The New Testament in the original Greek does not speak against
Gay, Lesbian, Bi or Transgender people. Yes, many Christians believe it
does, but then again many people believe there were three wise men who
visited Jesus as a baby and gave him three gifts. Just look at all the
nativity scenes! Yet no Bible version states there were 3 wise men, or
that they visited Jesus as baby, or that there were 3 gifts. Rather, all
Bible versions state there were three types of gifts, and do not
mention the number of "wise men" who did in fact travel in large groups
with cavalry for protection. All Bible versions state that they visited
Jesus in a house, and history tells us that Jesus was just under two
years old at the time.
When the Bible was first translated from the original languages into English in 1537, the knowledge of Greek word meaning was quite limited. There was no real advance until the early 1900s, but the significant advances in Greek word meaning came after 1976. The meaning of numerous words which appeared in the New Testament then became known for the first time. This information was published in scholarly academic secular journals but has not yet made its way significantly into lexicons (dictionaries). The major documentary lexicon project on New Testament words is still many years from completion. Bible translators have had to rely on outdated lexicons for their word meanings.
There is in fact no textual basis in the Bible for the exclusion of same sex relations. People who quote Bible passages which appear to be against gay people are quoting English mistranslations of the original languages- the Bible was not written in English.
Context has also been ignored. It was common belief of the time (and spoken of in the book of Jude) that Sodom was destroyed as certain angels disobeyed God in coming to earth and having sex with human women. Those Biblical passages said to be against gay and lesbian people were actually not even about relationships between humans at all: rather, they were about relationships between humans and angels.
When the Bible was first translated from the original languages into English in 1537, the knowledge of Greek word meaning was quite limited. There was no real advance until the early 1900s, but the significant advances in Greek word meaning came after 1976. The meaning of numerous words which appeared in the New Testament then became known for the first time. This information was published in scholarly academic secular journals but has not yet made its way significantly into lexicons (dictionaries). The major documentary lexicon project on New Testament words is still many years from completion. Bible translators have had to rely on outdated lexicons for their word meanings.
There is in fact no textual basis in the Bible for the exclusion of same sex relations. People who quote Bible passages which appear to be against gay people are quoting English mistranslations of the original languages- the Bible was not written in English.
Context has also been ignored. It was common belief of the time (and spoken of in the book of Jude) that Sodom was destroyed as certain angels disobeyed God in coming to earth and having sex with human women. Those Biblical passages said to be against gay and lesbian people were actually not even about relationships between humans at all: rather, they were about relationships between humans and angels.
Dr. Ann Nyland is an ancient Greek language scholar and lexicographer known as the translator of The Source New Testament. Her research field is word meaning from New Testament times. You can find information about the world's first (and only) Study New Testament for Gays Lesbians Bi and Transgender at [http://www.gayandlesbianbible.com]
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