sex with animals (bestiality). Leviticus 20:12 speaks of men having sexual relations with their daughter-in-law, while 20:14 speaks of men marrying a woman and her mother. The author is not just listing off a bunch of random things a person should not have sex with. One scholar summarizes, “The context of Lev. 18:22 is a series of laws on incest: sexual intercourse with a mother, sister, granddaughter, aunt, and proximate female in-laws is forbidden (Lev. 18:6–17).”4
The verses appear to prohibit incestuous relations between men; however, there is another interpretation we should consider. That is, that Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 proscribe men having sex with married men. In all the primary and secondary research I have done for this article, this option appears to be the most likely and most agreed upon by scholars. Those of us who are or have been Christians know that adultery is one of the most formidable sins. Is it possible that Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 form the basis of this view?
Levitical Law is Outdated, Anyway
I would like to add one final point to this discussion. While we may not have a definite answer on what Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 are specifically speaking of, we know that it is not condemning consensual, same-sex relations between two single, unrelated people. This is truly great! But does it even matter? Unfortunately, so long as the church is preaching hatred of “sinners,” this debate will not end for a long time.
I cannot believe the issue is still a question within the church. I remember hearing the late reverend Timothy Keller explaining once that men who have sex with men are no different than men who abuse alcohol. Because, as he explained, in God’s eyes, both acts are sinful. Hearing him explain this is what really made me question the church’s approach to the LGBTQ community. And this was years before I found out that I am an alcoholic!
Now, I disagree that both acts are sinful. Love is not a sin, whether it is between a man and a woman, a man and a man, or a woman and a woman. I furthermore see alcoholism as an illness, not simply a choice (although most Christians cannot comprehend this). But if Jesus is the Messiah, then should it even matter? Jesus was the fulfillment of the law. And yet, Christians still consume pork! Are we picking and choosing which Old Testament laws we keep?
I mentioned earlier that Leviticus is one of my least favorite books in the Bible. Why? Because it is irrelevant. One researcher points out that while Leviticus does condemn homosexuality (it doesn’t), it also prohibits wearing clothing of different materials and eating shellfish.5 Of course, the debate on which laws are still valid is not as simple as picking and choosing I mentioned before, but space does not allow a full treatment of this issue. Maybe for a book someday.
Conclusion
There is no reason for the church to continue its crusade against the LGBTQ community. It is inefficient, bigoted, and wrong. Jesus ate with prostitutes, but 21st-century American pastors cannot even look at someone who is not heterosexual or cisgender. To use the words of Leviticus against the church: this is an abomination. Although I can never again associate myself with the United Methodist Church (or any church, for that matter), I am proud of the steps it has taken to resolve this dilemma.
Would Jesus turn a blind eye to a gay person? Would Jesus say to a transgender, “My father hates you?” No, he would not! Leave it to the likes of James Dobson and Jerry Falwell to deride people based on gender or sexual orientation. It is a total shame that this is what Christianity has become. It worships a man who welcomed the outcasts but turns away the same people in the modern world.
Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 are not the only passages that have been used to advance Christianity’s hateful message against the LGBTQ community. I hope to dive into some of the others in the coming days. For now, we can acknowledge that the two favored verses do not mean what fundamentalists think they mean.
1. Töyräänvuori, Joanna. “Homosexuality, the Holiness Code, and Ritual Pollution: A Case of Mistaken Identity.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament., vol. 45, no. 2, 2020, pp. 239, https://doi.org/10.1177/0309089220903431.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid., 240.
4. Joosten, Jan. 2020. “A New Interpretation of Leviticus 18:22 (Par. 20:13) and Its Ethical Implications.” Journal of Theological Studies 71 (1): 2. https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/flaa002.
5. Sklar, Jay. 2018. “The Prohibitions against Homosexual Sex in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13: Are They Relevant Today?” Bulletin for Biblical Research 28 (2): 168. https://doi.org/10.5325/bullbiblrese.28.2.0165