# What parts of the Bible ban homosexuality? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 11, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-parts-of-the-bible-ban-homosexuality/489128 "2009-03-11T21:02:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-parts-of-the-bible-ban-homosexuality/489128/161 "2009-03-18T22:40:02Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Some do. LIKE THE FREAKIN’ APOSTLE PAUL! _G_ Had that been settled for certain? I thought there were some translation questions… > [@FriarTed](#): > > So when do we throw out the Incest bans that occur in the same chapter of Leviticus because they’re part of the old Law? At the same time. The reason we don’t do incest nowadays is because it’s icky. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-parts-of-the-bible-ban-homosexuality/489128/162 "2009-03-18T22:40:25Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > So when do we throw out the Incest bans that occur in the same chapter of Leviticus because they’re part of the old Law? I already have. They didn’t seem to be working. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-parts-of-the-bible-ban-homosexuality/489128/163 "2009-03-18T22:58:40Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > [“Arsenokoites and Malakos: Meanings and Consequences,”](http://www.clgs.org/arsenokoit%C3%A9s-and-malakos-meanings-and-consequences) > > Offline, there is the late Yale historian, John Boswell’s seminal book, [Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality](http://www.amazon.com/Christianity-Social-Tolerance-Homosexuality-Fourteenth/dp/0226067114). Thanks for the links. I will look them over when I can. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-parts-of-the-bible-ban-homosexuality/489128/164 "2009-03-18T23:02:54Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Anyway, Jesus said all you have to do is love God and love your neighhbor. And if your neighbor happens to be a dude… well, it’s God’s will. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-parts-of-the-bible-ban-homosexuality/489128/165 "2009-03-19T12:31:32Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > In a previous post you said that the Bible was divinely inspired. Now is it just parts of the Bible? Who determines what is divinely inspired? Wouldn’t the same apply to the Koran or the dictionary for that matter? If it isn’t inspired then if homosexuality is sinful would be a matter of what one chose to believe. ---
**Author:** ![ponsonby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@ponsonby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ponsonby)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-parts-of-the-bible-ban-homosexuality/489128/166 "2009-03-19T12:34:13Z")
I think it’s the bit about not coveting your neighbour’s ass.😃 ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-parts-of-the-bible-ban-homosexuality/489128/167 "2009-03-19T15:33:05Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > Who determines what is divinely inspired? Wouldn’t the same apply to the Koran or the dictionary for that matter? If it isn’t inspired then if homosexuality is sinful would be a matter of what one chose to believe. It’s a fair question. There are entire books that were “tossed out” at the big bishop convention (Council of Nicea?). If each and every book was divinely inspired, if each and every word was the word of God, then who dares expunge ANY of it? And translating into foreign heathen languages where they may not even have words that mean the same thing? How about Catholic version vs King James vs “Old Original Hebrew” (not modern Hebrew, but OLD OLD Hebrew)? Entire passages were reworded. Who would dare alter The Word Of God in such a manner? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-parts-of-the-bible-ban-homosexuality/489128/168 "2009-03-19T16:53:26Z")
But the alterations were “divinely inspired”, doncha know? God arranged things so that you would be reading the version of the Bible He wanted you to read. And other people, with their other Bibles who say other things, are being led astray by the Devil. (The above would be parody were it not the case that I had heard it espoused in earnest, if not in those exact words, by certain well-meaning but not particularly well-educated good Christian folk.) ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-parts-of-the-bible-ban-homosexuality/489128/169 "2009-03-19T17:14:11Z")
So does the Bible explicitly forbid cannibalism? 'Cuz if it doesn’t, I think I’ve got a solution for the homeless problem. Seriously, can anyone really believe that everything the Bible doesn’t specifically condemn must be okay? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-parts-of-the-bible-ban-homosexuality/489128/170 "2009-03-19T17:19:09Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > So does the Bible explicitly forbid cannibalism? 'Cuz if it doesn’t, I think I’ve got a solution for the homeless problem. > > Seriously, can anyone really believe that everything the Bible doesn’t specifically condemn must be okay? I don’t look to the Bible to see what I think is ok, but that’s not really the issue. The question was about whether the Bible condemns homosexuality, not whether homosexuality is ok. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-parts-of-the-bible-ban-homosexuality/489128/171 "2009-03-19T19:55:20Z")
Lonesome Polecat: > [@](#): > > So does the Bible explicitly forbid cannibalism? 'Cuz if it doesn’t, I think I’ve got a solution for the homeless problem. Well, it certainly forbids murder. I don’t know of anything that will forbid, for those who don’t hold that Kosher law is binding, to consume the flesh of a human corpse. But I don’t think the “homeless problem” was that there was nowhere to bury their corpses. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-parts-of-the-bible-ban-homosexuality/489128/172 "2009-03-19T20:21:16Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > So does the Bible explicitly forbid cannibalism? 'Cuz if it doesn’t, I think I’ve got a solution for the homeless problem. > > Seriously, can anyone really believe that everything the Bible doesn’t specifically condemn must be okay? Are you making “a modest proposal”? As to your question - I don’t think I’m going to sit in my room doing nothing, just because I’m afraid some book didn’t explixitly give me permission to do something. I’ve been to baseball games, even though baseball is never mentioned in the Bible. I’ve been to football games too. How about watching television, or reading a newspaper? Did I need divine permission first? Am I going to hell for being a Mets fan? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-parts-of-the-bible-ban-homosexuality/489128/173 "2009-03-19T21:06:43Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > Seriously, can anyone really believe that everything the Bible doesn’t specifically condemn must be okay? Personally, I couldn’t care less what the Bible condemns. However, other people use it to codify their own morality into law, so it’s handy to know this stuff in case you need to call them on it. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-parts-of-the-bible-ban-homosexuality/489128/174 "2009-03-19T22:18:53Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Am I going to hell for being a Mets fan? If hell involves an eternity of disappointment, then maybe. There’s a deeper pit of that hell for Cubs fans, of course. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-parts-of-the-bible-ban-homosexuality/489128/175 "2009-03-20T05:06:58Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > If hell involves an eternity of disappointment, then maybe. There’s a deeper pit of that hell for Cubs fans, of course. There’s always someone who is worse off 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-parts-of-the-bible-ban-homosexuality/489128.md?page=8)