Quote From: tulseyjoeWhen I was a graduate theology/Bible student at Oral Roberts University, two of my PhD professors, one a Pentecostal Baptist (Southern Baptist Convention/Church - SBC) and another an Assemblies of God (AG) (both men were ordained ministers), were involved with the 1st Edition of the New International Version (NIV) Bible translation into English.
They were given certain guidelines regarding the doctrines of the various Evangelical church denominations so that their churches' beliefs, no matter how wrong, would not conflict with the NIV translation when it was finished.
Since the SBC and the AG, etc., had messed up believing that the abomination of same-gender sexual activity applied only to those who claimed to be exclusively homosexual, the translation committee followed their directives and put the word "homosexual" where those church demoninations' doctrine people said it should be.
All of the Bible Societies in the World, especially the USA, are made up of people representing certain denominations. And when any Bible Society creates a new translation, they attempt to follow the guidelines of those denominations which are paying the salary of the translators and their staff. If they did not follow the man-made rules, they would not get paid.
Jesus, aka The Christ, never said one negative word about homosexual or what might even be considered homosexuality or ever same-gender consensual sexual behavior by adults . . . or even mutually consensual same-gender sexual behavior by those under the age of 18.
The sin of Sodom is never literally mentioned as same-gender sexual activity. Only one time in the Bible is the sexual activity of the people of Sodom mentioned and that is in verse 7 of the short Epistle of Jude. And even then, it is NOT same-gender sexual activity.
Here is the King James version of that verse:
"Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."
Here is the Today's New International Version of that same Verse:
"In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire."
"Porneia" is translated as "fornication" in the KJV and as "sexual immorality" in the TNIV. "Porneia" literally refers to the "sexual activity of female prostitutes with male customers."
The "strange flesh' in the KJV is interesting especially after one looks at the two words in the Original Greek Text of Jude. "Strange" is the translation of "heteras," which is another form of the word "hetero." The opposite of "homo" (same) is "hetero" (which does mean "opposite or different").
Since Jude was the half-brother of Jesus, Jude's parents were Mary and Joseph, more than likely Jude's first language was Hebrew, or the Aramaic dialect of it. Jude, his brother James (literally Jacob), like Jesus, when growing up studied the original Scriptures in Hebrew and they apparenlty translated their Hebrew thoughts into everyday Greek, in the Koine dialect of it.
The word translated in the KJV as "flesh" and in the TNIV as "perversion" is "sarx." Well, "sarx" is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word, "basar" (flesh). Basar is used as a Hebrew euphemism (substitute polite word) for gender, sexual parts or genitals, male or female.
So the "Strange Flesh" in proper interpretation here is "heterosexual sex." "Heteras sarx" would be translated as "heterosexual" in modern English.
The whole so called "anti-homosexualness" of the Bible is really over trumped by many of today's Christians. I was raised Jewish, (and yes, Jesus was a Jew folks, he never renounced it. And the original Christians were Jewish) and I have been able to read the Torah and the Talmud in it's original language. I find it interesting how many people take certain laws from Leviticuts and Deuteronomy and twist certain things to bash homosexuals in order to feel better about themselves, but then ignore all of the other laws, such as the original Sabbath and the kosher laws. And claim that Jesus never deemed those practices as necessary anymore (even though Jesus was a Jew and practiced all of this.)
I really don't think people choose to be gay. Many gay people, especially young ones, are targeted for abuse by their peers and family and have a higher likelyhood to commit suicide. I don't see why anyone would choose that on themselves. I am heterosexual and it's not like I woke up one day when I was 11 years old and went "hmmmm... I think I will find guys sexually attractive." Human sexuality just doesn't work that way folks. Also many of the sexual laws of the Bible were written when the populations of Hebrews were very low. (Hence those lovely passages about not spilling your seed on the ground.) Considering that there are too many humans on the planet, I don't think a lot of this is necessary anymore. Just like many Christians don't consider the Kosher laws necessary anymore since we have better sanitation practices.
My parents are an interracial couple and many people would consider that to be sinful and can pick all sorts of verses in the Bible to justify those claims. My parents are hard workers who pay taxes and don't commit any crimes yet as far as many Christians are concerned we are on a one way ticket to hell since my dad is a Caucasian Ashkanasi Jew and my mother is Filipina. I just believe people do this in order to feel morally superior to others. If Jesus's main teaching was "love thy neighbor" then people would want to love and protect gay people, especially considering the abuse that they get from others.
(Original Air Date: 10/19/05) Sexual orientation used to be something kept hidden from family and co-workers, but now more and more people are "coming out" and finding acceptance. Anjela says her mother and sister don't support her sexual orientation, and feel she can't be Christian and gay at the same time. Can they reconcile this touchy issue? Then, two men debate whether a person can go from gay to straight, and parents of a 4-year-old boy fear their son's desire to play with dolls and wear heels means he'll grow up to be gay. Are they overreacting to his wishes to be a princess instead of a prince? Talk about gender and gay issues here.
