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Gay (Views expressed previously on this blog don’t necessarily reflect my current outlook. They are merely kept as a record for accountability and proof of growth) -Change is possible-

[tabernacleheart-deactivated2025]

“If celibacy is the only option for a same-sex-attracted Christian who wants to remain biblically faithful… what can the church do to better minister to these people? Can we just casually tell them “no sex for you!” and leave it at that? Some argue the Bible doesn’t address same-sex loving monogamous relationships, so it’s fine. However, all passages dealing with homosexuality agree that same-sex intimacy isn’t God’s design — monogamous or not. Sexual intimacy is from God for a man and woman in the covenant of marriage. Outside of marriage, there shouldn’t be any expression of sexuality. Our sex-obsessed culture makes celibacy out to be cruel, when it’s a blessing. There’s more focus on God, freedom in life, acknowledgement of attraction while still holding to biblical convictions. Intimacy isn’t only sexual; it is also experienced through lifelong friendships, supporting causes and family. The church must create an atmosphere of relational opportunities for single people. For example, if a single person is sick, hospitalized, or needs help — the church should support them through small groups, funds and other ways. Celibacy is a sacrifice for Jesus, and the church needs to prepare for that sacrifice.”

— Caleb Kaltenbach; How Should Christians Respond to Gay Friends or Family Members?

[salsa-and-light]

“However, all passages dealing with homosexuality agree that same-sex intimacy isn’t God’s design”

Not a single biblical passage says this.

The only two than even give prohibitions are From the defunct Levitical Law and even those are dubiously translated.

Not one passage in the entire Bible ever claims that that gender is a part of “God’s design for sexuality” or even that such a thing exists as a set of universal rules.

“Sexual intimacy is from God for a man and woman in the covenant of marriage. Outside of marriage, there shouldn’t be any expression of sexuality.”

Scripture also never says that.

“Our sex-obsessed culture makes celibacy out to be cruel,“

“… for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.“ - 1 Corinthians 7:9b

Celibacy is praised in scripture, but scripture also states that that’s not the ideal for everyone.

Trying to force it upon Queer people because of petty human preferences is not justified.

[itsjustcommon]

Arsenokoitai isn’t a mysterious word

“Arsenokoitai” is the Greek word Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10 to describe men who have sex with men. Anyone who maintains homosexuality isn’t a sin would tell you that this is a word that is difficult to know Paul’s intention in writing it. Except it’s pretty easy to know exactly what he meant.

This word is a word coined by Paul, that much is true, but it is made up of two words that already exist in Paul’s Greek Old Testament. Paul wants this word to act basically as a hyperlink to Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13. He achieves this by essentially quoting those passages. Here’s a handy guide I put together:

‘Arsenokoitai’ is a combination of the words ‘ársenos’ and 'koitōn’ which are literally placed next to each other in 20:13.

It’s that easy, folks.

[salsa-and-light]

This just simply does not work, for a whole host of reasons.

First and most obvious is that the word is not gendered in the Greek. The word is plural in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and it does not distinguish between male or female.

So even if you want to go with the hyper-literal translation it would not specifically reference male homoeroticism, let alone male homosexuality, let alone female homosexuality.

The literal approach is itself fundamentally flawed. Human language almost never works in purely literal terms. Compounds often have nothing to do with their component roots and even when meanings are literal in some sense it does not necessarily contain the whole story,

“Gold-digger” - this is not a literal term, it has nothing to do with digging and rarely has anything to do with gold, it’s most often used for people marrying for financial gain, typically in lieu of any genuine commitment or loyalty. 

“Bulldozer“ - this is a piece of heavy machinery, it has nothing to do with bulls, it has nothing to do with sleeping.

“Bed-Wetter“ - this term is literal, it describes a person who wets a bed. However this literal meaning does not contain the connotative meaning of this term referring to a child without serious medical complications peeing in their sleep. With only the denotations of the word you would not know that this is referring to urine, as opposed to some other liquid, children, as opposed to people more generally, or accidents, rather than intentional action. That is all something hidden in the connotations of a term.

And that’s what most historical reconstruction of language relies on: connotation and context,

There is no way to divine the meaning of an unknown word without seeing it in context.

