Bibical Interpretation and Sexuality

[This was originally written as a response to Fr Juvenaly in a discussion of Inga Leonova’s open letter to Metropolitan Jonah on her Facebook page.]

Thanks for sharing in this complex discussion. I cannot assume to discuss much of theology with you. From my reading of the gospels. I read almost nothing about what Jesus has to say specifically about same sex attractions. Given the short time of his ministry, I believe that he focused on the most pressing points.

Homosexuality is not “the single state”. If it were, homosexuals would not be attracted to others of the same sex. They would be one who could not find a partner to live with. That is the single state. Both homosexuals and heterosexuals share the capacity to be attracted to one other person. That shows commonality between them.

We know that much of what is in certain books of the Old Testament were myths which had been passed down from generation to generation in the oral tradition of the time. Eventually these were placed in the Jewish bible. Do you think that Moses actually wrote the book of Genesis? Of course, we know today from modern scholarship based on literary styles and language development that it is not possible that the 5 books of the Talmud were written by one person. These myths were brought together by a more than likely a group of rabbis or priests much later.

Now, if we can learn about hermeneutics and the other modern ways to analyze the Holy Scriptures when it comes to who wrote them, why can we not review the same scriptures for anachronisms related to human sexuality? It is clear from the way the NT scriptures were written that Jesus accepted beliefs in things that we now know are scientifically proven different,. Being a Jew of his time, he would have to had read the book of Genesis. He would have had to believe it as the people of the day did. But there are many statements of so-called fact in the Book of Genesis that are scientifically proven not true.

How does Holy Tradition deal with this? From my acknowledged limited understanding of same, how does Holy tradi9tion deal with Jesus’ professed acceptance that for example people who were having seizures had a demon inside them? Much of what is described in the gospels as demonic possession can easily be diagnosed as something treated today with medication.

What do we know about Adam and Eve other than the assumptions that because they were humans they experienced certain things common to people today. But, we know they had no knowledge of what causes headaches or how a mysterious “bacteria” can be killed by an antibiotic.

If all these things can be understood to be a result of Jesus’ willingness to accept cultural viewpoints of primitive understanding–I mean Jesus as God must have known that the earth was round, not flat. Yet, all those people he lived with didn’t know that. And Jesus didn’t tell them otherwise.

What I see in this is that Jesus has set mankind on a course from primitive understandings of say volcanoes. Do you actually believe that God touches a mountain and it smokes? Of course not. We know that pressure from the movement of the continental plates amid other factors cause volcanoes to explode.

After all this–can we not understand that the people of Jesus’ time didn’t know the details of modern psychology? They were unaware of the fact that homosexuality is a matter of brain development? We know from studies that the brains of homosexual men are more comparable to women’s brains than heterosexual males. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology_and_sexual_orientation)

LGBT people are asking you to consider these facts and perhaps be open to the idea that Paul and Peter and all them back then didn’t know that homosexuality is as part of a person as heterosexuality? Therefore they used what limited information was known to them and mislabeled what homosexuality really is.

Can you explain in light of what you can see here with your own eyes is true, that we have been gifted in these days by God to have a correct understanding of people’s mental capacities to rid the world, including the church of these primitive culturally misperceptions? Why do you feel the need to cling so much to “Holy Tradition” when it comes to homosexuals but certainly you set your watch using the fact that the earth revolves around the sun?

Several comments from the original thread:

Haralambos Venti: Τhis is a sensible letter, Stephen, and you are to be commended for it, but do yourself a favor and do not hold your breath for a considered response. There are certain quarters in the Church, that are immovable in their simplistic view tha…t Tradition, as they understand it (i.e. as a seamless garment, with black and white stripes, and nothing in between) is not self-correcting, because it knows everything about everything in advance, and ahead of all scientific knowledge–no room for the unexpected or for the renewal of history efected by the Holy Spirit. That this is the quintessence of totalitarianism, on top of being an untenable view of how Church canons came into being, is immaterial for these people. The rationale is this: if the OT states that the sun revolves around the earth, it would be blasphemy and against God’s will to teach otherwise, for after all science is fallible and we are not in any way obligated to have its discoveries make an impact on our tradition, given the latter’s God-inspired nature. We already know all we need to know fromm Scripture and the Fathers, so don’t sweat it people. There are sane alternative to this mental cage, but you addressed this letter to the wrong direction. Even so, it adds eloquent force to our thread So, thank you!

FrCaleb Abetti: Stephen and Haralambos, this is a sensible letter. Hope it is ok to offer a different sensibility? The struggle to know our scientific history is indeed difficult, our knowledge of the world in billion of years timeline is all but seale…d. Much is clear. Much is still in the fog. A human’s love of ballet and discourse such as this is not cleared up from our genetic testings of buried treasures. Believing in Adam and Eve as the first humans seems as irresponsible as flat earth theory. I believe it, though. For the same reasons I know that LGBT people aren’t choosing to be the way they are. My encounter with the world makes it all but certain, as zainy as the two of them are (adam and eve). What allows you in your scientific assurances to stand by the resurrection of Christ but to disallow, on scientific, historical critical grounds, Adam and Eve in the garden with a snake? Do you accept our own resurrection in the fullness of time?; what lab work will help us here? Christians have to make hard decisions. Places of incredulous faith we must accept blend into bad science we must reject, we flow between the borders of eating the blood and body of Christ while having on hand seizure medecine for those who need it and we call this all One. The brain is constantly trying to fault one or the other, loyalties flare. We are daily betrayed by bits of information in both faith and science arenas. People in the field will tell you the best of the best in science have powerful metaphysical beliefs, more often than not quietly held. We must actively check ourselves: what correct understanding are we now enlightened by? Everybody points to journals but how many marinate in the criticisms the active discussion, the often false assertions (particularly with brain activity) always conjur? A good scientist, and a person who wants to point to one, does not hesitate to footnote nor be perfectly clear about the humility of the process. Just, what do we know about the brain and homosexuality (footnotes appreciated)? I for one would not be surprised by the locating of a gene or place locating LGBT potential or reality. But lets not kid ourselves that this budding lab work is shore ground for our deepest held truths in the Christian faith.

Inga Leonova: I love this post, Father. Agreed, we should not idolize anything: neither science nor Scripture offer us the ultimate truth, only Christ Himself, and He as a Living God rather than yet another idol safely entombed. I don’t believe in Adam and Eve literally, yet I believe in them “scripturally”, and in some way I am not sure I can be bothered to explain what it really means…;-) A very sobering comment, a reminder to proceed carefully. Thank you.