Biblical Teaching on Sodomy and Homosexuality
The biblical teaching on sodomy and homosexuality is rooted in several key passages that address sexual immorality and the nature of human relationships. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19 is a foundational text, where the men of Sodom are described as wanting to have sexual relations with the male visitors hosted by Lot [1, 3].
In Leviticus 18:22, the law explicitly prohibits lying with a man as with a woman, describing this act as an "abomination" [2]. This prohibition is understood to condemn homosexual acts. The biblical writers often reference the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as a consequence of their sexual immorality, with Jude 1:7 stating that these cities "suffered the punishment of eternal fire" for their sins, including giving themselves over to "strange flesh" [1].
The New Testament continues this line of thought, particularly in Romans 1:26-27, where Paul describes men and women exchanging natural relations for unnatural ones, which is interpreted as a reference to homosexual acts [6, 8]. According to John Gill, this passage condemns sodomy, a sin "contrary to nature, dishonourable to human nature, and scandalous to a people and nation among whom it prevails" [8].
The biblical narrative also associates Sodom's sin with a broader range of moral failings, including pride, gluttony, laziness, and neglect of the poor and needy, as noted in Ezekiel 16:46-50 [4, 5]. Calvin's commentary on Genesis highlights that the men of Sodom were consumed by "abominable lusts" and that their actions were a manifestation of a deeper spiritual corruption [7].
The biblical teaching on sodomy and homosexuality is thus characterized by a strong condemnation of homosexual acts as being contrary to God's design for human sexuality. This understanding is consistent across various biblical passages and is reflected in the interpretations of early Christian commentators and theologians [2, 3, 6].
The historical and cultural context of these biblical teachings is also significant. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah serves as a paradigmatic example of God's judgment on sexual immorality. The biblical writers draw on this narrative to emphasize the severity of God's response to such sins [1, 3].
In Christian tradition, the interpretation of these biblical teachings has been relatively consistent, with many commentators and theologians understanding the prohibitions on homosexual acts as part of a broader call to sexual purity and faithfulness [2, 6, 8]. The Reformed tradition, for example, has emphasized the importance of adhering to God's design for human sexuality as revealed in Scripture [7].
The biblical teaching on sodomy and homosexuality remains a complex and contested issue, with different Christian traditions and interpretations continuing to engage with the scriptural texts and their implications for contemporary understanding and practice. The condemnation of homosexual acts as sinful is a view held across several Christian traditions represented in the sources, including Baptist/Reformed and Reformed perspectives [2, 6, 8].
Sources
- Jude “Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, having, in the same way as these, given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are shown as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire. -- Jude 1:7”
- Leviticus (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Leviticus 18:22: Thou shall not lie with mankind as with womankind,.... By carnal knowledge of them, and carnal copulation with them, and mixing bodies in like manner: this is the sin commonly called sodomy, from the inhabitants of Sodom, greatly addicted to it, for which their city was destroyed by fire: those that are guilty of this sin, are, by the apostle, called "abusers of themselves with mankind", Co1 6:9, it is abomination; it is so to God, as the above instance of his vengeance shows, and ought to be abominable to men, as being not only contrary to the law of God, but e”
- Jude (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Jude 1:7: 1:7 God’s judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah had become proverbial (see Gen 18:17–19:26; Luke 17:26-29). • neighboring towns: Deuteronomy 29:23 mentions Admah and Zeboiim. • Every kind of sexual perversion probably refers to homosexuality (Gen 19:5-10).”
- Ezekiel (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Ezekiel 16:46: 16:46-50 Samaria, Jerusalem’s older (or larger) sister, had practiced deviant worship ever since Jeroboam introduced golden calves into his national shrines at Dan and Bethel (1 Kgs 12:28-33). • Sodom, Jerusalem’s younger (or smaller) sister, was a byword for sexual sin (Gen 19:4-9) and for pride, gluttony, laziness, and neglect of the poor and needy.”
- Ezek (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Ezek 16:46: 16:46-50 Samaria, Jerusalem’s older (or larger) sister, had practiced deviant worship ever since Jeroboam introduced golden calves into his national shrines at Dan and Bethel (1 Kgs 12:28-33). • Sodom, Jerusalem’s younger (or smaller) sister, was a byword for sexual sin (Gen 19:4-9) and for pride, gluttony, laziness, and neglect of the poor and needy.”
- Romans (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Romans 1:26: For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections,.... Because of their idolatrous practices, God left them to very dishonourable actions, sodomitical ones, both among the men and women: for even the women did change the natural use into that which is against nature; either by prostituting themselves to, and complying with the "sodomitical" embraces of men, in a way that is against nature (h); or by making use of such ways and methods with themselves, or other women, to gratify their lusts, which were never designed by nature for such an use: of these vicious wom”
- CCEL (Reformed) “Calvin, Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 1 (Gen 1-23), section 23.8: a state of blindness, that they gave themselves up to abominable lusts, and dishonored their own bodies. ( Romans 1:18 .) But when the sense of shame is overcome, and the reins are given to lust, a vile and outrageous barbarism necessarily succeeds, and many kinds of sin are blended together, so that a most confused chaos is the result. But if this severe vengeance of God so fell upon the men of Sodom, that they became blind with rage, and prostituted themselves to all kinds of crime, certainly we shall scarcely be more mildly tre”
- Romans (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Romans 1:27: And likewise also the men leaving the natural use of the women,.... The very sin of "sodomy" is here designed, so called from Sodom, the place where we first hear of it, Gen 19:5, the men of which place, because they burned in their lust one towards another, as these Gentiles are said to do, God rained upon them fire and brimstone from heaven: an exceeding great sin this is, contrary to nature, dishonourable to human nature, and scandalous to a people and nation among whom it prevails, as it did very much in the Gentile world, and among their greatest philosophers; ”