Bib Lit
Bib Lit Response Paper #5- Homosexuality and the Bible (practice for final paper) Kristin Serey Hazelett
What does the bible have to say about homosexuality? How do you feel about it? Are you engaged on a religion that believes it is wrong? Throughout my life, I have been taught by my family and my religion to be an open-minded, accepting person with the capacity for empathy and understanding. With that background, I have never had any difficulty accepting homosexuals as who they are human beings born with a different sexual orientation than me. The difficulty for me has been in understanding the view of those who use the Bible to condemn homosexuals. I've often heard them rattling off Bible verses call homosexuality an abomination and call for the death of all homosexuals. These verses have always confused me. I believe strongly that homosexuality is an inborn trait, just as heterosexuality is. So, hearing people use the Bible to condemn homosexuals didn't make sense because the loving God that I believe in would not create people a certain way and then condemn them for being that way.
In the literature that I have read on the subject, there seem to be six main bible passages that are utilized by many to condemn homosexuality. The first of these is the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18:26-19:29. This passage is probably the most famous instance in scripture where homosexuality seems to be condemned. In fact, it was in this story that the word "sodomy" was coined. The story begins with two angels arriving in Sodom and being invited into Lot's home as guests for the night. "But, before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man surrounded the house; and they called to Lot, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we may know them.'" Then, Lot went out to speak to the men and offer them his virgin daughters to do with as...
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