ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
June 9, 2026
What does it mean when someone is accused of being a sodomite? If you are going to be true to the Bible and the Christian faith, then accusing someone of being a sodomite is to accuse him/her of greed, pride, injustice, idolatry, and inhospitality. The sin of Sodom, specifically the story found in Genesis 19, has absolutely nothing to do with same-sex attraction or intimacy. It has to do with the threat of rape, a father’s inability to protect his daughters, people ignoring the primary rule of hospitality, and a city obsessed with power. The word sodomy or sodomite did not appear until much later in Biblical translations, and basically someone coined a word based on an incorrect interpretation of the Biblical story. Those who claim that the Bible is simple and straightforward need to pause and ask themselves what translation of the Bible, what dogma did the translators bring to their translation, how old is the translation, did the translators try to take seriously the poetry or did they take a more literal approach, and there are another half dozen questions that could be asked. The Bible has been weaponized against those in the LGBTQ+ community, and sadly, it is all rooted in a misunderstanding of the Biblical stories or a misunderstanding of how an ancient culture approached sexuality, gender, and power. Remember, it was just a few hundred years ago that people were justifying slavery with what was called the Curse of Ham (Genesis 9). Millions of people were enslaved and murdered based on a shameful and entirely inaccurate reading of the Bible. Anytime the Bible is used to do anything but liberate, welcome, heal, and bring justice, it’s probably good to pause and do a deep dive into the scholarship.
Before judging or excluding anyone with the use of the Bible, I pray for you to bring me back to scripture and your holy acts of self-giving love. Amen.
