Tackling Tradition 84: The 1946 Argument, the Bible, & Homosexuality

The 1946 argument is just a distraction.   It amounts to looking at one or 2 trees in the forest & not the forest itself.    

The argument centers on the meaning of 2 words in 1 Corinthians 6.   Those 2 words are derived from Leviticus 18, where the subject matter is most certainly homosexual behavior done in the service of one or more pagan pseudodeities, so the issue isn’t whether or not the words refer to homosexuality.  The issue is what sort of homosexual behavior are in view. 


There’s a history to the translation of “maltakoi”  & “arsenakoitai,” in 1 Corinthians 6 & 1 Timothy 1.  Ask yourself what readers of the Geneva Bible thought the term “buggerers” meant or what “abusers of mankind” meant in the days of King James.    In other words, focusing on these 2 words translated as “homosexuals” in the ESV doesn’t really do anything to confute the tradition bound view except focus on a pair of words that have always been taken to mean something about homosexual behavior, even if translators & others haven’t seemed to completely agree or understand what exactly is in view.  Consequently, those who use the 1946 Argument ought to stop parsing words & start thinking more globally about what the text actually states.  


The 1946 argument is just a distraction.  The truth of the matter is that what Romans 1:19 - 32 teaches is a far stronger argument.   


How so? 


Romans 1:18 - 32 is a didactic commentary on the case law in Leviticus 18.  Why then would you even need to struggle over the meaning of 2 words in 1 Corinthians in the history of translation if all you need to understand is what Romans 1:18 - 32 says in relation to Leviticus 18?  


If Leviticus 18 is only about homosexual sex done in the service of one or more pseudodeities like Romans 1 explicitly says it is, then every translation ever of the words in 1 Corinthians 6 & I Timothy 1 must conform to the meaning of Leviticus 18:22 the words Paul coined are derived from Leviticus 18. 


In addition, has anyone actually paying attention ever noticed that the one example we have of the execution of homosexuals in the OT is from the days of King Josiah — & they were all temple prostitutes?  


Has anybody noticed that the men in Sodom were angry religious bigots up to their eyeballs in idolatry, sorcery, & witchcraft? 


Has anybody noticed that 1 Corinthians 5 & 6 centers on sexual immorality that has something to do with temple prostitution? 


Stop examining the tree labeled “homosexuals, buggerers, abusers of mankind,&tc” & examine the forest in which those trees belong!  


Why? 


The forest is a pagan temple & the trees are support columns in it.  The forest isn’t David & Sam the Presbyterian elders’ house, it’s Bubba & Bo the Klan members who get together & do witchcraft or sorcery because they hate “Teh Gays.”  


One more time…


Leviticus 18:

  • Shema/Prologue (Lev. 18:1 - 5)
  • General & Specific Prohibitions (Lev.18: 6 -23) 
  • Document Clause, Witnesses, & Victory (Lev. 18: 24 - 30), which refers to statutes & rules & charges the people as witnesses & proclaims victory over the nations (& Israel should they behave like the nations)

Romans interprets Lev. 18 & vice versa.


Romans 1:18 - 32:

  • Paul is following the outline of Leviticus 18, following the form of a Hebraic lawsuit/Suzerain Covenant. 
  • Shema and Decalogue (1:18 - 21) God’s Image testifies to His attributes & authority. 
    • God created people. His temple bears His Image & runs according to His Law & Gospel.
  • Historical Prologue (1:22 - 23)
    • They suppressed God’s image & authority substituting their own, & made idols that looked & behaved like themselves.
  • Stipulations/Prohibitions (1:24 - 28)  
    • In Canaan & Rome, people did heterosexual & homosexual sex for their gods.  At times they deployed animals too.  (Lev. 18: 6 - 23).  
  • Document Clause, Covenant Sanctions/Renewal & Witnesses, Victory (1: 29 - 32)
    • Kitchen sink immorality will lead to Rome’s burning, just as it did to Sodom, Egypt, Israel, Babylon, &tc.

The text is about how we are supposed to think/reason.  God’s created order testifies to His image & authority.   God indicts us for suppressing His image & authority & supplanting it with our own & other created images & reasoning accordingly.


Thus when someone teaches that human anatomy, physiology, &/or psychology is a proper warrant for sexual ethics, they are teaching the opposite of what the Bible teaches.


Consequently, any view on this topic that ultimately teaches that God approves of us grounding our sexual ethics in the created order is incorrect, & that includes using 1 Corinthians 6 & 1 Timothy 1 to argue for the tradition bound point of view.  


The Bible is correct about homosexuality.   Ecclesiastical Tradition & Liturgical Philosophy are wrong.   The Bible doesn’t condemn all homosexual thoughts, words, &/or deeds.   It only condemns those which are done in service to one or more pagan pseudodeities.   


O LORD, Hear our prayer! 

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