Next, we have a passage that is not as frequently heard, and yet one that is used to bash homosexuals nonetheless.  It reads: “This means understanding that the law is laid down not for the innocent but for the lawless and disobedient; for the godless and the sinful, for the unholy and the profane — for those who kill their father or mother, for murderers, fornicators, sodomites, slave traders, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching.” (1 Timothy 1:9-10) … The text of this passage is very similar to 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, and its illuminations are thus equally similar as well … Please consider:

 

First of all, it is extremely important to note that – just as in 1 Corinthians 6 – it is not homosexuals or homosexual couples or even homosexual yearnings that are condemned in this passage, but rather arsenokoites — the Greek word (translated as “sodomites” in some texts – and incorrectly as “homosexuals” in others) that literally means “a male who is actively engaging in same-gender sexual activity” (again, see Strong’s #733) … So once again, here we have two verses that do not apply whatsoever to homosexuals who are not actively engaged in gay sex, and thus two verses that do not apply at all to the original image of Oliver Clyde Allen and his husband that started this conversation (and thus two verses that cannot be used to rationalize not going to hear Oliver preach the Word of God)!

 

Secondly, these verses have their author (who most scholars agree was not Paul, by the way) listing quite a few groups of people who are guilty of other equally “unholy” sins – among them the sexually active, those who tell lies, and those who violate “whatever else is contradictory to the sound teaching” of the law.  Needless to say, these prohibitions apply to almost every human being on the planet at one time or another, and as such it can be safely stated that it is a clear expression of bigotry – and in all likelihood a clear expression of hypocrisy as well – to focus solely on the one at the exclusion of the many.

 

“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged … Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own? … Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like young children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” ~ Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:1-3 + Matthew18:3)

Filed under: Burnishing Bigotry by Scaughdt