There is one point I would like to raise, from a more academic viewpoint. Paul did not invent the word arsenokoitai. He got it from the Greek translation (called the Septuagint) of Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13.

Aresenokoites is the literal Greek translation of the Hebrew phrase “zakhar mishkevei” that appears in those two verses.

For some reason this is not widely recognized but the two words “arseno koites” definitely do occur together in the Septuagint of Lev 18:22 and Lev 20:12.

What that means for interpretation is up for debate. Personally I think Paul misunderstood the original phrase, and that it had commonly been misinterpreted for at least 400 years. In Greek, it definitely means “man beds.”

But in Hebrew, both of the two words are ambiguous. Zakhar tends to mean a “sacred male” – consecrated for some purpose, like a priest, an animal about to be slaughtered, or a soldier who may also be about to be slaughtered. Mishkevei is a gerund that means “lyings” – places of lying down. Besides the two occurrences in the Leviticus clobber passages, various forms of the word mishkevei occur 44 times in the Old Testament, and every single time it means “bed.” Well, except for the clobber passages. There, it is traditionally interpreted as a euphemism for “have sex with.”

In my opinion, it should not be intepreted differently in Leviticus just so that there is ONE plausible anti-gay statement in the entire OT. Instead it should be read as bed, which is what it means everywhere else. (the “m” at the beginning of a gerund usually but not always means a “place”)

So this ambiguity leads to several different more literal readings of the Leviticus phrase. It could mean either

Thou shalt not lie with priest like a woman does. or
Thou shalt not lie with a man in a woman’s bed. or
Thou shalt not lie with a priest in a woman’s bed…

The bottom line for me is that this is the ONLY phrase in the entire OT that has a plausible anti-gay message, and we have to read it as an obscure and ungrammatical euphemism in order to get it to be anti-gay.

In Hebrew, it is not Paul reads it as a euphemism for

Roger is indeed alive and well, although both the growth of PCA and life in general have kept him hopping busy for some time. I am an ordained minister with the PCA, by the way, but not on the Leadership Council nor do I hold any position other than that of Minister.

If you are interested in information, I suggest that there are two paths to follow.

1. There are a couple of very active PCA Facebook pages. If you search Facebook for “Progressive Christian Alliance” you should have no problem finding them, and connecting with many people who are involved with the PCA.

2. Email info@progressivechristianalliance.org for more information.

Blessings.

Tony

I just found this so forgive the late response. With all due respect, why publish your findings, to then end with “we pretty much already know what the other person is going to say.”

I am gay, so don’t assume anything about me. However my position is the same. The sins mentioned, whether they are related to idol worship or not, are still pointed out as sin. To use your logic, as the other readers pointed out, would be completely irrational. They are respectfully asking for an answer to that. Take the gay out of the equation, and follow your logic regarding the other sins mentioned in Romans. You put yourself out there with your study, and the counter positions deserve and answer; and one that makes sense.