Before 20 Years Ago: Doesn’t the Bible Say that Gay People are Going to Hell?

Blog Post 12

Doesn’t the New Testament say gay people won’t inherit the kingdom of God—and that some of them changed from being gay?

I Corinthians 6:9, I Timothy 1:10

These two passages include lists of people who “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9) or who are “lawbreakers” (1 Timothy 1:10).  In most Bible translations we see“homosexuals” or some version of the word included on the lists.  Many people have concluded on this basis that gay people (at least those who are in a marriage or other relationship that includes sex) are going to hell or that they are at least living in a way that displeases God.  Some who read these passages also conclude that gay people can become heterosexual since the I Corinthians passage goes on to say that some of the people on the list had been changed through Christ.

The problem with this interpretation is that it is based on a very questionable translation of two crucial words. In fact, many biblical scholars are convinced that the common translations are simply wrong, and I find the case for this conclusion very compelling.

These passages (and the entire New Testament) were originally written in Greek.   The two Greek words that some versions of the Bible translate as “homosexuals” or something similar are very difficult to translate.  The reason is that one of the words (malakoi) is common but has several possible meanings, and the other word (arsenokoitai) is very uncommon and difficult to find in other literature of the time.  Furthermore, since the words appear on lists, it is difficult to tell from the context what they might mean.  By the way, arsenokoitai appears on both lists, and malakoi appears only on the 1 Corinthians list.

Because of this difficulty, translators (who are apparently not allowed to leave blanks) have translated the words in a variety of ways.  Here are some examples of translations of the words in 1 Corinthians 6:9.  Note that in some translations the two words are translated together as one word:

  • “effeminate . . . abusers of themselves with mankind” (King James Version)
  • “homosexuals” (New King James Version)
  • “male prostitutes and homosexual offenders” (New International Version 1973)
  • “men who have sex with men” with a footnote saying, “The words men who have sex with men translate two Greek words that refer to the passive and active participants in homosexual acts” (New International Version 2011)
  • “sexual perverts” (Revised Standard Version 1971).

It’s true that the two Greek words seem to refer to some sort of same-sex sexual acts, but what sort of acts? Many astute Bible scholars now believe (based on studies of other literature and art from the ancient Greek-Roman world) that these words do not refer to healthy, loving gay relationships as we know them today. Rather, these words refer to specific kinds of same-sex sexual relationships that were common in the ancient Greek-Roman world, such as a practice called pederasty (older men taking boys as sex partners), prostitution, or sex with slaves—all practices that nearly everyone would condemn among heterosexual people as well as gay people. 

We will conclude our study of 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10 in the next post.

Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.

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