Leviticus 18:22 and Romans 1:27

LEVITICUS 18:22: “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”

ROMANS 1:26-27: “For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error.”

 

Question:

I am saddened to think that homosexuals are considered to be sinners. A relative of mine and a friend’s daughter are homosexuals, and Christians say that they will not go to heaven. I was raised Jewish and feel comfortable in Unity!

Comment:

: I believe—and pray!—that we are approaching a time when these and other biblical passages concerning homosexuality will be seen as the archaic remnants of an earlier stage of consciousness that they are. No one quotes the Bible anymore to justify the institution of slavery—although they did so in the not-so-distant past. No one quotes the Bible to justify treating women as property, intended by God to be submissive to men in all things—although they did so in the even more recent past. We have slowly come to understand that the power and importance of the Bible comes from its underlying spiritual message, not from its literal history of how life was lived in a primitive, nomadic culture thousands of years ago. Jesus himself was one of the first to call people to rise up from a literal obedience to the words and appreciate the message of scripture from a higher perspective of ever-expanding love. Let's look at both the passages you cite from that Jesus Christ perspective.

LEVITICUS 18:22: “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”

Leviticus is not the Law of God—that is pretty well covered in Ten basic Commandments. It is a detailed, meticulous interpretation of the implications of God’s Law in all areas of life—and life for the Israelites in a harsh desert climate, surrounded by enemy tribes who followed other gods, was difficult indeed. Nothing was more important than that they stay united as a tribe; their very survival depended upon it. So anything that might cause disharmony, anything that did not help the tribe to grow stronger and more numerous to stand against its enemies, was to be forbidden. Relationships at the time were not based on ‘love,’ but on necessity. People married as they were directed, to combine families into more powerful units and to produce children to help the nation grow. Homosexual relationships did not accomplish any of that and were a potential source of dissension besides. So they were forbidden, along with literally hundreds of other forms of individual behavior. And, because it was a harsh and primitive world, the punishment (imposed by the tribe, not by God) was severe—usually some form of death.

So these passages directing that “a man shall not lie with a male as with a woman” are rooted in the collective attitude of the time—just as other passages regarding the institution of slavery or the subjugation of women. They made sense in the context of the times; no one had achieved a higher spiritual consciousness that would be able to see things in a deeper and truer way. But achieving that higher consciousness is the entire point of our presence here as spiritual beings engaged in a human experience. We can’t achieve a higher consciousness—we can’t move higher in our ability to feel and express more of the infinite Love that is God—if we insist on staying locked in primitive beliefs. Jesus was one of the first to call us to come up higher. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-44). He is quoting Leviticus 19:18 and saying that it is no longer enough to fearfully hate enemies; if we are to grow in spiritual awareness, we must replace fear of ‘the other’ with love for the Oneness of all of life.

ROMANS 1:26-27: “For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error.” Metaphysically, this passage vividly describes a life in which the demands and distractions of the flesh become the only priority, and any spiritual purpose or awareness is resisted and denied. The consequences of this misplaced priority are severe. “They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice” (Romans 1:29). One of those manners of wickedness, in Paul’s evaluation, was homosexual behavior, which he saw as always licentious and thus a denial of God. Heterosexuals who live lives absorbed in lust and carnal pleasures would be equally condemned. 

Obviously, Paul would (perhaps grudgingly) acknowledge that heterosexuals could live committed, loving, sexually active lives and still be expressive of God consciousness. (He really preferred that everyone stay celibate.) He did not believe that homosexuals could live committed, loving, sexually active lives and still be expressive of God consciousness. Many people today would agree, because their impression of homosexual behavior is one of selfishness and licentiousness, totally focused on sexual gratification and totally absent any true sense of love or commitment. Are there homosexuals whose behavior would fit that description? Certainly. Are there heterosexuals whose behavior would fit that description? Certainly. They are choosing to disregard or deny the Presence, not just of God, but of a divine purpose to life. That choice will have consequences; their lives will be unhappy and unfulfilled—not because God is punishing them, but because they are refusing to allow the Love that God is to express in and through them and their relationships.

Not all heterosexuals are like that, of course; and not all homosexuals are like that, either. What separates us from God is not whom we choose to love, but a refusal to love at all—a refusal to be the Love of God in expression. Those who would use Paul’s views as a blanket condemnation—of anyone!—need to let their eyes drop down the page an inch or two to the beginning of Romans 2: “Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things.”

So if their literal meaning is archaic, what might these passages mean for us today? I think it has to do with lessons of consciousness and respect that we are still learning. The statement is that men shall not lie with men as with women. At that time, women were property, empty vessels for the sexual pleasure of men. Their role in any intimate relationship was to be submissive and insignificant. For a man to be ‘treated like a woman’ was for him to abandon his rightful role in the cosmos and assume an inferior station. It was the implied degradation that was the heart of the ‘sin.’ Today we see all beings—male and female alike—as unique expressions of the Light and Love of God. If we are to honor the level of consciousness to which Jesus Christ calls us, we must ensure that all our relationships—heterosexual, homosexual, familial, friendships—are soundly based on a recognition of spiritual equality. No one is meant to be the inferior ‘submissive.’ Every relationship, every intimacy, is to be a loving and joyful union of two creative expressions of God.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed