Christian leaders have written about male homosexual activities since the first decades of Christianity; female homosexual behavior was almost entirely ignored.Spong, John Shelby (2005). The Sins of Scripture. HarperCollins Throughout the majority of Christian history, most Christian theologians and denominations have considered homosexual behavior as immoral or sinful.
However, since the second half of the 20th century some prominent Christian theologians and religious groups have espoused a wide variety of beliefs and practices towards homosexuals, including the establishment of various "open and accepting" Christian churches and denominations that actively support LGBT members.
Etymology The first instance of the English word "homosexuals" used in a biblical translation was in the RSV New Testament published from 1946 until 1970,1 Corinthians 6:9 [RSV 1946–1970 1st Edition New Testament] "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals,[g]" footnote g:"Two Greek words are rendered by this expression" which simultaneously removed most "fornication" admonitions found in the prior ASV (1901) and KJV (1611) Bibles.RSV New Testament 1946–1970 (10 verses) compared to KJV Bible 1611 (45 verses): and ASV 1901 Bible (40 verses) all of which have "fornicat"* word stem. Later translations such as ESV, NLT, CEV and NLT would remove all mention of fornication or fornicators. Historically, the Vulgate contains the Latin stem "fornicat" within 92 versesVetus Latina (various pre-AD 382 Vulgate); Latin Vulgate editions: ("Jerome" AD 382), ("Clementina" 1592 [92 verses with stem (*fornicat*) found in database search quoted), ("Nova" 1979), Douay–Rheims American [DRA] Bible of 1899 (Catholic) has 101 admonitions against "fornicat* stem". representing sixteen centuries of Christian tradition on literally wording sexual admonishments, while verses now rebuking homosexuals were described in the Vulgate equivalent to "male-prostitute male-concubines".Latin Vulgate "masculorum concubitores" (1 Corinthians 6:9–10); "masculorum concubitoribus" (1 Timothy 1:10): [ESV] & [NLT] translates both terms as "homosexuality". Latin stem "homo" [man] and "sexus" [sex] are both found throughout the Latin Vulgate [793 verses for "homo*" and 34 verses with "sexus" found within Clementina], but never combined as one word, or to represent the stem "arsenokoit" (man-sex) found in Greek N.T. Codex for the two verses listed. Word stems can have idioms more complex than their combined meaning, for example, adultery ("adult"+ "ery") does not specifically admonish all adults having sex within today's society. RSV set a modern trend in literally rebuking "homosexuals".
Several post-World War II translations of the Bible now have one to four verses rebuking homosexuals while replacing all mention of fornicators with "the immoral" or "sexual immoral" and leaving ambiguous homosexual or heterosexual immorality.[ESV], [NLT], [CEV], [NIV], [TEV/GNB], [WEB] Bible Translations have zero literal rebukes of fornication, and have one to four literal rebukes containing the "homosexual" stem. "Fornicators" found in KJV is translated as "sexual immorality" or simply "immorality" [RSV 1946–1970] within modern translations.[NASB] keeps eight literal rebukes of fornication, and has two literal rebukes containing the "homosexual" stem.
Early Christianity
The history of Christianity and homosexuality has been much debated. The Hebrew Bible and its traditional interpretations in Judaism and Christianity have historically affirmed and endorsed a patriarchal and heteronormative approach towards human sexuality, favouring exclusively penetrative vaginal intercourse between men and women within the boundaries of marriage over all other forms of human sexual activity, including autoeroticism, masturbation, oral sex, non-penetrative and non-heterosexual sexual intercourse (all of which have been labeled as "sodomy" by some at various times), believing and teaching that such behaviors are forbidden because they are considered sinful, and further compared to or derived from the behavior of the alleged residents of Sodom and Gomorrah. However, the status of LGBT people in early Christianity is debated. Some maintain that the early Christian churches deplored transgender people and same-sex relationships, while others maintain that they accepted them on the level of their heterosexual counterparts. These disagreements concern, in some cases, the translations of certain terms, or the meaning and context of some biblical passages.
