In the original Greek, the phrase for “vile affliction” áthlia thlípsi does not mean "
passions" or "
lust" as people experienced in normal, day-to-day living -- the type of emotion that one encounters in a marriage or sexually active relationship. It refers to the
"frenzied state of mind that many ancient mystery cults induced in worshipers by means of wine, drugs and music."
“natural” Paul specifically used the Greek word paraphysin - agreeing with the true self, not to go against the laws of nature. If Paul had meant ‘go against the law of nature’ he would have said ενάντια στο νόμο. So Paul is saying that the acts being engaged in were against the nature of that person.
Please remember that the society Paul is writing to, both Roman and Greek, considered homosexuality be natural. It was considered to be just the way some people are. What would have been seen as unnatural for Paul’s audience would have been to force oneself to go against one’s own nature and pretend to be something one is not. This going against one’s nature in pursuit of sex is referred to as being unnatural by many writers of the era.
Later in
Romans 11:24 Paul uses paraphysin again where he describes God engaging in uncharacteristic ways. If you want to read
Romans 1:27 as people acting against the laws of nature then in
Romans 11:24 God would also be acting ageist the laws of nature… Which is impossible.
Romans 1:27 about women with a heterosexual orientation, who had previously engaged in only heterosexual sex, who had "exchanged" their normal/inborn orientation for same-sex activities. That is, they deviated from their heterosexual orientation and engaged in sexual behavior with other women. Similarly, he describes men with a heterosexual orientation who had "abandoned" their normal/inborn behaviors and engaged in same-sex activities. In both cases, he is describing individuals with a heterosexual orientation, who were engaging in same-sex behavior -- in violation of their natural desires.
Romans 1:26-27 is a condemnation of being untrue to yourself. it is a pretty damming condemnation of ex-gay ministries
the claim it is a condemnation of homosexuality is pretty modern and is not supported in any way. it all boils down to the translation of a single word. 'arsenokoites'. For most of the history of Christianity arsenokoites was translated to mean masturbation, the most recent bible to make this translation was 1968.
Historically it has also been translated to mean kidnappers, prostitutes, practitioners of other religions, rapists and fathers who sexually molest their daughters.
The claim that arsenokoites means homosexual is made by maintaining that the meaning of this compound word is derived from the meaning of its two root words: arseno (man or men) and koitai (bed). This approach is linguistically invalid. Deconstructing compounds is difficult no matter what language one uses. One can’t just define a compound word by taking it apart, getting the meanings of its component parts, and then assuming, with no supporting evidence, that the meaning of the longer word is a simple combination of its component parts. To "understand" does not mean to "stand under." In fact, nothing about the meaning of understand has anything to do with standing or being under anything. In the same way 'butterfly' doesn't mean levitating dairy products or pineapple is not an apple or in any way an evergreen plant
This phenomenon of language is sometimes even more obvious with terms that designate social roles, since the nature of the roles themselves often changes over time and becomes separated from any original reference. None of us, for example, takes the word "chairman" to mean a man who sits in a chair. Butterball is not a game ball made of butter. And so on.
Therefore a claim that the translation of arsenokoites that is derived solely from its components are indefensible. Using this method it would be equally valid to claim that when using the word arsenokoites Paul was condemning the lazy or even the bed making industry.
there have been found just over 90 uses of the word arsenokoites in the writings of Paul's contemporaries and not one of them can be construed to man homosexual.
CHristian forms lists this passage as: "as knowing this, that law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and unruly, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,"
Jude 1:7 refers to "strange flesh"
Strange flesh is clearly defined in Gen 6. Here we read of a time when the angles or "sons of God" cohabited with the "daughters of man", resulting in a strange progeny called in the Hebrew "nephilim”.
Strange flesh refers to sexual activity between angels and humans and condemned because it is concourse between two distinct orders of creation.
