Nikolaj, the greek word that was translated to "homosexual offenders" in your version and "abusers of themselves with mankind" in the KJV along with many other terms in other versions. Comes from the Greek word 'arsenokoitai' which is apparently a compound word that Paul made up.
"arsen" means "man"; "koitai" means "beds"
A common theory is that Paul derived the word from the greek translation of the old testament. Specifically Leviticus 20:13:
hos an koimethe meta
arsenos koiten gynaikos (Lev 20:13)
Translated in the KJV as: If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
The only other translation I have on-hand is the NIV:
'If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
Just because someone translated it as homosexual, doesn't mean they were homophobic. I may believe homosexuality is a sin, but that doesn't make me a homophobe.
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Originally Posted by carrie721
what i don't understand is why so many christians get hung up on homosexuality. there are countless sins that people commit every day, but it seems overall that christians are inordinately concerned about homosexuality and some go so far as to spread lies and demonize us in order to strip us of basic human dignity.
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And I just wanna say, I agree with this completely, and it's sad. It's one of the reasons I'm not sure I wanna be a part of the Baptist denomination anymore, though I still agree with the main Baptist doctrines. My own immediate family never taught me to be this way; treating homosexuality as some far worse sin than our own, and setting anyone professing to be homosexual apart.
Maybe it's because I have an uncle who is an "out" homosexual, and we wanted him to know that while we didn't agree with it, we weren't going to condemn him in any way, and we still loved him. So from as young as I can remember, my parents taught me 'tolerance', if that's the right word. More like, what I consider decency to your fellow man or woman. It all made perfect sense to me as a kid.