did you know that in old Greek of new testament time that word homosexual did not exist?

Question

there was know word meaning homosexual in old greek of the new testament times so would that mean the some homosexual praticers be ok

Answer 1

By any other name, a rose is still a rose.

Answer 2

You've only half-stated the issue. I will try to clarify it.

In biblical times, there was no framework for "sexual orientation." It is an understanding that has been reached primarily in the past 100 years.

The statements in the New Testament about same-sex behavior refer primarily to the Roman temple prostitutes. There is no way that our concept of homosexuality could exist in those days.

Now that there have been advances in science that sexual orientation is an objective trait that can be a component of a personality, the argument goes that it would make sense that such an orientation must be incorporated into the range of normal human sexuality. Therefore, the issue of sexual orientation should be eliminated from consideration as a sinful condition.

The issue gets muddy when you then try to apply the bible. Many Christians, including the Roman Catholic Church, are willing to admit that there is a homosexual orientation. However, they still insist that same-sex sexual activity is sinful. Other Christians state that with a new understanding of sexual orientation, healthy sexual expression can include homosexual expression. These Christians tend to apply heterosexual morals onto gay relationships (e.g., fidelity, etc.).

It remains a dilemma within the church, and those who speak as if it has been resolved are not aware of the nuances that are being debated across the country in a variety of religious settings.

Answer 3

Oh, there was a word for it. When the New Testament was translated into English, the word Homosexual was not one the English used or even knew. They had to explain it differently...such as "leaving the use of a woman" in order "to lay man with man and woman with woman" or the word "effeminant" meaning men who took the role of a woman with another man. Early in the US history, they were called Sodomites.

Answer 4

OK. First off I'd love to know where you got your information. I just so happened to study ancient Greek in college, and I did some checking on your "facts". There is in fact a greek word for homosexual; no you don't pronunce it 'homosexual', but that's why they call it another language. You really shouldn't listen to everything you hear and make sure you check into it for yourself before putting it out there. For reference sake you can look in 1 Cor. 6:9.

Answer 5

Sexuality as we think of it now is still a modern concept, homosexuality being even more recent. While male-male or female-female sex acts are not new, the identity is. However, if they're talking about "men lying with men," that says nothing about that identity of being a homosexual. It only talks about the action. So no, this doesn't help the gay case.

I really have to wonder why gay people put so much into a religion that speaks so poorly of them.

Answer 6

The Ancient Greeks did not believe that practicing homosexuality was wrong. They understood, though, that to carry on the human race they had to procreate. They thought that to love a man (in the case that you were a man) would be loving your equal, but they did not get hung up on it because sex was just sex for them. They had their lovers, and then they had their wives...if the Greeks were to come back and see how far homosexuality has come they would frown upon people trying to glorify it and justify it.

Answer 7

Just because they didn't have the word homosexual does not mean that God did not state that this behaviour was abhorence to Him.

Men will not lay with men or with animals as this is an abhorence to God. It is in there and it is also there when he destroyed Sodham and Gomorha, this was the behavior of the people of those towns and this is why they were destroyed. Trying to justify what God finds abhorrant is man's way of justifying what man knows to be wrong, it is not the first argument and won't be the last, just read a bit more before you jump to conclusions that the behavior is OK. please.

Answer 8

Tho the word homosexual may not actually be in the Bible,
you can't not understand what is in the Bible when it says
it is an abomination for man to lie with man. That is pretty
darn clear. The towns of Sodom and Gamorrah were destroyed
by God because all of the people there were homosexual.
Make no mistake..........it's in the Book.

Answer 9

Maybe that's because the word homosexual didn't even exist in those days!! Ever think of that?

Answer 10

They used the word "sodomite" instead. And homosexual practices were definitely not ok.

The rejection of homosexual behavior that is found in the Old Testament is well known. In Genesis 19, two angels in disguise visit the city of Sodom and are offered hospitality and shelter by Lot. During the night, the men of Sodom demand that Lot hand over his guests for homosexual intercourse. Lot refuses, and the angels blind the men of Sodom. Lot and his household escape, and the town is destroyed by fire "because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord" (Gen. 19:13).

Throughout history, Jewish and Christian scholars have recognized that one of the chief sins involved in God’s destruction of Sodom was its people’s homosexual behavior. But today, certain homosexual activists promote the idea that the sin of Sodom was merely a lack of hospitality. Although inhospitality is a sin, it is clearly the homosexual behavior of the Sodomites that is singled out for special criticism in the account of their city’s destruction. We must look to Scripture’s own interpretation of the sin of Sodom.

Jude 7 records that Sodom and Gomorrah "acted immorally and indulged in unnatural lust." Ezekiel says that Sodom committed "abominable things" (Ezek. 16:50), which could refer to homosexual and heterosexual acts of sin. Lot even offered his two virgin daughters in place of his guests, but the men of Sodom rejected the offer, preferring homosexual sex over heterosexual sex (Gen. 19:8–9). Ezekiel does allude to a lack of hospitality in saying that Sodom "did not aid the poor and needy" (Ezek. 16:49). So homosexual acts and a lack of hospitality both contributed to the destruction of Sodom, with the former being the far greater sin, the "abominable thing" that set off God’s wrath.

But the Sodom incident is not the only time the Old Testament deals with homosexuality. An explicit condemnation is found in the book of Leviticus: "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. . . . If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them" (Lev. 18:22, 20:13).
In Romans 1, Paul attributes the homosexual desires of some to a refusal to acknowledge and worship God. He says, "For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct. . . . Though they know God’s decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve those who practice them" (Rom. 1:26–28, 32).

Elsewhere Paul again warns that homosexual behavior is one of the sins that will deprive one of heaven: "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. 6:9–10, NIV).

All of Scripture teaches the unacceptability of homosexual behavior. But the rejection of this behavior is not an arbitrary prohibition. It, like other moral imperatives, is rooted in natural law—the design that God has built into human nature.
See the rest of this article at: http://www.catholic.com/library/Homosexuality.asp
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Answer 11

That's why the Bible Scriptures say men who lie with men working what is obscene and unnatural and is deserving of death, and the same with women who lie with women. We do not hate the people, only the sin. We would hope that they would change and repent as some early Christians did, call us bigots if you want, it doesn't change a thing, we must believe as God believes and hate what God hates, there can be no compromise and you only condemn yourselves.