How America’s Anti-Gay Bigotry Manipulated the “Infallible Word of God”

Last updated on: December 2, 2019 at 10:04 am by Shane Phipps

How America’s Anti-Gay Bigotry Manipulated the “Infallible Word of God” 2019-12-02T10:04:45-04:00 Shane Phipps

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

For years, I’ve struggled with this. We are told that we are all created in God’s image. We are also told that the Bible clearly condemns sexual relations between members of the same sex. These two messages have clashed in my brain since I’ve been old enough to understand them. As a teacher of middle school aged children, I know that many people are born with an attraction to members of the same sex. I have seen it first hand more times than I can count. Given this fact, how/why would God create someone so clearly doomed to a “sinful” life? For a long time, I considered myself an agnostic when it came to whether or not homosexuality is a sin. In other words, I copped out and basically said it’s not for me to say one way or another. But as I’ve done more research, I have begun to see things differently. Recently, I read an article at Forgeonline.org that has completely changed the narrative about this in my mind. In that article, I learned that the concept of “homosexuality” as we have come to know it did not appear in any Bible translation until the year 1946. That was in the RSV version. The reason for that change is based in an American anti-gay agenda. Suddenly, this topic which had been so muddied in my mind for so long began to become much clearer.

The article I referenced above contains an interview with Ed Oxford. Mr. Oxford has been a part of a research team that has been working diligently to discover when and why the word homosexual was put into the Bible. Their findings are remarkable. Ed and his team gathered old Bibles in many different European languages dating back to the time of the Reformation more than 500 years ago. The whole thing hinges on the original Greek word, arsenokoitai. In most modern biblical translations, that word is translated to mean homosexual. That was not the case originally. Originally, arsenokoitai actually meant “molesters of young boys.”

From the article:

“It turns out that the ancient world encouraged a system whereby young boys (8-12 years old) were coupled by older men. Ancient Greek documents show us how even parents utilized this abusive system to help their sons advance in society. So for most of history, most translations thought these verses were obviously referring to pederasty [sexual activity between a man and a young boy], not homosexuality.”

Martin Luther’s original German translation from 1534 used the word knabenschander. Knaben means boy, schander means molester. The word knabenschander is used in the two verses that appear to condemn homosexual acts in Leviticus (18:22 and 20:13), and in 1 Timothy 1:10 in German Bible translations from Martin Luther’s original until 1983. In 1983, the translation suddenly changed in Germany to mean homosexuals instead of molesters of young boys. How did it happen?

From the article:

“…it turns out that the [American] company, Biblica, who owns the NIV version, paid for this 1983 German version. Thus it was Americans who paid for it! In 1983 Germany didn’t have enough of a Christian population to warrant the cost of a new Bible translation, because it’s not cheap. So an American company paid for it and influenced the decision, resulting in the word homosexual entering the German Bible for the first time in history.”

In America, the topic of homosexuality as a sin is hotly debated. Fundamentalist Christians point to these few references in the Bible and talk about how the Bible is “God breathed” and infallible. After reading the truth behind the story of biblical translations, my question to the fundamentalists is this: Why was the original translation not infallible? Why did you work so hard to alter the words that “God breathed?”

This information probably will fall upon deaf ears. But my prayer is that it causes at least some Christians to think and pray about how they see their LGBTQ brothers and sisters. Perhaps they can try to see them as their creator sees them and, indeed, created them.

Previous Post

November 30, 2019

Faith in the Public School Classroom: Dispelling the Myths

Next Post

December 9, 2019 Conservative Christians, It's Time to Step Up: Where are Your Good Samaritans?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 150 word story 2nd Amendment AARP abortion addiction aging alcoholism Anderson Wigwam Andrew Jackson Appalachia Basketball bias bigotry Black Lives Matter Christianity Christmas, Constitution, Bill of Rights Civil War Clinton cloning confirmation bias Conservation Constitution Controversial Creationism Creepy tales David Bowie depression Dogs Education Election Electoral College Empathy Environmental Evolution exvangelical faith Family Family History Fantasy Genealogy Genesis George Washington Ghetto Global Warming Gun Control health care High School Basketball Hillary History Hockey homosexuality Hoosier Hysteria Hoosiers Hunting immigration income inequality Interview ISTEP Jurassic Park Kaepernick Ken Hamm Kids say the Darndest things LGBTQ Love MAGA Manifest Destiny Merit Pay Mike Pence Muhammad Ali Multiple Perspectives Music Music Review Nashville News media NHL No Child Left Behind NRA Paradox Parenting Pence Perspective Politics POTUS Poverty Predators Race Religion religious freedom Sci Fi Science Secret of Life sexual harrassment Short Stories Slavery Small Town Indiana Smashville Social Commentary social media sports Stress technology Terrorism Thomas Jefferson Trauma Trump Turning 50 Uncategorized war Washington DC White Privilege wooly mammoths words in red Writing Writing Process Writing, Writing Process Young Earth

Select a Month June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 August 2021 May 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Immanuel" mean, as in Isaiah's prophecy?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Prince of peace God with us God reigns God will save

Support this
Column