Ron Miller, professor of religious studies, Lake Forest College:
It is important to remember that there was no general word for same-sex relations in Greek vocabulary at the time the New Testament authors were writing. A word inclusive of all same-sex relations does not occur in any language until the nineteenth century. So, the shortest and, strictly speaking, most accurate answer to the question “What does the bible say about homosexuality?” is “Nothing”. The current English-language Bibles translating these words as “homosexuals” are thus both incorrect and misleading.
If Paul intended to refer to same-sex relations in using the terms found in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, then he was making an unwarranted generalization. The emphasis of the passage is clearly on deliberate, destructive behavior, not on one’s personal sexual preferences. We know of no instance where Jesus or Paul dealt with a loving, committed same-sex couple and therefore have no solid basis for conjecturing about their possible views of such a relationship.
It is important to remember that there was no general word for same-sex relations in Greek vocabulary at the time the New Testament authors were writing. A word inclusive of all same-sex relations does not occur in any language until the nineteenth century. So, the shortest and, strictly speaking, most accurate answer to the question “What does the bible say about homosexuality?” is “Nothing”. The current English-language Bibles translating these words as “homosexuals” are thus both incorrect and misleading.
If Paul intended to refer to same-sex relations in using the terms found in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, then he was making an unwarranted generalization. The emphasis of the passage is clearly on deliberate, destructive behavior, not on one’s personal sexual preferences. We know of no instance where Jesus or Paul dealt with a loving, committed same-sex couple and therefore have no solid basis for conjecturing about their possible views of such a relationship.