Sashi Jamir, OTS
This article was actually presented at Oriental Theological Seminary (OTS) on September 26, 2007 in one of our Bible study sessions. Since then I have slightly improvised it but the line of argument remains the same. As the heading suggests, the concern of this article is to highlight the relationship between the Bible which, is the normative guide of the Christians, and the issue of homosexuality which is a progressive reality today.
Homosexuals are those whose primary erotic, psychological, emotional, and social orientation is toward members of the same sex. A male homosexual is typically called as Gay (initially a code word between homosexuals) and a female homosexual is called by the name Lesbian.
The phenomenon of homosexuality is as old as any human civilization (cf. Greek, Egypt civilization). The famous American sexologist Alfred Kinsey in 1948 found out in his research that 4% of the American population was homosexual. He reported that 37% of the male population had committed at least one homosexual act and 50% had responded at some time in their lives to a homosexual motivation. This finding is almost 50 years now. At any rate it must have doubled or tripled in number. Today we see gay rights movement, gay organizations, and gay churches. There are numerous books written on homosexuality both from within and without the church. Interestingly, in our Naga context we do not hear much or any thing about this issue—though of course, there are rumors!
What does our scripture say about this homosexuality?
There is no exclusive and explicit teaching of Homosexuality in the Bible. All we got is half a dozen references on Homosexuality. Jesus never taught about homosexuality. This is one reason why Jesus is criticized as being inclined to Homosexual trait. However, let us be clear that the agenda of sex is not the greatest need of humans. For instance, for many people there are other higher priorities than sex. No doubt Jesus was one—his agenda was to live out the message of the kingdom of God during his short span of life. Some writers have also found the features of homosexuality in the relationship between David and Jonathan; and Naomi and Ruth. But I think this is too much reading between the lines.
The scripture passages that touch this issue are: Genesis 19; Judges 19; Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:10. In all this the biblical authors argue against this act of homosexuality. I want to pick the Leviticus verses and 1 Corinthians verse and draw some points. But before moving there let us just try to recollect the creation account in Gen. 1 & 2. When God created Adam, he found that he was lonely and therefore, he decided to make a companion for him. He could have made another similar Adam but he made Eve. Later he commanded to multiply. In Gen 2:24, it is said the man will leave his father and mother and become one flesh with his wife. This creation account itself articulates that God intended for humans to have heterosexual relationship.
In Lev. 18:22 and 20:13, the word “abomination”/ “detestable” is translated from the Hebrew word “toeba” This word “toeba” is usually used to refer to things that is a complete distasteful to God or abhorrent to God. Reading Lev. 20: 13, we can infer three points: 1. Both parties are punished 2. The verb used here is lie and not seize and lie (rape) 3. The blood will be on their head suggest death as their punishment. Thus unlike Egypt, where pederasty (men sexually abusing boys) was condemned, or Mesopotamia, where apparently only forcible homosexual relationship was forbidden, Old Testatment law appears to forbid all forms of homosexual relations. This Israelites’ understanding of homosexuality might have been aroused from their doctrine of creation.
In 1 Cor. 9:6, Paul uses the words “malakoi” and “arsenokoitai.” In New American Standard Version (NRSV), they are translated as “male prostitute” and “sodomites.” The translations of these two words are debated. However, the word “malakoi” literally means soft and it might be referring to the man who plays the female role in homosexual intercourse. The word “arsenokoitai” is usually understood as the male who lie with a male. Now if we look into the broader context of 1 Cor. 9:6 we can conclude with two points: 1. If we say we are washed, sanctified and justified by Jesus, then the lifestyles mentioned above are no longer practiced. 2. Paul also argues in the following verses that our body is a temple of God and therefore we should not have sexual relationship with prostitutes. There is no doubt that our scripture does not agree with the act of homosexuality. However, we should note this, neither in the Old Testament nor Paul exclusively condemns homosexuality but they condemned homosexuality along with other sins such as greediness, thieving, drunkenness. In other words, homosexuality is not a sin above sin. Do not think that since, “I am not homosexual I am not a sinner.”
What should be our response?
There is a debate as to whether homosexuality is inherited or learned? In fact, this debate is crucial to our understanding of whether homosexuality is a sinful act or not. There is a scientific case that claims homosexuality as inborn. This theory was elaborately explained by K. Ela in the Morung Express under the heading: …Hormones or Choice? (published on September 26, 2007). However, this is what Crooks and Baur has to say in their book “Our Sexuality” (9th Edition, 2005): “…research suggest that there is a biological predisposition to exclusive homosexuality. However, in general, the causes of sexual orientation remain ‘speculative’ and most likely rely on multiple development pathways…[such as] psychosocial and biological factors, which are unique for each person, than to think in terms of a single cause for orientation.” The fact that I am not an expert in this scientific study makes me limited to ascertain anything. However, one thing remains sure and that is, homosexuality can be learned or acquired. A Christian psychological counselor, Gary Collins, purports that homosexuality is not the result of physiological and biological abnormality but a result of improper parent-child relationship (broken relationship of a father and mother, or uneven relationship between a father and mother affecting the children), fear, and willful choice of homosexual actions (Christian Counseling, 1980 [If there is a grain of truth in Collins assessment then, we Nagas should seriously consider, in this postmodern context, our relationships within our family and community circle]). To a certain extent this case presented by Collins can be supported by the outcome of the “Gay conversion program.” In 2000 the first formal research on the effectiveness of conversion therapy was published by Nicolosi et al. (Our Sexuality, 2005). The research participants were 882 in total. Out of this 45% responded that they have either become completely heterosexual or at least more heterosexual than homosexual after conversion therapy. Santi Keyho an Associate professor of Sociology of Religion at OTS is also of the view that the environment of a given society definitely affects the behavior of a person. In other words, society plays a vital role in shaping one’s personality and if a society provides space for homosexuality to prosper then it will. Thus, we can say that homosexuality to a certain degree is learned or choice.
These homosexuals are just normal people like you and I. We are wrong if we assume that they always think about having pleasure. They are humans like us. They think like us, eat like us. The only difference is that they are inclined to their own sex order. We must be very careful of homophobia. Homophobia simply means “irrational fears of homosexuality, the fear of the possibility of homosexuality in oneself, or self-loathing toward one’s own homosexuality.” Let me quote Kimmel (live, 2003), “If an openly gay man touches your arm in a public place and you feel uncomfortable, that doesn’t make him pervert. That makes you homophobic.” This kind of attitude only marginalizes the homosexuals and makes them unwanted people within the society. However, let us be reminded that Jesus died for all of us (including the homosexuals) and therefore we should not be judgmental rather have a considerate attitude towards them. It is my hope that we will be more compassionate towards this minority group of people without compromising with the word of God. I am persuaded that those homosexuals who have acquired this trait can be rehabilitated if only they are willing to change which will definitely demand for them to walk out from their comfort zone.
