1946: The Movie Being Crafted to Shift — and Mislead — a Culture, Part 3
The good news is that it’s easy to spot the fallacies in this film. The bad news is that many people won’t.
—Stand to Reason’s Alan Shlemon—
Key point: The Bible informs us that homosexuality is contrary to God’s design for humanity and therefore sinful, and it does so implicitly, explicitly, unambiguously, and repeatedly — in both the Old and New Testaments.
All the articles in this series are available on this page. Note: With the title of this series, we are not necessarily saying that the people working to produce 1946 are intentionally trying to mislead people; it could be that they are deceived themselves.
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Is homosexuality sinful? The Bible clearly teaches that it is. Moreover, it isn’t the Bible alone that indicates there is something wrong with sexual intercourse between members of the same sex.
Dr. James Boice says that while we need God’s Word to know that heterosexual sex outside of marriage is wrong, we actually don’t need it to know homosexuality is wrong: “A look at one’s sexual apparatus should convince anyone that practices of this kind are not…meant to be.”1 Yet the Bible still informs us, so we need to heed its warning.
Yes, the Bible informs us — and the various ways it does, especially taken together, are more than significant. It informs us implicitly, explicitly, unambiguously, and repeatedly — in both the Old and New Testaments.
1946
Previously, in our last two articles (here and here), we have been examining the narrative of a soon-to-be-released documentary titled 1946. The film is named for the year that the New Testament of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible was first published. With the release of the RSV New Testament, the word “homosexuals” was used for the first time in an English Bible. The word appeared in 1 Corinthians 6:9.
The narrative of the film and of the creative forces behind it is this: The English word homosexuals is a modern word and a mistranslation. Paul actually was referring to those who participate in abusive homosexual relationships and not to same-sex partners involved in loving, committed relationships. However, as we established part 1, the word Paul used that the RSV translators rendered “homosexuals” — arsenokoitēs — literally means “men in bed together” or, even more literally, “men-bedders.” The term does not distinguish between committed relationships and homosexual rape, pederasty, pedophilia, or other forms of homosexuality; Paul’s statements essentially condemn them all.
Nevertheless, Ed Oxford and Kathy Baldock, the researchers for 1946, insist that “homosexuals” is an incorrect translation. The trailer for the movie leaves viewers with the impression that 1 Corinthians 6:9 is the only verse that matters.
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Since the publication of this article, the above trailer has been replaced.
Here is the new trailer:
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Yet, as Stand to Reason’s Alan Shlemon affrims in an excellent article, “The Claim about Homosexuality in the Film 1946 Is Irrelevant.” Why? In part, because 1 Corinthians 6:9 isn’t the only verse that matters.
Where else in the Bible might one get the idea that homosexuality is a sin? As it turns out, in several different places. We find one of them in the very first chapter in Genesis: Genesis 1:26-28. These verses don’t name homosexuality specifically, but they actually don’t have to. As we said in part 2, homosexuality flies in the face of God’s design for both men and women and for humanity in general as expressed in Genesis:
God’s intentions exclude homosexuality, because homosexuality violates His design. His design, which is flawless, is presented unambiguously in Genesis 1:26-28 and echoed and affirmed by Jesus in Matthew 19:3-12 and Mark 10:2-122 (see this article). Further, God’s design is reiterated by Paul in the apostle’s inspired statements in Romans 1 condemning 1) homosexuality and 2) the worship of creation by those who have rejected the Creator, despite the knowledge of Him that creation reveals. Yes, other sins are involved, but homosexuality is undeniably a part of the mix.
The Bible Is Both Implicit and Explicit in Its Condemnation of Homosexuality
Ed Oxford and Kathy Baldock have a problem. Even if they could make a strong case that the translators of the RSV New Testament of 1946 mistranslated arsenokoitēs in 1 Corinthians 6:9 (something they cannot do, as we established in parts 1 and 2), they have a lot of other biblical material to address. First Corinthians 6:9 isn’t the only verse that addresses this topic, as we will see.
In Genesis 1, Scripture implicitly excludes homosexuality from any possibility of holding a place in God’s design. But Scripture speaks explicitly about homosexuality as well. In the Bible, we find six passages that mention it and that notify readers it is off limits and even dangerous. These are as follows:
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- Genesis 19:1-29
- Leviticus 18:22
- Leviticus 20:13
- Romans 1:18-32
- 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
- 1 Timothy 1:8-10.
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Ezekiel 16:49-50 and Jude 5-7 also are noteworthy, although these verses infer homosexuality to be sinful rather than saying so outright.3
A previous Word Foundations article concisely summarizes what the Bible teaches about homosexuality. It cites each of the above passages of Scripture and makes several points we’ve already made in this post. You can read the article online here. Also, you can access printable PDF file of it here.
