Biblical Misinterpretations: In the Beginning

While I don’t plan on doing this series in the order in which these passages appear in the Bible, I did find it fitting to start with Genesis and the misunderstanding of the story of Adam and Eve as reason for why same sex relationships are wrong. As many of you have might know, it was Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve and that is why same-sex attraction is wrong. Since we have established that as the truth ipso facto, there is no reason to continue. Ugh, gag me. I hate when people try to pull that one. If ever you wanted to sound like an uneducated person or a second grader, that is a sure way to do it. To dumb down Genesis like that is as offensive as it is absolutely wrong.
Before I go in to explaining why these thirst two chapters of Genesis speak about loving, committed monogamous relationships, we must first establish what the first two chapters in the Books of Genesis are. To do this, I will be using the theories of Joseph Campbell and his main body of work “The Power of Myth.” Applying the word ‘myth’ to anything in the Bible is not a snub to it but merely a literary means of classifying a type of story found in the Bible; it gives the reader a frame work to begin dissecting the text. When Greeks and Romans heard stories like that of the Judgement of Paris, they did not believe it was a story of historical non-fiction. According to Campbell, stories like those we now read in literature classes were a means by which morally acceptable behavior was learned and passed on to younger generations. Since the books now part of the Bible were not written in a cultural vacuum, this tradition would not have been lost on the author of Genesis. Following the model of Campbell, one of the many lenses with which we can examine the first two chapters of Genesis would be to look at it as a myth of creation (NOT Creationism).
So now that we have established what the first two chapters of Genesis is, it is time to dissect the words. Let’s look at the second story of creation because it was the first one written. English lacks the depth and complexities which a language like Hebrew has. In 2:7 we are told that God creates man. That is how it reads in english; however, there is a rich play on Hebrew words here. The word adam means ‘man,’ as in human. It sounds very much like the Hebrew word adama, meaning ‘ground,’ since God created humans from the clay of earth in this story. At this point, the human which God has created is neither male nor female in Hebrew, it is merely an androgynous being (literally soul). Skip down to verse 18 where it reads “The Lord God said: “It is not good for the (hu)man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him.” Again, in the Hebrew, the pronoun used has no gender and the word “partner” can literally be translated as ‘help-mate.’ So God takes a rib from adam and creates a suitable partner for the first human. It is at 2:23 that we have the first use of gender specifying words in Hebrew; it is a play on similar sounding words ishsha (woman) and ishah (her man, her husband). When we read the end of verse 24, we see that the ‘two become one body.’ The Hebrew writer here is stressing that this union is willed by God.
When God creates the first human, that adam is lonely; all of God’s creation is grandiose and wonderful, but none of it gazes back with true love and passion and equality. God, seeing this loneliness provides adam with a partner who looks on ishah the same way ishah looks upon ishsha. When God explains the reasoning for creating a partner, God does not say that this partner is for procreation only; we are not like the other animals for our partner is for companionship. The “be fruitful and multiply” verse is found in the first story of creation. Indeed, although same-sex partners cannot literally procreate, they can adopt and become loving parents, just as countless opposite-sex couples do.
In my opinion, the message of Genesis is not to say that humans are partnered solely for procreation, but rather something far more deep and far more transformative. The ability of humans to enter into monogamous, caring and meaningful relationships is that which makes us most like the Divine. Further, the creation stories say less about human sexuality than it does about God; they speak volumes about God’s love and power in the universe. The real message here is that God has placed us as the peak of creation and called us “very good.”

Biblical Misinterpretations

As a Christian, the one thing that bothers me a lot is Biblical Literalism, for a number of reasons. For instance, the people who like to think that Creationism is fact because of the book of Genesis. The problem there becomes which creation does one believe as fact: Genesis 1, Genesis  2, Proverbs 8, or John 1. Another problem I have with Biblical literalism is when people use it as justification for homophobic rhetoric or teaching that queerness is an “abomination” (I will get to the ancient Hebrew understanding of that word in a subsequent post).
For years, this was a huge part of my struggle in accepting my sexuality because I had allowed Biblical literalism to pervade my understanding on sexuality. However, in more recent months, when people try to say, “Well the Bible says this about (insert ANY topic),” I often reply, “No, that is how the Bible reads; what does the Bible say?” Of course, I get very confused looks and then try to explain what the Bible is. In order to interpret what the Bible is saying according to how it reads, one must devote a great deal of time to understanding each nuanced aspect of the Bible. The Bible is not merely a single book; the Bible is a collection of books, a library as the name indicates. When we walk into a library, we know that we are dealing with a collection of books, each written in different circumstances, by different authors, with varying agendas, from all corers of the earth and all with a unique background. The Bible is no different. The Bible is a cannon of writings that were developed over a course of around 5,000 years, from all over the Mediterranean, and from various points in human, Jewish, and Christian history. This adds to the richness and flavor of every Bible passage; it is, in my opinion, what makes the Bible the most exciting and evolving collection of books.
The purpose, then, of this series of blog posts that I am titling “Biblical Misinterpretations,” is to help shed light onto some of the most common Biblical passages used to justify teachings against homosexuality. I will use a variety of methods in helping to translate what the Bible is saying as well as laying down some of the background for the culture at the time a given passage was written. That being said, here is my disclaimer: I am by no means a Biblical scholar nor am I claiming to be any sort of authority on what is written. Anything that I am writing is gathered from various scholars as well as from the extensive footnotes and background information in my collegiate study Bible. The thing that I ask you all to keep in mind while reading from this series of posts is a simple quote: Everything in the Bible is True. Not everything happened.

New Format

Well, I have come to a conclusion after not blogging for such a long time; in most cases, it is extremely difficult for me to relate EVERY Sunday's readings from the lectionary to LGBTQ struggles and experience. The truth is, to focus every week's lessons on a single theme is not the best approach for several reasons. Number one, every reading in the Bible is rich with layers of meanings and lessons upon which we can reflect. Like everything in life, the Bible can be, and for that matter, must be, read from a variety of lenses. To look at it only through the lens of the experience of LGBTQ persons simplifies the wonderful complexities of Scripture. Further, doing so denies that as Christians, we are multifaceted persons that are influenced and molded from our various life experiences which may or may not relate to our sexuality.
That being said, this blog will remain a place where Christianity/Scripture and the queer experience converge. Meaning, when applicable, I might select a Bible passage that has relevance to being queer. I will also spend some time debunking some of the commonly (mis)cited passages that some people feel relates to same-sex relations being ‘abominations.’ My hope is that I can also do some entries on coming out experiences for people who are also deeply Christian and how coming out was also a profound step in their faith journeys (this will include Allies as well).
If anyone has any suggestions for something s/he would like to see, please let me know and I will do my best to cover it. Take care and peace to all!