RealityRevision

Sodom and Gomorrah. Not simple.

Someone reminding me recently how much of a "big deal" your interpretation of the Sodom and Gomorrah story has on your understanding of this whole GBLT thing.  I personally, really don't care for the way people take story/laws out of the OT (Old Testament) and decide on the severity of the sin, based on God's punishment/consequences for it. Sorry I digress.  That is another matter, for discussion.  So yes, the way we understand "what went down" at Sodom and Gomorrah, really does matter quite a bit.

I'm not writing this to try to persuade you to my understand of this event, but rather to inform you, that there are more sides, more ways of looking that this, than just the way you were taught in your Conservative Christian up bring. I do have a bias however and a rather strong one and you will hear it, I acknowledge that and will hold an open mind for any contenders...ha ha!!! Sorry.

Places the Bible references Sodom and Gomorrah: Obviously...Genesis 18 -19;  Ezekiel 16:48-50;  Isaiah 3:9;  Jeremiah 23:14;  Mark 6:11-12;  Luke 17:28-29;  2Peter 2:6-7;  Jude 1:7

I'll just go right out and ask, what was Sodom and Gomorrah's sin, that was so vile in God's sight, that he decided to destroy the city?  I think this is the basic question that divides people in the interpretation of this story.  The conservative christian approach has understood this story to be about the consequences of homosexuality.  This view is based on the interpretation of Genesis 19:5 and Jude 1:7.

Ok so Genesis 19:5 " And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them."  I comes down to the word "know", which is a fairly broad word with no way of knowing for certain whether it means sexually or to interrogate.

And Jude 1:7, "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."  Here the controversy surrounds "going after strange flesh", which is again rather cryptic.  To see this expounded  on in detail, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodom_and_Gomorrah#Christian_view.

So basically all we know from Genesis 18 and19, for certain is that there was less than 10 righteous people in that city and God destroyed it. It doesn't say anywhere that the city was destroyed due to homosexuality, actually it doesn't really give any particulars as to what sins, where responsible for the destruction. Even if Genesis 19:5 meant to know sexually, it still doesn't say anywhere that was the object of God's wrath, it would be merely saying that it was a condition present at the destruction of the city.

Ok enter...Ezekiel 16:48-50^{,  "48} As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done.  ⁴⁹ " 'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. ⁵⁰ They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen."

This is probably one of the clearest verses on, the sin of Sodom.  This is what it is and if you see angles from what is stated in this verse to today, well your not the only one.  Actually it says that Israel committed worse sin in God's eyes than the the sins of Sodom.

Well I could go on and on taking scripture apart and offering my commentary on verses, but I'll stop before I bore you to death (I may have already and I'm sorry).  So yes, I am rather convinced that sins of cities where not homosexuality, but rather the sins of consumerism, neglecting the poor, and nationalistic arrogance (think how they responded to visitors).  These sins are also much more inline with the things that got Jesus upset, when he was on the earth.  Also note, that there is no record of Jesus condemning homosexuality at all (That is as much as I will say at the moment).

I know that this leaves many questions.  I'm convinced stuff like this isn't black and white.  I'm working on rethinking and reevaluating my biblical understanding on homosexuality, should be interesting.  At the moment, I'd rather error on love, than condemnation.  Oh, and I apologize if I sounded like a christian apologetic, as I sorted through this Sodom and Gomorrah thing. Ok I'll stop rambling.