Regarding the six passages that condemn sexual activity between members of the same sex, we note the following.
First, the practice is condemned in six specific places in Scripture — not just one or two, even though if it were condemned in just one place, no further condemnation would be necessary.
Second, homosexuality is deemed sinful in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, undermining arguments that the Bible condemns only homosexual actions that were connected to religious ceremonies (as occurred in some pagan rituals). In the Old Testament (and certainly in the New) homosexual activity is a violation of God’s moral laws, laws that reflect God’s nature, express His standards of righteousness, and that remain in place, revealing His expectations of people today.
Third, in Genesis 19:1-29, verses 4-5 tell us that “[B]efore they [the men who were Lot’s guests — men who actually were angels] lay down [for the night], the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.’”
Even though in the New King James Version the word carnally is supplied by the translators, it was right for them to put it there because the word translated know in verse 5, in the context of what was occurring, means to know intimately, in a physical, sexual way. The same word is used in Genesis 4:1, which states, “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, ‘I have acquired a man from the LORD.’”
Obviously homosexual encounters would not produce a child, but the parallel is that of knowing in a sexual way. The men of the city were demanding that Lot release his guests so they could have sex with them. In verse 13 the men — angels — told Lot, “[W]e will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” Significantly, even several chapters earlier, in Genesis 13, where Abram and Lot parted ways because the land was insufficient to support both their households, and Lot relocated to “the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom,” the Bible also tells us this: “But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.” Homosexuality was not the only sin of which the inhabitants of the cities God destroyed were guilty, but it is beyond dispute that homosexuality was a part of the mix.
Fourth, Leviticus 18:22 states, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.” The word translated lie means “to lie down” or “to make to lie down” — an obvious reference to homosexual sex, since the activity forbidden is lying with a man “as with a woman.”
There’s more! Hidden from English readers is a second Hebrew word. To make it evident, we could translate Leviticus 18:22 this way: “You shall not lie with a male as you lie with with a woman. It is an abomination.” This second appearance of the word lie represents another Hebrew word, one that means “lying down for the purpose of intimate, sexual contact.” It also means “a lying down, a couch, bed, or the act of lying.”
The word translated abomination means “something disgusting or abhorrent.” The Amplified Bible’s rendering of this verse reads this way: “You shall not lie [intimately] with a male as one lies with a female; it is repulsive.”
Fifth, we see the same word translated abomination in Leviticus 18:22 again in Leviticus 20:13. In the New King James Version, this verse states,
If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.
Here is the Amplified Bible’s rendering of this verse.
If a man lies [intimately] with a male as if he were a woman, both men have committed a detestable (perverse, unnatural) act; they shall most certainly be put to death; their blood is on them.
As with Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13 uses the same two Hebrew words for lying, or, more explicitly expressed, engaging in sexual intercourse.
While Leviticus 20:13 calls for the death penalty for those guilty of engaging in homosexual activity, we do not advocate capital punishment for homosexual sex between consenting adults today. Even so, the verse emphasizes the seriousness of the offense then; and by inference, it echoes the truth it also is serious, and sinful and ominous as well, today. The prohibition against homosexuality in this verse and elsewhere in Scripture is not a ceremonial regulation, but a moral one.
Sixth, there is a similarity between these verses in Leviticus and Paul’s references to homosexuality in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10. Keeping in mind that the second term for lies (intercourse) in each verse in Leviticus carries the meaning of “a lying down, a couch, bed, or the act of lying,” recall from part 1 that in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10, Paul used a word he likely coined — arsenokoitēs. Arsenokoitēs is a combination of two Greek words —
- NASB, copyright © the Lockman Foundation
This is a powerful way to refer to homosexuals and homosexuality. The Bible student who is familiar with Paul’s term in these two verses is reminded of it when studying Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 and the Hebrew word מִשְׁכָּב (transliteration: miškāḇ), the second term for intercourse in both verses. Use of that term parallels Paul’s use of the Greek word for “bed” or “couch” in arsenokoitēs.4
Thus, in the original languages in all four of these verses (two from the Old Testament and two from the New) the references to homosexuality are unambiguously broad. In other words, distinctions are not made between “abusive” forms of homosexuality and “committed” ones. Such a distinction is a modern and misleading concept, although we never would minimize the seriousness and egregious nature of forced homosexual activity. Still, in Scripture, all forms of homosexuality are abusive5 in one way or in multiple ways. All forms are sinful, and all forms are condemned.
Seventh, in the New Testament in Romans 1:18-32, Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, explicitly condemns both male homosexuality and lesbianism.
