Sodom and Gomorrah, Which teaching is correct? Many Christians teach that the sin was that of Homosexuality.?

Question

Josephus, a Jewish historian, wrote "The Sodomites, overweeningly proud of their numbers and the extent of their wealth, showed themselves insolent to men and impious to the Divinity, insomuch that they no more remembered the benefits that they had received from him, hated foreigners and declined all intercourse with others. Indignant at this conduct, God accordingly resolved to chastise them for their arrogance." (Josephus, Antiquities I: 194-5)

Classical Jewish texts hold that they were destroyed because the inhabitants were generally depraved and uncompromisingly greedy. Rabbinic writings affirm that the primary crimes of the Sodomites were terrible and repeated economic crimes, both against each other and to outsiders.
The midrash compilation "Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer" offers a number of reasons why the Sodomites were considered evil, but again there is no mention of homosexuality.

In the Babylonian Talmud (tractate Sanhedrin 109a) Their sins had to do with cruelty and greed.

Answer 1

the lesson was more about cruelty and greed as their is no sufficient evidence of any actual homosexaul activity

Answer 2

SODOM

(Sod´om).

A city situated along the SE boundary of Canaan. (Ge 10:19; 13:12) Often mentioned along with Gomorrah, Sodom seems to have been the most prominent of five cities, all of which were apparently located at the Low Plain of Siddim. (Ge 14:2, 3) Many scholars believe that the original sites of Sodom and the other “cities of the District” now lie submerged beneath the waters of the Dead Sea, though some others recently have claimed that the ruins of the cities may be identified with sites along wadis to the E and SE of the Dead Sea.—Ge 13:12; see SALT SEA.

When Abraham and Lot decided to move farther apart, to avoid disputes among their herdsmen, Lot went eastward into the well-watered District of the Jordan and pitched his tent near Sodom. There he found that “the men of Sodom were bad and were gross sinners against Jehovah,” much to Lot’s distress. (Ge 13:5-13; 2Pe 2:7, 8) Sometime later, after a 12-year subjection to Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, the inhabitants of Sodom and the other four cities rebelled. In the following year, Chedorlaomer and his allies defeated Bera, the king of Sodom, and his confederates. Besides seizing possessions and foodstuffs, the victors took Lot and others captive.—Ge 14:1-12.

Abraham’s forces overtook Chedorlaomer and recovered the captives and booty, including Lot and his household. The king of Sodom insisted that Abraham keep the recovered material goods, but Abraham refused, lest Bera should say, “It was I who made Abram rich.”—Ge 14:13-24.

Everlasting Destruction. Sodom, however, persisted in a course in defiance of Jehovah, becoming known for such immoral practices as homosexuality. “The cry of complaint about Sodom and Gomorrah,” Jehovah declared, “yes, it is loud, and their sin, yes, it is very heavy.” God therefore sent his angels to destroy Sodom, with the assurance to Abraham that if ten righteous persons could be found in the place, the whole city would be spared.—Ge 18:16, 20-33.

The city showed it deserved destruction, for a vile mob of residents of Sodom, including boys and old men, surrounded Lot’s house, attempting to rape his angelic guests. The next day, after Lot, along with his wife and two daughters, left the city, Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by sulfur and fire. (Ge 19:1-29; Lu 17:28, 29) Thereafter Sodom and Gomorrah became a proverbial figure of utter destruction from God Almighty (De 29:23; Isa 1:9; 13:19; Jer 49:18; 50:40; La 4:6; Am 4:11; Zep 2:9; Ro 9:29) and of extreme wickedness.—De 32:32; Isa 1:10; 3:9; Jer 23:14; Eze 16:46-56; see GOMORRAH.

Jude mentions that “Sodom and Gomorrah . . . are placed before us as a warning example by undergoing the judicial punishment of everlasting fire.” This would not conflict with Jesus’ statement about a Jewish city that would reject the good news: “It will be more endurable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on Judgment Day than for that city.” Sodom and Gomorrah were everlastingly destroyed as cities, but this would not preclude a resurrection for people of those cities.—Jude 7; Mt 10:15; compare Lu 11:32; 2Pe 2:6.

“In a Spiritual Sense.” Revelation 11:3, 8 says that the corpses of God’s “two witnesses” lay in the broad way of the great city ‘called in a spiritual sense Sodom and Egypt.’ Isaiah’s prophecy (1:8-10) likens Zion or Jerusalem to Sodom and calls her rulers “dictators of Sodom.” However, about 96 C.E. when John was given the Revelation vision of events to occur in the future, the typical city of Jerusalem had been destroyed long before, in 70 C.E. The reference therefore must be to a “great city” or organization, an antitypical Jerusalem, pictured by unfaithful Jerusalem of old.

Answer 3

Read Genesis Chapters 18 and 19, preferably in the New king james version, it is easier to read but a regular translation is fine too. These chpts tell the whole story of what happened there in Sodom and Gomorrah...

Answer 4

Jude 1:7
In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

1 Corinthians 10:8
We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.

Answer 5

If you go by the bible, then guess what? It makes it very clear it was homosexuality that did it. I'd like to believe all those other reasons, but unfortunately, I gotta go by what the book says, and the strange thing to me is that Genesis is in the torah, so it seems strange to me that you're saying Jews don't believe it. If they don't believe whats in their own torah, why follow the religion at all?

Answer 6

I haven't seen you reference the infallible word of God, if you would like the true story read. Genesis chapter 19 oh by the way I am talking about the Bible.

Answer 7

That's correct. Read it thoroughly and skip the commentaries. That's how things are affirmed. If you're not convinced in your own mind, what's the point, right? You're wasting your time otherwise.

Answer 8

I would follow the teachings of the Jewish writings. The Christians has made up their own interpretation, to fit their own needs.

Answer 9

The Bible absolutely teaches ,they were depraved.They wanted to "Know" the Angels,and to "know" is" have sex with".Lot offered up his virgin daughters but they wanted the "Guys".So much so that even when the Angels smote them with blindness,they still,tried to find the door to get "some".
I'd bomb their @ss too!

Answer 10

the pseudochristian hate mongers will no doubt report this question, but at least there will be a dozen of them making themselves look like inbred morons answering it before it disappears