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History pretty much gets rid of the statements that Paul couldn't understand same sex unions, love since these things had been going on since the beginning of recorded history in many countries.
I listed snippets from many pages of the history of Homosexuality and Christianity, which shows that the authors of the Bible, that is inspired by God, would have understood love and marriage. They would have known and understood homosexual love, marriage and same sex unions since they were going on in their time and before. So using that reasoning doesn't really hold up, when looked at through the eyes of history.
Prior to the rise of Christianity, homosexuality had been, quite often, an acceptable expression of sexuality, in ancient Rome and ancient Greece. There is evidence that same sex unions have occurred since the beginning of recorded history in Egypt, China, Greece, Rome and Japan. [2] Famous lovers include the Egyptian couple Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum and the Greek couple Harmodius and Aristogiton. The first recorded use of the word "marriage" for same-sex couples occurs during the Roman Empire.[citation needed] A number of marriages are recorded to have taken place during this period. [3]
The rise of Christianity changed attitudes to same-sex unions and led to the persecution of gays and the rise of homophobia.[citation needed] In the year 342, the Christian emperors Constantius II and Constans declared that same-sex marriage to be illegal.[4] In the year 390, the Christian emperors Valentinian II, Theodosius I and Arcadius declared homosexual sex to be illegal and those who were guilty of it were condemned to be publicly burned alive. [5] The Christian emperor Justinian (527-565) made homosexuals a scape goat for problems such as "famines, earthquakes, and pestilences." [6]
The surviving writings of the Church Fathers about homosexual behavior declare its sinful nature. [1]. In his fourth homily on Romans [2], St. John Chrysostom argued in the fourth century that homosexual acts are worse than murder and so degrading that they constitute a kind of punishment in itself, and that enjoyment of such acts actually makes them worse, "for suppose I were to see a person running naked, with his body all besmeared with mire, and yet not covering himself, but exulting in it, I should not rejoice with him, but should rather bewail that he did not even perceive that he was doing shamefully." He also said:
After a long hiatus marked by censorship of homosexual themes,[15] modern historians picked up the thread, starting with Erich Bethe in 1907 and continuing with K. J. Dover and many others. These scholars have shown that same-sex relations were openly practiced, largely with official sanction, in many areas of life from the 7th century BC until the Roman era.
Empire
Though perhaps not the originator of the practice, the emperor Nero appears to have been the first Roman emperor to marry a male. According to Edward Gibbon, writing in 1776, of the first twelve emperors only Claudius was exclusively involved with women. All others took either boys or men as lovers.[1] The fact that Claudius had no male lovers actually drew criticism from Suetonius.
Moral opinions
With the arrival of Christianity, all kinds of same-sex love became increasingly taboo. In 390, the first law banning same-sex love was enacted, making it punishable by death.[18]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Christianity_and_homosexuality
I used the above site because all the information was together, and don't believe that anyone who really wants to see if the information listed above is correct will have any problem doing that from other sites.
I listed snippets from many pages of the history of Homosexuality and Christianity, which shows that the authors of the Bible, that is inspired by God, would have understood love and marriage. They would have known and understood homosexual love, marriage and same sex unions since they were going on in their time and before. So using that reasoning doesn't really hold up, when looked at through the eyes of history.
Prior to the rise of Christianity, homosexuality had been, quite often, an acceptable expression of sexuality, in ancient Rome and ancient Greece. There is evidence that same sex unions have occurred since the beginning of recorded history in Egypt, China, Greece, Rome and Japan. [2] Famous lovers include the Egyptian couple Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum and the Greek couple Harmodius and Aristogiton. The first recorded use of the word "marriage" for same-sex couples occurs during the Roman Empire.[citation needed] A number of marriages are recorded to have taken place during this period. [3]
The rise of Christianity changed attitudes to same-sex unions and led to the persecution of gays and the rise of homophobia.[citation needed] In the year 342, the Christian emperors Constantius II and Constans declared that same-sex marriage to be illegal.[4] In the year 390, the Christian emperors Valentinian II, Theodosius I and Arcadius declared homosexual sex to be illegal and those who were guilty of it were condemned to be publicly burned alive. [5] The Christian emperor Justinian (527-565) made homosexuals a scape goat for problems such as "famines, earthquakes, and pestilences." [6]
The surviving writings of the Church Fathers about homosexual behavior declare its sinful nature. [1]. In his fourth homily on Romans [2], St. John Chrysostom argued in the fourth century that homosexual acts are worse than murder and so degrading that they constitute a kind of punishment in itself, and that enjoyment of such acts actually makes them worse, "for suppose I were to see a person running naked, with his body all besmeared with mire, and yet not covering himself, but exulting in it, I should not rejoice with him, but should rather bewail that he did not even perceive that he was doing shamefully." He also said:
But nothing can there be more worthless than a man who has pandered himself. For not the soul only, but the body also of one who hath been so treated, is disgraced, and deserves to be driven out everywhere.
Homosexuality in ancient Greece
In classical antiquity, writers such as Herodotus,[1] Plato,[2] Xenophon,[3] Athenaeus[4] and many others explored aspects of same-sex love in ancient Greece. The most widespread and socially significant form of close same-sex sexual relations in ancient Greece was between adult men and adolescent boys, known as pederasty. (It is important to note, however, that marriages in Ancient Greece between men and women were also age structured, with men in their 30s commonly taking wives in their early teens.) It is unclear how such relations between women were regarded in the general society, but examples do exist as far back as the time of Sappho.[5]Homosexuality in ancient Greece
After a long hiatus marked by censorship of homosexual themes,[15] modern historians picked up the thread, starting with Erich Bethe in 1907 and continuing with K. J. Dover and many others. These scholars have shown that same-sex relations were openly practiced, largely with official sanction, in many areas of life from the 7th century BC until the Roman era.
Empire
Though perhaps not the originator of the practice, the emperor Nero appears to have been the first Roman emperor to marry a male. According to Edward Gibbon, writing in 1776, of the first twelve emperors only Claudius was exclusively involved with women. All others took either boys or men as lovers.[1] The fact that Claudius had no male lovers actually drew criticism from Suetonius.
Moral opinions
With the arrival of Christianity, all kinds of same-sex love became increasingly taboo. In 390, the first law banning same-sex love was enacted, making it punishable by death.[18]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Christianity_and_homosexuality
I used the above site because all the information was together, and don't believe that anyone who really wants to see if the information listed above is correct will have any problem doing that from other sites.
