Phew, this one I believe is the hardest for many people, myself included. It’s the only one I don’t feel that there is one “right” answer, there are many alternative answers, and I can’t in good faith deduce which one feels the most accurate.

Of course, with all these passage interpretations, there is no “right” answer at all. I used to work as a sign language interpreter and let me tell you something – there is no single right interpretation of anything, let alone ancient texts. I believe that scholars and historians and religious study professors are all doing their best to interpret The Word as accurately as possible, but they have one flaw they can’t get around – they’re human! And I am too! No matter what, we are interpreting these texts through our own flawed and judgmental reality, with all our privileges and biases and life experiences behind those interpretations.

With that being said, why should anyone care about my interpretation of the Bible? Well, I believe I have a unique perspective in the fact that I wasn’t raised in the church. This lets me weed out and see through a lot of things many people raised in the church deem as “facts” that are really just interpretations. I believe my outsider perspective is valuable and different to many voices prevalent in the Christian community. I think my time as an interpreter, my time as an agnostic, and my journey to find truth have put me in a unique position to share my findings.

But really, I think everyone’s journey is unique and different, and I just hope that my own journey can help someone else on theirs.

So, let’s get into Leviticus!

²² “‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.

Leviticus 18:22 New International Version (NIV)

¹³ “‘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.

Leviticus 20:13 New International Version (NIV)

Yikes, right? So many people have used these lines to justify hate, discrimination, and even murder. On the surface, this appears straightforward and to the point. But really, it’s anything but.

As Adam Nicholas Phillips points out in his fantastic article “The Bible Does Not Condemn Homosexuality. Why Does Franklin Graham Not Get This?“, the Leviticus commandments were written for a people that were on the run out of Egypt. They were written at a very specific time for a very specific people.

That said, I still believe the Bible was written so vague and without direct points for exactly the purpose that it would be timeless. If the Bible was written with explicit and direct “how-to’s”, there would be no humanity. The vagueness is “sorta what God is going for”, to quote The Book of Mormon, the musical. It’s vague so it can be understood and interpreted for all time periods by all peoples.

So, with the thought that the Bible is timeless, it doesn’t matter who Leviticus was written for, it should all still apply now. Correct?

Well, not quite. Leviticus is also where the Bible forbids eating shellfish (11:9-12), promotes slavery (25:44-45), and describes how you cannot wear mixed fabric (19:19). Look at that shirt you’re wearing and let me know how well you’re following those Leviticus commandments.

We can all see plainly with our eyes that slavery is bad. We can all see that wearing mixed fabrics or eating shellfish is not something Jesus thought was important to uphold and maintain. Jesus is the fulfilment of this law. Jesus spoke often and frequently how there were many people “upholding the law” but finding loopholes and still being greedy and selfish. That was more important to focus on – being good, loving others, helping the poor. That was what Jesus preached about and spoke for. Your attitude and intention are what is important.

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ ³⁹ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. ⁴⁰ And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. ⁴¹ If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. ⁴² Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Matthew 5:38-42 New International Version (NIV)

In many ways, Jesus came to focus our attention on what we were doing wrong. And focusing on shellfish and mixed fabrics was not one of those things. Why then do people pluck this single passage and deem it more important than any others in Leviticus?

I have also seen in multiple sources how this passage is most likely completely mistranslated all together! In the article “Redefining Leviticus 20:13“, it explains how the specific Hebrew words are more likely in reference to an adult man and a young man.

²² Thou shalt not lie with zachar, as with isha: it is to’evah (abomination, detestable)

Vayikra 18:22 Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB)

Aka, this passage is explaining specifically how pedophilia is wrong. An adult man should not have sex with a young boy. This falls perfectly in line with my core belief that “sexual sin” is when sex is used to hurt or harm someone, such as a child. Sexual sin is not a reference to two consensual adults loving each other in marriage.

