For people who believe that the Bible should be read
in its cultural and historical context:
The main ideas of this website are:
SEX AND THE BIBLE
- The views about sex used in this website
are based on the Bible. This is done because
God has given us directions and principles in the
Bible about how to best live our lives.
SAME-SEX ATTRACTION
 | The Bible accepts same-sex attraction and | |
| might refer to same-sex orientation. |
SEX BETWEEN MEN
| The Bible is silent on sex between men | |
| except for full sex, which it prohibits. This prohibition does not apply today because it applied only to the Bible cultures. |
| All sex between men (including full sex) is | |
| okay if no one is harmed. |
SEX BETWEEN WOMEN
| The Bible criticizes sex between women but | |
| does not prohibit it. As the criticism is culturally based, it does not apply today. |
| Sex between women is okay if no one is | |
| harmed. |
LOVE
| A long-term relationship between two men | |
| or two women has love, affection and caring as well as sex. |
This site shows that:
The Bible talks about same-sex acts but not
homosexuals, gay men or lesbians.
The Bible treats same-sex acts as acts committed by
ordinary people acting wrongly. Therefore any use of
homosexual, homosexuality or sodomites in a Bible
version is a misleading translation error. So there is
no criticism or condemnation in the Bible of
homosexuality as a sexual orientation or of gay men
or lesbians as types of people.
The Bible accepts same-sex attraction.
The Bible has positive stories of same-sex emotional
or romantic attraction and deep friendship. Also, the
Bible might indirectly refer to same-sex (homosexual)
orientation.
More details of same-sex attraction
The Bible nowhere says that all sex outside
marriage is wrong.
The Bible simply says that certain kinds of sex, e.g.
incest and adultery and prostitution, are wrong. More
details of sex outside marriage
The Bible's criticism of sex between women
does not apply today.
The Bible has one implied criticism of sex between
women (lesbian, straight or bisexual) but does not say
don’t do it. The criticism seems to be based on how
women's sex roles were seen in the Roman and
Jewish cultures of Biblical times (women should be
passive, not active, in sex). As the criticism is
culturally based, it does not apply today. More details
The Bible is okay with non-penetrative sex
between men.
The Bible criticizes and prohibits men fully penetrating
men but not any other form of sex between men
(including oral sex, deep kissing, fondling and mutual
masturbation). As the Bible had the opportunity to
condemn these other forms of sex between men but
did not do so, it can be argued that all these non-
penetrative forms of sex between men are permitted.
The Bible's condemnation of full penetrative sex
between men does not apply today.
The Bible criticizes and prohibits only men fully
penetrating men. As in other societies of biblical
times, the condemnation was aimed at the man being
penetrated.
Why does this condemnation not apply today?
Because the main reason for condemning was
cultural, not universal. So the condemnation itself
was cultural, not universal. It therefore does not apply
today.
This main reason was the view, in ancient biblical
times and countries, that God made men to penetrate
in sex and women to be penetrated. Therefore for a
man to be sexually penetrated meant that he was
acting like a woman (who is penetrated) instead of
like a man (who penetrates) and this was wrong,
unmanly, shameful and degrading. The male
penetrator was condemned for helping the penetrated
man to act like a woman.
Although this view of male gender roles is still held in
some societies today, it is not held in many others.
This variation in attitudes over time and between
cultures shows that the biblical condemnation of sex
between men is cultural, not universal.
Further ancient cultural reasons for the condemnation
were:
* Men penetrating men also occurred when strong
men (such as soldiers) sometimes humiliated weaker
men by raping them;
* Men penetrating men could also occur in pagan
religious ceremonies;
* Men penetrating men was wasting semen instead of
its being used to create children (future workers and
warriors).
As the condemnation was culturally based, it does not
apply today. More details
For those who disagree that a Biblical criticism
or prohibition does not apply today when it is
culturally based.
Some Christians say that it does not matter whether a
Biblical criticism or prohibition is culturally based; it is
still the Word of God and must be obeyed. This view
faces difficulties when slavery is looked at. The Bible
approves of people owning other people as slaves.
But despite the Bible’s approval, we don’t say that
people can own other people as slaves today. One
therefore cannot say that something is approved
(slavery) or prohibited (men having full sex with men)
just because the Bible says so. We need something
more; and this is provided by the biblical “no-harm”
test. More no-harm test details
Results of the “no-harm” test.
Men having any form of sex with men (including full
sex) pass the “no-harm” test if each man acts with
caring love and does not harm himself, the other man
or any third party (e.g., a partner), physically,
emotionally, mentally or relationally, directly or
indirectly. This also applies to sex between women
when no harm is caused. Find out more about the no-
harm test
Relationships.
A long-term relationship between two men or two
women involves much more than sex. It usually
includes mutual love and affection, caring and
companionship and is similar to a long-term married
relationship between a man and a woman.
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By Colin Smith