**Content Warning:** Sex, Misogyny, Homophobia, Suicide, Rape
Introduction
Here we are at last, My final part to this topic of sex and sexuality in the bible. If you didn’t read the previous part I would encourage you to go back and read it to get a small crash course in the Mesopotamian and old testament views on sex. This is a little commentary and reaction on the “Data vs Dogma” Podcast hosted by Dan McClellan and Dan Beecher. Dr. McClellan is a Scholar of Bible and Religion. Though I do draw from some of the theological points from the “Unbelief” podcast hosted by Pastor Jeremy Steele as well.
Today we are covering the Greco-Roman views on Sex and sexuality as well as the New Testament authors, Primarily Paul.
I wanted to take a moment to say that this blog is barely scratching the surface on the complex thought within non-Christian ideas of sex and sexuality in this time period. I wanted my focus to be on New Testament thought.
The Greco-Roman and Jewish View of Sex and Sexuality
As always with discussing the bible, to speak on it without including cultural or historical context is to wade through it blind. For the sake of length I am going to breeze over the broad view of the Greco-Roman view on sex and focus in on the philosophies that influenced St. Paul. We will also briefly touch on the Jewish views as well.
Just to remind everyone, Sex in this time period was not about a loving reciprocal relationship. It was about the domination of one individual over the other. Typically men over women, or slaves and young boys of a lower class than theirs.
Lets start with Judaism in this time period (First century CE). According to Dr. McClellan (Who is referencing Philo of Alexandria), Sex was only for the purpose of procreation. Because of this belief, male and female same sex intercourse was seen as problematic at best. Outside of procreation, sex was seen as something negative.
On the Greco-Roman side of things, we are going to focus on a couple philosophical belief systems. Namely Stoicism and Platonism. While each vary wildly in scope and personal application, they both see sex as a lowly urge that got in the way of higher ideals. Celibacy was seen as a way conquering of that baser passion.
Jesus’ Opinions on Sexuality
It is interesting to devote a segment to Jesus’ ideas on sex because nowhere in the gospels does he talk about sex or sexuality. Not even in Matthew 19, in which he is talking specifically about the legality of divorce. In that chapter at the very end he muses about celibacy being the highest ideal one can achieve, but that it is something to much to ask of most.
As a spiritual individual that still cares about the ideology of Jesus, it is certainly telling how little he cared about sex and sexuality. If he did say anything about it, none of it survived the test of time. Not once is it even mentioned in any of the four gospels. It seems he had far more important things on his mind like wealth inequality and religious oppression.
Paul’s Opinions on Sexuality
Paul is an interesting case for conservative Christians to continually wield against their sexual enemies considering that Paul was unmarried and celibate his entire life. He was convinced that Jesus would return in his own lifetime so he encouraged that all Christians should remain celibate because of the inevitable return of Christ.
Paul preaches, however, that if you could not keep in control of your passions then it was okay to get married so that you could have sex. But since he believed the imminent return of Christ was coming, no Christian should have children so the idea of sex for procreation was also out. Sex for Paul was simply a prophylactic act for the man, and the women were simply the receptacle of that urge.
Now, considering this background, it is interesting for him to have (even though they did not understand sexuality like we do today) rebuked same sex intercourse in Romans 1:24-27. (Though its likely he is talking more vaguely than that and more about rape) However, it is ripped out of context. Romans chapter 1 is a pretext to the very next chapter in which he rebukes those who hold others in judgement (Romans 2:1-5).
This is not to say that he didn’t legitimately view it as sinful, but that it was a footnote in a long list of things he considered to be unnatural that all humanity was guilty of. And remember, he viewed all sex (Passionate Sex) as sinful.
Later in romans, he discusses the nature of sin as an individualized experience. Romans 14 discusses how what may be natural for one may not be for another so do not cause each other to stumble.
I assure you that LGBTQ folks feel quite natural in their relationships and to force them into relationships they are uncomfortable with is quite the stumbling block. The “Unbelief” Podcast episode “Romans: The Book That’s Been Misused for Centuries,” spends a good deal of time on this topic. The Interviewed Authors of that episode conclude that Paul is trying to argue that unity within the church does not necessitate complete agreement.
This is another important note about the reading of the book of romans. Scholarship and Theologians alike largely agree that Romans is written in the form of a Socratic debate. In which a single author writes in two or more different voices in disagreement with each other so that they can present their full argument.
Some Personal Revelations about Evangelicalism
I’ve always wondered where Christianity got their strange and unhealthy view on sex and it seems to come almost exclusively from Paul. Even when I was entrenched in evangelicalism, I always wondered why it seemed that Paul was so often put on a higher pedestal than Jesus himself. They would never say such a thing, but they often put so much emphasis on Paul’s teachings rather than Jesus.
It is also interesting because Paul is clearly influenced by the gentile philosophies on sex and the material world as well. Both Stoicism and Platonism believe that the material world is inherently corrupted or inferior in some way to the immaterial world. If the fundamentalist view of the bible is correct, It is interesting that God would let outside gentile philosophies into the holy book.
This would certainly explain the obsession with Christianity’s obsession with a “broken” world. That it is a lost cause, something to be abandoned, or that we are simply passing through this world. Furthermore it is a contradiction of the God in Genesis who declares his world good.
Citation needed: but I am fairly certain that Judaism still considers the world a sacred creation of God worth protecting and stewarding with reverence. Which to me is a beautiful sentiment and I would completely agree.
A Plea to Evangelicals
I hope this little two-parter at the very least shows that the topic at hand is far more complicated than how it might seem on the surface. These people, while wise and deeply spiritual, existed in a time and place that is unfathomable to all of us. They were writing letters to spiritual collectives that were experiencing their own niche problems, and to superimpose our contemporary lives onto the text can be extremely dangerous for so many people. Primarily LGBTQ folks in this case.
We have already negotiated out the values of slavery from the bible, it is long since time that the same is done for the other views that put people to shame and death. Yes, It is death. According to the Trevor project: LGBTQ people are twice as likely to kill themselves if they are rejected from their families and communities based on religious values.
We do not see the world in the same way as those esteemed ancient writers, they did not think in ways of homosexuality or heterosexuality. Sex was about domination, male urges, and hierarchy in the old testament. In the new testament sex is an inconvenience, to be done without passion or pleasure.
We are already far beyond those ideas. It is only a question of whether you recognize that within yourself or not. If you read all of this and still believe that the biblical account of sex is not contradictory or wrong, I hope you at least stick around for the other topics coming up.
Parting Words
As always, I am no expert. I am a Hobbyist scholar and theologian who draws his ideas from better men and women more capable than I am. This is why I list my resources so you can get the full context for yourself and draw your own conclusions.
Exciting update for myself though: I am considering (and my wife is encouraging me) to jump back into academia for either theology or biblical/historical scholarship. We will see if we can scrounge up enough money!
Resources
“Data over Dogma” – Hosted by Dr. Dan McClellan and Dan Beecher
“Unbelief” – Hosted by Pastor Jeremy Steele
