The Bible is a central cornerstone to Christian faith and therefore it would be impossible to write this blog without having at least one post dedicated to the relationship between the bible, lesbians and Christianity. I am going to try to keep this as brief and as positive as possible, however, if you wish to explore more, including the negative uses of the bible towards lesbians, there are many good books and websites out there dedicated to the Bible and LGBT issues.
The simply titled website, www.wouldjesusdiscriminate.org, contains a simple discussion about one of the only two books that centre around women in the bible, the book of Ruth. The book of Ruth contains a speech from Ruth to Naomi, detailing Ruth's devotion and love to Naomi. Many scholars have claimed that the language used in this speech echos that of the language used to describe Adam and Eves love. Some scholars have even claimed the Bible appears to be celebrating the love between the two women who have lived together as a couple. Could this be an example of Christianity accepting, even praising, lesbian relationships?
Kathy Baldock is affiliated with the Affirming Christian Network, and has produced this video discussing the bible and homosexuality, although not specifically about lesbians, i feel it explains the Bible in a way many have not heard before...
Kathys video explains many of the Biblical quotes commonly used to condemn homosexuality in the Bible, if you want to learn more about this, there is an in depth discussion of the bible following her video, which you can find here.
By saying that some quotes in the bible could be accepting the concept of homosexuality, doesnt it just prove the point that so called issues outlined in the bible are all down to personal interpretation?
ReplyDeleteJoanna, it has been a long never ending debate of if the Bible is open to personal interpretation. Many Christians argue that we should apply the messages within the Bible to the modern day and use personal interpretation to apply the teachings within the Bible to our lives, whereas others believe that the Bible should not be interpreted in any other way than the original interpretations,"Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation." (2 Peter 1:20) and that we should only focus on what the Bible and the Church(es) themselves teach. Unfortunately, the issue of personal interpretation falls to the individual and their perspective of the Bible and it is no different in relation to homosexuality and the Bible.
DeleteSo if it is all down to personal interpretation, surely we can argue that the churches it are using it against homosexuality as thats it their personal interpretation of it? which therefore would come under human rights discrimination laws within the EU.
ReplyDelete