Before the rise of Christianity, certain sexual practices that are today considered "homosexual"The words "homosexual" and "homosexuality" were not coined until the late 19th century and are placed in scare quotes because they are anachronistic when employed with reference to the linguistic usages of classical antiquity. See the comments by Craig A. Williams in his Roman Homosexuality (Oxford, 1999), p. 6, and D. S. Bailey's comments in Homosexuality and the Western Christian Tradition (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1955), p. x: "Strictly speaking, the Bible and Christian tradition know nothing of homosexuality; both are concerned solely with the commission of homosexual acts – hence the title of this study is loosely, though conventionally, worded." had existed among certain groups, with some degree of social acceptance in ancient Rome (e.g. the relationship of a Roman citizen with a slave). Both societies viewed anal sex as an act of dominance by the active (penetrating) partner over the passive (penetrated) partner, representing no distinction from how vaginal sex was viewed. It was considered a sign of weakness and low social status (such as slavery or infamia) for a man to assume the passive role. There was no such stigma against a man who assumed the active role.Craig Williams, Roman Homosexuality (Oxford University Press, 1999, 2010), p. 304, citing Saara Lilja, Homosexuality in Republican and Augustan Rome (Societas Scientiarum Fennica, 1983), p. 122. Cantarella, Bisexuality in the Ancient World, p. 100., Suetonius, Life of the Divine Julius 52.3; Richlin, "Not before Homosexuality," p. 532., Oxford Classical Dictionary entry on homosexuality, pp. 720–723; entry by David M. Halperin. Derrick Sherwin Bailey and Sarah Ruden both caution that it is anachronistic to project modern understandings of homosexuality onto ancient writings.D. S. Bailey's comments in Homosexuality and the Western Christian Tradition (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1955)
The Judaic prohibitions found in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 address the issue of sex between two men. The latter verse (20:13) says: "And if a man also lies with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."
In his fourth homily on Romans, John Chrysostom argued in the fourth century that homosexual acts are worse than murder and so degrading that they constitute a kind of punishment in itself, and that enjoyment of such acts makes them worse, "for suppose I were to see a person running naked, with his body all besmeared with mire, and yet not covering himself, but exulting in it, I should not rejoice with him, but should rather bewail that he did not even perceive that he was doing shamefully." He also said: "But nothing can there be more worthless than a man who has pandered himself. For not the soul only, but the body also of one who hath been so treated, is disgraced, and deserves to be driven out everywhere."
The writings of the early church contain strong condemnations of same-sex acts. Tertullian wrote, "When Paul asserts that males and females changed among themselves the natural use of the creature in that which is unnatural, he validates the natural way".3:96. Roberts, A. and Donaldson, J. eds. 1885–1896. Ante-Nicene Fathers, 10 vols. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature. Ambrosiaster wrote, "Paul tells us that these things came about, that a woman should lust after another woman, because God was angry at the human race because of its idolatry. Those who interpret this differently do not understand the force of the argument. For what is it to change the use of nature into a use which is contrary to nature, if not to take away the former and adopt the latter, so that the same part of the body should be used by each of the sexes in a way for which it was not intended?... It is clear that, because they changed the truth of God into a lie, they changed the natural use (of sexuality) into that use by which they were dishonored and condemned".81:51 in Vogels, Heinrich Joseph and Ambrosiaster. Ambrosiastri Qui Dicitur Commentarius in Epistulas Paulinas. Vindobonae: Hoelder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1966. John Chrysostom wrote, "No one can say that it was by being prevented from legitimate intercourse that they came to this pass or that it was from having no means to fulfill their desire that they were driven to this monstrous insanity... What is contrary to nature has something irritating and displeasing in it, so that they could not even claim to be getting pleasure out of it. For genuine pleasure comes from following what is according to nature. But when God abandons a person to his own devices, then everything is turned upside down."1, 11:355–356. Wace, Henry and Schaff, Philip. 1890–1900. A Select library of Nicene and post-Nicene fathers of the Christian church. Second series. New York, The Christian Literature Company. Cyprian wrote, "If you were able... to direct your eyes into secret places, to unfasten the locked doors of sleeping chambers and to open these hidden recesses to the perception of sight, you would behold that being carried on by the unchaste which a chaste countenance could not behold. You would see that it is in an indignity even to see... Men with frenzied lusts rush against men. Things are done which cannot even give pleasure to those who do them".36:14–15. Deferrari, R. J., ed. 1947– . Fathers of the Church: A New Translation. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press. Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 - c. 215), a Church Father and teacher of Origen, argued that Jesus had intended to eradicate homosexuality, alongside other pagan sexual practices.
John Boswell, in his book published in 1994, contends that adelphopoiesis, a Christian rite for uniting two persons of the same sex as "spiritual brothers/sisters", amounted to an approved outlet for romantic and indeed sexual love between couples of the same sex. Boswell also drew attention to Saints Sergius and Bacchus, whose icon depicts the two standing together with Jesus between or behind them, a position he identifies with a pronubus or "best man". Critics of Boswell's views have argued that the union created was more like blood brotherhood; and that this icon is a typical example of an icon depicting two saints who were martyred together, with the usual image of Christ that appears on many religious icons, and therefore that there is no indication that it depicts a "wedding". But Sergius and Bacchus were both referred to as erastai in ancient Greek manuscripts, the same word used to describe lovers.