Genesis Chapter 19
Presumably the 3 visitors to Abraham in the last chapter pay a visit to Sodom and are persuaded to accept
hospitality by Lot, Abraham's relative, rather than spend the night in the town square.
There is a lot of controversy about this chapter – Is it one
the passages that are openly anti gay?
The more hard line view is that the men of Sodom want to "get to know" the visitors in Lot's house to mean "Get to know in the biblical sense" - or to Sodomise them, and their evil is perversion and rampant immorality.
A more liberal view is that “to know” means to identify and to meet with, and that the sin of the folk of Sodom is showing a lack of hospitality.
I may be unpopular here but I tend to lean toward the more traditional harder line view.
There are 2 main reasons for this -
Number 1 is that I'm asked to accept a story in the Bible that talks about “knowing” does not mean "knowing in the Biblical sense"
Number 2 is that Lot offers his virgin daughters to the mob "Who have never known a man". I think that Lot's parenting skills and backbone are extremely lacking here - this is not going to win father of the year awards!
The issue of homosexuality seems to be a rather hot potato with the church and state at the moment. Here are a few facts -
1 I follow Jesus Christ who said absolutely nothing about homosexuality.
2 There are about about 6 chapters of the Bible that mention homosexuality (out of over 1000)
3 The Catholic churches Catechism (or official teaching) is that it is not a sin to be homosexual, but that sex was designed by God to be between a man and a woman who are married (either by a ceremony or in practice like common law - though married by ceremony is better) so this means that sleeping around and being promiscuous and having intercourse with a person who is not married to you is a sin and not in line with the teaching of the church or the ideals of the Bible.
Personally I am heterosexual though celibate – there is a deal of emphasis on sex in our culture and the "need" to express our sexuality. As for me I more or less agree with the Catholic teaching. It is sometimes difficult and I have to avoid temptation, but I try.
A more liberal view is that “to know” means to identify and to meet with, and that the sin of the folk of Sodom is showing a lack of hospitality.
I may be unpopular here but I tend to lean toward the more traditional harder line view.
There are 2 main reasons for this -
Number 1 is that I'm asked to accept a story in the Bible that talks about “knowing” does not mean "knowing in the Biblical sense"
Number 2 is that Lot offers his virgin daughters to the mob "Who have never known a man". I think that Lot's parenting skills and backbone are extremely lacking here - this is not going to win father of the year awards!
The issue of homosexuality seems to be a rather hot potato with the church and state at the moment. Here are a few facts -
1 I follow Jesus Christ who said absolutely nothing about homosexuality.
2 There are about about 6 chapters of the Bible that mention homosexuality (out of over 1000)
3 The Catholic churches Catechism (or official teaching) is that it is not a sin to be homosexual, but that sex was designed by God to be between a man and a woman who are married (either by a ceremony or in practice like common law - though married by ceremony is better) so this means that sleeping around and being promiscuous and having intercourse with a person who is not married to you is a sin and not in line with the teaching of the church or the ideals of the Bible.
Personally I am heterosexual though celibate – there is a deal of emphasis on sex in our culture and the "need" to express our sexuality. As for me I more or less agree with the Catholic teaching. It is sometimes difficult and I have to avoid temptation, but I try.
I understand that many people will strongly not agree with this and who am I to judge?
You have a point - what you do in your private life is strictly between you and God and, though I may not approve personally, it is none of my business.
But one of the Christian freedoms that we enjoy is that we can express our views and we can agree to differ.
Anyway Lot is told to hop it and get out of Dodge without looking back Lot’s wife looks back and becomes a pillar of salt.
Next thing his daughters decide that since the town is
destroyed their chances of having children to support them in their old age are slim, and they decide to get Dad drunk (twice) and then commit incest with old dad.
The two children become two nations (The Ammonites and the Moabites) that are thorns in the
side of Israel for the next several hundred years.
Sodomy and incest - in the same chapter of the Bible, who says the Bible is not spicy?
Sodomy and incest - in the same chapter of the Bible, who says the Bible is not spicy?
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