Homosexuality and Transgenderism
A Short Summary of the Biblical Prohibitions against Homosexual Behaviour
Today marks the beginning of Pride month, and so it’s probably an apt time to make good on my promise to write about transgenderism. If you haven’t read it yet, you can check out my preliminary post here for some important definitions.
For this series on transgenderism, I want to examine various aspects of the issue, and it will be helpful to begin by reviewing what the Bible says about homosexual behaviour. Why start here? Well, homosexuality is a familiar topic for Christians, and as it turns out, it applies to most trans people. In 2015, the National Center for Transgender Equality conducted a survey on transgender people in the United States. The survey found that 69% of trans “women” (i.e., biological males) describe their sexual orientation as bisexual, gay/lesbian, pansexual, or queer. These are men who are sexually attracted to other men, or are at least open to romantic/sexual relationships with other men. The same can be said, mutatis mutandis, of the 65% of trans “men” (i.e., biological females), who also describe their sexual orientation in the same terms. Given that a majority of trans people (at least in America) are same-sex attracted or open to same-sex relationships, discussing the biblical view on homosexuality is quite relevant.
Romans and Genesis
So then, what does the Bible say about homosexuality?[1] One of the key NT passages is in Paul’s letter to the Romans, where he discusses how people have turned away from God and toward idolatry, and as a result God gave them up to their base desires. Paul writes:
[They] exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images [eikonos] resembling [homoomati] mortal man [anthropou] and birds [peteinon] and animals and creeping things [herpeton]. . . . For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women [“females,” theleiai] exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men [“males,” arsenes] likewise gave up natural relations with women [theleiais] and were consumed with passion for one another, men [arsenes] committing shameless acts with men [arsesin] and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” (Rom. 1:23, 26–27, ESV)
In writing this, Paul had the creation account of Genesis in mind, which says:
Then God said, “Let us make man [anthropon] in our image [eikona], after our likeness [homoiosin]. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds [peteinon] of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing [herpeton] that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male [arsen] and female [thelu] he created them. (Gen. 1:26–27, ESV)
As you can see from the parenthetical information, Paul deliberately uses the same vocabulary as the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT). The idea, then, is that homosexual sex (as with idolatry) is a violation of God’s original design for creation, and is therefore, a sin. Also, because it’s a matter of violating the general created order, the sinfulness of gay sex is not a matter of particular context (e.g., it is not prohibited only in coerced or exploitative instances).
1 Corinthians and Leviticus
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul also includes those who practice homosexuality in a list of sinners:
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate [malakoi], nor homosexuals [arsenokoitai; see also 1 Tim. 1:10], nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Cor. 6:9–10, NASB)[2]
The two important terms here are arsenokoitai and malakoi. Arsenokoite is a neologism by Paul, which refers to a male who sleeps with other males. It’s a combination of two words from the following OT prohibitions against homosexual sex:
“You shall not lie [koiten] with a male [arsenos] as with a woman; it is an abomination.” (Lev. 18:22, ESV)
“If a man lies [koiten] with a male [arsenos] as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.”(Lev. 20:13, ESV)
As for malakoi, the term literally means “soft men.” It connotes effeminate men who, by their behaviour, blur the distinction between the sexes. A malakos is a man who talks like a woman, appears or dresses like a woman, or behaves like a woman. In many cases, as in the 1 Corinthians passage, a malakos is someone who has sex like a woman. So, then, Paul’s usage of both arsenokoites and malakoi can be taken to refer to both partners (active and passive, respectively) engaged in gay sex.
More Transgender Behaviours
We can count homosexual romance/sex as a subset of transgender behaviour, but not all trans people engage in such behaviour. While the majority of trans people have homosexual inclinations or are open to homosexual romance/sex, there is still a minority who describe themselves as heterosexual—19% of trans “women” (i.e., males), and 23% of trans “men,” (i.e., females). There are other behaviours associated with trans people that aren’t concerned with homosexual romance/sex, but I believe that what the Bible says has implications for those as well. More on those to come.
[1] Note that the Bible explicitly prohibits homosexual behaviour (gay sex, in particular), over which a person has direct control—you can choose whether or not to engage in it. It doesn’t speak so much about homosexual attraction, which isn’t necessarily sinful (in the sense of being blameworthy). If such desire is the product of genetics, a traumatic experience, or anything else outside of one’s control, then such attraction isn’t sinful (but to act upon such desire would be).
[2] Also, please keep in mind that Paul continues by writing, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (v.11). Salvation is for all kinds of sinners who repent and confess Jesus as Lord!
Excellent exegesis, brother. I had never made the connection between Romans 1 and Genesis 1. I simply never thought to compare the Greek with the LXX. So what Paul is saying is that instead of bearing God’s image faithfully by worshipping Him and resembling Him, man has rejected God and worshipped idols resembling the things God has made. Secondarily, man is supposed to rule over those things that God had made, yet he has made himself subordinate to those things by worshipping idols of them. As a result, God gave them over to their debased passions, including homosexual activity.
This totally destroys the argumentation from some who try to argue for the legitimacy of some forms of gay sex in the eyes of God by claiming that Paul simply wasn’t aware of any “legitimate” or “monogamous” same-sex union in his day. Sorry, no way — Paul goes all the back to Genesis 1 in order to explain same-sex activity, and that too as a judgement by God, not a provision by Him. Game over! You don’t need to appeal even to the 1 Corinthians or Leviticus passages to argue that *all* same-sex intercourse is a sin.
Love this stuff! Thanks for writing on this, brother!