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A two part essay donated by John A. Dixon
Part 3
"What I believe the Bible
really says about homosexuality" About eunuchs: Now that we have
covered the major passages commonly misinterpreted as condemning
homosexuality, let's look at what the Bible says about eunuchs. Before
doing so, we must define the term eunuch so that we are in agreement as
to what a eunuch is. According to
Thayer 1 a eunuch is not only someone who has been
castrated, but is also "one naturally incapacitated, either for marriage
or for begetting children." Thayer further defines the word eunuch as
"one who abstains from marriage". In his book Reverend
Samuel Kader writes:
"By no means did
the term eunuch have to be merely a castrated male. It was a broad term,
and since a chamberlain for a harem could be promoted, and was a person
trusted with the king's intimate things, the term often got generalized
to mean an official in the court. Ancient Judah's king Hezekiah was told
his sons would be eunuchs in Babylon. He didn't think this was bad news.
[2 Kings 20:16-19] He thinks this is good news. He apparently is not
worried that the royal line will be ended. Eunuch here, in king
Hezekiah's estimate, probably means his children will be officials in
the court of the Babylonians."

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To further
clarify the term eunuch, we can look at what Jesus said of them:
The disciples
said to him:
"If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is
better not to marry."
Jesus replied:
"Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been
given.."
"For some are
eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by
men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of
heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it." (Matthew
19:10-12)
In this context,
Paul is therefore a eunuch, for he remained single and celibate so that
he could fully concentrate on his mission for Christ, for the kingdom of
heaven.
Reverend Kader writes regarding Matthew 19:10-12:
"In this situation,
Jesus and His disciples are discussing marriage and divorce, and the
conditions under which it is permissible to divorce[...] But then Jesus
goes on to say not everyone can receive His teaching on divorce and
marriage, because not everyone can get married.
"His reasons for
this are lumped under the category of being a eunuch. From the ensuing
description it is obvious more people are eunuchs than castrated males.
In the King James Version, Jesus says and there be eunuchs, which have
made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. No one was
ever required to castrate themselves for the sake of getting into
Heaven." 2
Kader goes on to
write:
"So the Lord Himself
has expanded the meaning of eunuch to include the unmarried for a
variety of situations. Some were made this way by others. Some are born
this way. They are unable to get married because they have no natural
inclination to have sexual relations with a mate of the opposite sex
because of sexual traumas (abuse, etc.) in their past. For some it is
not an anticipated option. For others it is not an options at all. The
hurt and scars are too deep. For whatever reason, and there are many,
eunuch means anyone not likely to get heterosexually involved. At any
rate, this list expanded by Jesus certainly includes gay people and
others of either sex." 3
Understanding
that gays fall into the eunuch definition given by Christ, let's look
further at what Scripture says about eunuchs. Isaiah holds several
prophetic scriptures for eunuchs:
Now that a clear and
stable definition has been established for what a eunuch is, we can see
clearly that homosexuals are, by God's Own definition, eunuchs. With
that fact established, let's look further at what God Himself says about
eunuchs and their place in Heaven.
"Let no foreigner who
has bound himself to the Lord say, "The Lord will surely exclude me from
his people." And let not any eunuch complain, 'I am only a dry tree.'
For this is what the Lord says: 'To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who
choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant -- to them I will
give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than
sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not
be cut off. And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to serve him,
to love the name of the Lord, and to worship Him, all who keep the
Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant -- these
I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of
prayer, Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my
altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations,
The Sovereign Lord declares -- he who gathers the exiles of Israel:
I will gather
still others to them besides those already gathered'." (Isaiah 56:3-8)
Eunuchs were
foreigners to God's temple when this was penned, due to Deuteronomy 23:1:
No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the
assembly of the Lord."
Isaiah here marks an illustration of how the
law of Moses cannot be kept by anyone, and how God Himself wipes away
the bonds of the Mosaic Law through His love, mercy, and grace. The
promise for eunuchs in this passage is not for all eunuchs, however, but
only for those who will observe and uphold God's way through His Son
Jesus Christ.
It is important
to note that wherever the conditions of salvation are discussed,
sexuality is never mentioned. (Acts 4:12, Acts 16:30-31, Romans 10:9,
Ephesians 2:8-9, John 3:16-17)
It is therefore
very clear that eunuchs, a population in which God Himself includes
homosexuals, have a place in heaven, and are given "a name better than
sons and daughters". It gets no better than that!
Consider what
Christ says in Matthew 5:22...
"But I say unto you,
That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in
danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, 'Raca,'
shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the
altar, and there remembers that thy brother hath ought against thee..."
(KJV)
The word to pay
attention to here is "Raca." According to Professor Halsall, 4 the word "Raca" is not the same as
"moros"
(fool), as it is sometimes mistranslated. According to Halsall, a
renowned language scholar, the word Raca is common in many Semitic
languages and loosely means soft, but with an effeminate connotation.
The Akkadian word raq is used to indicate a woman's name or occupation,
and its symbol in Akkadian derives from a Sumerian symbol for woman. It
can be argued securely that Raca is an accusation of sissy or catamite. 5
This argument
works better if the word "moros" is considered. The word can mean fool,
but it also has the amply used connotation of sexual aggressor, or even
homosexual aggressor. LSJ19 confirms this, although Johannssen makes
much more of it. It could reasonably be argued then that Jesus' words
here condemn those who abuse others about their homosexuality. 6
If this is, in
fact, Christ's intention, as it appears to be, then those who are
critical of homosexuals are, in fact, to be criticized for their stand
against them.
Now it is made
clear.
God made all people as they are innately. Sexuality is innate;
the Salk Institute has proven this by mapping the sexuality gene. The
Creator made genetics, and is therefore ultimately responsible for how
each one of us turns out via those traits that are genetic. It is also
very safe to say that God does not make junk, nor does He make people
just so He can hate them. After all, God is Love. The real truth is that
God not only loves His gay children just as much as He does His
heterosexual children, but He has seen the persecution we must endure,
and has set for us "a name better than sons and daughters" because of it
when we walk with Jesus Christ.
John S. Dixon
"Equal rights are not special rights unless you're the one who doesn't have them."

Webmaster's note:
Do you disagree?
If you have a conflicting interpretation of the biblical passages that people
have used to condemn homosexuality, please
consider writing an essay on this topic. We will seriously consider publishing it.

References:
- Joseph Thayer, "Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New
Testament: Coded with Strong's Concordance Numbers," Hendrickson Publishers, (Re-issued
1996), Page 260. Read
reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
- Ibid., Page 90.
- Ibid, Pages 91 & 92.
- Paul Halsall, "Homosexuality and Catholicism Bibliography: Section
XVI: Biblical Texts from King James Version & New Revised Standard Version
Cited in Full," at: http://www.fordham.edu/
- In ancient times, a catamite (catamitus in Latin) was a pubescent boy, usually a slave, kept for sexual purposes by a man.
- Op cit. Halsall

How you may have arrived here:
Copyright © 2004 by the author
Originally written: 2004-MAR-20
Latest update: 2016-APR-02
Author: John S. Dixon
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