Eighth, in Romans 1, the apostle Paul presents homosexuality as contrary to God’s design as revealed in nature. In other words, by contrasting
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- heterosexual impulses to homosexual ones and
- homosexual impulses to the natural order of things,
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the apostle effectively describes homosexuality as unnatural. He uses a Greek word for “natural” in verses 26 and 27, and a Greek word for “nature” in verse 26.
For readers’ convenience, I’ve linked some key words in verses 26 and 27 to pages that provide information about their biblical uses and meanings. The message here is unmistakable, at least for those willing to hear. People “exchanged the truth of God for the lie,” Paul wrote in verse 25, “and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” He continued,
Verse 26: For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the
natural (φυσικός; transliteration: physikos)
use (χρῆσις; transliteration: chrēsis) for what is is against
nature (φύσις; transliteration: physis)
Verse 27: Likewise also the men, leaving the
natural (φυσικός; transliteration: physikos; Paul used the same word in verse 26)
use (χρῆσις; transliteration: chrēsis; Paul used the same word in verse 26)
of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
Ninth, in Romans 1, Paul’s description of homosexuality sets it clearly against God’s cultural commission to humanity in Genesis 1:26-28. As we said in part 2,
God’s design for humanity involves marriage, reproduction, parenting by both men and women — fathers and mothers (also go here) — and rearing children to become healthy adults and productive members of society. This not to say that everyone must marry. It is to say that marriage and the family are essential to healthy societies and are inseparable elements in God’s flawless design, a design with which homosexuality is incompatible.
It is noteworthy that God’s commission to Adam and Eve (and by extension to all of humanity) wasn’t an afterthought, but a command He gave at the dawn of creation, on the heels of His having created the first man and the first woman.
Tenth, we reiterate a point we made in part 1: Although a serious sin, homosexuality is forgiven and forgotten by God when an individual comes to Christ in repentance and trusts Him for forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Note that as ominous as the news is in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, there is very good news in verse 11:
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
All are sinners — heterosexuals and homosexuals alike. Moreover, all stand equally in need of God’s saving grace and divine forgiveness. Heterosexuals need Christ just as desperately as do homosexuals, for they too are sinners deserving of hell before God. This is true of all sinners, and therefore all people. Yet when we approach God on His conditions, we are forgiven, and we start anew! Paul wrote, “[I[f anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
But we must repent. We must turn from our sins and trust Christ. And we must deny ourselves and follow Him.
In Summary
There are those who claim that homosexuality and Christianity are compatible. The members of the creative team behind 1946 are among them. They are wrong. The point of this article is that 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 is one of six Bible passages addressing homosexuality explicitly, and all speak in unison declaring it to be sinful. The Bible’s message about homosexuality is both consistent and clear.
As Christians, we can help people who are confused on this issue understand it. We do not approach them arrogantly, but with concern. If we would be faithful followers of Christ, we must uphold the Bible’s consistent message, for it is the truth. It is God’s truth. Yes, we must uphold it lovingly, but upholding it lovingly also means contending for it without watering it down, and without apology.
I hope this article will help you do these very things.
Go here to download a copy of “Is Homosexuality Like All Other Sins?”
Copyright © 2022 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
Copyright notice for the RSV Bible, 1952:
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture has been taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Verses quoted from the Amplified Bible are so noted. Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631.
Notes:
1James Montgomery Boice, Romans: An Expositional Commentary—Volume 1, Justification by Faith, Romans 1–4, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1991), 181.
2The fact that Jesus affirms God’s perfect plan in a discussion with the Pharisees about divorce shows that though the divine plan is flawless, it involves imperfect, sinful people.
3In relation to Sodom, Ezekiel 16:49-50 mentions several sins: 16:49 “Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit.” Especially in light of Genesis 19:1-29 and Jude 5-7, it is clear that the phrase “committed abomination before Me” includes homosexuality. Of course, homosexuality wasn’t the only sin of which Sodom was guilty.
4Joe Dallas sees an additional parallel between the two verses in Leviticus we’ve been discussing and Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. In his book The Gay Gospel? How Pro-Gay Advocates Misread the Bible ([Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1996/2007] 208), Dallas writes that in this passage, the apostle’s “point is that believers’ personal conduct should be in sharp contrast to that of nonbelievers. Appealing to the need for a way of life separate from the world’s, Paul writes in a way reminiscent of Moses’ words in Leviticus 18 and 20, where Israel’s leader points to God’s commands that the Israelites apply a different standard to their sexual behavior than of other nations.”
5See “Homosexuality: Inherently Abusive and Sinful,” located near the end of part 2.
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