Ignoring for a moment how flawed the literal translation method is when finding the meaning of a word, if we start with the premise that there are people(male or female) who are having sex with men in a way that is unethical.. what could that refer to⸮

It could refer to rapists, people who hire prostitutes, people cheating on their spouses, people seducing others for personal gain or manipulation.

All of these fall under the literal translation of the term.

Even with the flawed translation method you still can not claim that this word refers to Queer men, let alone homosexuals in general.

…

The idea that this term was coined by Paul is pure speculation, worse it’s a complete guess. Why Paul would be inventing novel terms based in references his audience wouldn’t know when they were already confused about doctrine I could not guess but for this particular idea to have any merit it depends on Paul making this bizarre choice.

More likely the term pre-dates Paul, hard to coin new terms and be understood by a far off audience

But even supposing such a thing were likely it still doesn’t make sense.

“Man“ and “Bed“ are incredibly common words in almost every language, the fact that they appear next to eachother is not noteworthy in any way.

Moreover you can talk about honey and the moon for hundreds of pages without ever mentioning a honeymoon. Component parts are not the same as compounds formed from them.

And this is the case in both Levitical passages.

Leviticus 20:13 gets more note because the words are “literally placed next to each other” but that’s irrelevant because the words are in completely different cases; they serve different grammatical functions. They by no stretch function as a semantic unit

…

The reason that this word (”Arsenokoitai”) is so mysterious is because there are almost no contemporary records of it. I know of a grand total of four recorded uses of this word at any point prior to the fifth century. Two of them are in the Bible, both in lists which don’t provide details, one’s a piece of wall graffiti a century later and then a century after that the term is briefly used in a church document, once again without any explanation.

The word is untranslatable barring the discovery of more archeological evidence.

Trying to force this narrative that it means homosexuals at all is baseless and trying to argue that it means homosexuality in all its forms regardless of circumstance is simply a fantasy concocted by people with questionable intent.

[itsjustcommon]

Thank you for the thoughtful refutation. I think I agree completely.

[itsjustcommon]

I no longer hold many of the beliefs expressed on this page. I'm leaving all these posts here as a record of what I believed at the time. Feel free to dm me for further clarification.

[itsjustcommon]

Addendum years later: there is some incredibly homophobic posts on this page. I had a lot of internalized homophobia to work through the last few years. I cringe so hard reading the bullshit I used to write here.

I'm married to a man now, I love him more than anything and no longer subscribe to Christianity. Jesus wont make you straight and you shouldn't want him to. Evangelicalism fucks you up man.

If you see people reblogging my old posts, know that the person who wrote them doesn't even believe them anymore.

[fierce]

[itsjustcommon]

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[theodor-kittelsen]

Gutt Paa Hvit Hest, Theodor Severin Kittelsen

https://www.wikiart.org/en/theodor-severin-kittelsen/gutt-paa-hvit-hest

[itsjustcommon]

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[pixelcoder-deactivated20211223]

“Smooth and smiling faces everywhere, but ruin in their eyes.” ― Jean-Paul Sartre - German Woodlands - Mai 2k18

[itsjustcommon]

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[alien]

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[desimonewayland]

Konstantin Somov painting portrait of Boris Snezhkovsky with Boris standing behind in Paris, circa 1936.

Paining by Konstantin Somov of Boris Snezhkovsky in profile, 1936.

MutualArt  / Wikipedia

[itsjustcommon]

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[greeneaves]

Konstantin Somov - Island of Love (1900)

[itsjustcommon]

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[iamcvn]

“The weight of the halo is heavier than most know”

Instagram @beingadp

[itsjustcommon]

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[theodor-kittelsen]

White Bear King Valemon, 1912, Theodor Severin Kittelsen

[itsjustcommon]

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[the-evil-clergyman]

Dionysus (Roman 2nd Century)

[itsjustcommon]

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[nature-travel-photography]

Winter over the skokomish river, Washington state OC (1920X2560) - Author: barrymyhoginher_ on reddit

[itsjustcommon]

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[lilavababygirl]

plant love 🌿

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[homosophy]

Herbert Tobias (1924-1982), Manfred

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[homosophy]

George Platt Lynes

Jack Fontan in doorway, 1940s

[itsjustcommon]

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