It likely was completely changed due to Emperor Constantine’s anti-homosexual laws. Emperor Constantine ruled from AD 306 and 337 and already the Bible was being translated and change to fit in with what he deemed as accurate.

Why would my interpretation be more accurate than his interpretation? It follows the overall narrative of the Bible to be loving and kind and to not hate your neighbor. It truly falls in line with Jesus’s preaching and His message.

There is no sin in a man loving and being in a consensual relationship with another man. At least not according to Leviticus. We have 4 more passages to go and I hope you stay with me to learn more!

Resources:

• The Bible Does Not Condemn Homosexuality. Why Does Franklin Graham Not Get This?
• Redefining Leviticus 20:13

Sodom and Gomorrah is often the first thing Christians will mention when talking about why the Bible is anti-homosexuality. I mean, the word “sodomy” even derives from this passage. But let’s really look at what happened in Sodom.

Two angels arrive in Sodom and Lot takes them in to protect them. A crowd of men then surround their house and demand that Lot bring the angels outside so they can have sex with them. This is a great sin and God punishes the city of Sodom accordingly.

If these angels had been women, would the sin not be the same thing? I believe it would be, because rape is wrong no matter who is being raped. A crowd of people asking and forcing themselves upon anyone is wrong and sinful.

I suggest re-reading this passage with the thought of the angels being women. Wouldn’t it still be wrong? Wouldn’t you still understand why God destroyed these cities?

²⁷ Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. ²⁸ He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.

²⁹ So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

Genesis 19 New International Version (NIV)

This passage says absolutely nothing about two people of the same gender being in a consensual, mutually respecting relationship. The passage is very clearly stating that forming a mob and attempting to rape someone is a bad thing. What does this say about a gay relationship? Absolutely nothing.

To top if all off, there are more disturbing things in this passage than that. Lot, our protagonist, offers up his virgin daughters to the angry crowd. Also, later his daughters have sex with their father. But you don’t see people bringing up those passages because incest is understood as being a bad thing in this day and age.

6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”

Genesis 19 New International Version (NIV)

³⁴ The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” ³⁵ So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

³⁶ So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.

Genesis 19 New International Version (NIV)

When people pick and choose their Bible verses to bring harm to others is when we should be ashamed as Christians. The entire Bible needs to be analyzed from a perspective of love and history.

I believe these passages are telling a historical tale and obviously that it is not what you should follow for yourself. The Bible is not suggesting you should go have sex with your father or that you should offer up your virgin daughters to an angry mob of rapists. It’s stating what happened at that time as a historical volume of what occurred. This is made clear to me by how it’s delivered – with no suggestions that this is what should happen or what was right. It is merely stating what occurred in those matters. This is problematic for many reasons, but history is history, and there are a lot of awful things in it. Keep this in mind as we explore future passages.

Going back to what the men were doing in Sodom, the angels specifically take action against it, which is indicative of their actions being sinful:

⁹ “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.

¹⁰ But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. ¹¹ Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.

Genesis 19 New International Version (NIV)

The angels turn the men blind. Because a mob of men wanting to have sex with anyone is sinful.

This one feels very straight forward to me. Do not form an angry mob and try to have sex with people who do not want to have sex with you. This is sinful and bad.

Angry mob rape parties = sin.

Even at other parts in the Bible, when they mention Sodom, it never calls out homosexuality as the sin in which God decided to destroy the city. In Ezekiel 16, Sodom is even called out for specific sins, none of those being homosexuality.

49 “‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.

Ezekiel 16 New International Version (NIV)

40 As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
    along with their neighboring towns,”
declares the Lord,
“so no one will live there;
    no people will dwell in it.

Jeremiah 50 New International Version (NIV)

Absolutely nowhere in this passage does it specify that the men-on-men aspect of this rape is the primary focus and specifically what was sinful. That is only an assumption put on by our homophobic culture. This passage flat out isn’t about homosexuality at all, no matter how much some churches wish to shoehorn it into that box.