Fatherdog wrote: "Completely incorrect. The original Greek you are translating as "effeminate" is "malakoi", a word which literally means "soft" and is sometimes rendered as "male prostitute" or "catamite" (referring to a boy kept by a pedophile.) The original greek word you are translating as "abusers of themselves with mankind" is "arsenokoitai", which is closest to meaning "rapist" or "sex slave trader", and is never used in any greek texts of the period to refer to ****sexuals in general - words used in that sense include arrenomanes, erastes, paiderastai, paidika, drwntes, and paschontes, none of which ever occur in the bible under any context."

so does "soft" include ****sexuals? Can you prove that it does not? Such language seems to condemn ****sexuality at least in some respects. Maybe Paul thought the correct words for ****sexuality were too vulgar for his writings? I would think it would be specifically excluded if it was not to be criticized, especially given the rest of the text which criticizes all sorts of immorality (as seen by the writer). I certainly don't think you could call someone "Completely Incorrect" for seeing the Bible as critical of ****sexuality.

After all, the old testament dietary restrictions were specifically lifted in the New Testament. So is death as a punishment for breaking morality rules. Yet the restrictions against ****sexual acts are not rescinded AFAIK.

Then again, not much in the Bible makes sense to me. But I think as literary critics of the Bible, we shouldn't fall into the same pattern of behavior that some Christian sects engage in, which is loosely interpreting portions of the Bible to suit some pre-defined agenda such as the acceptance of ****sexuality.

Paul spoke out against these things partly because the expatriate Jew/Christians were surrounded by biblically immoral people ( and immoral by modern standards too ) and some members of the church were being influenced by them or participating in this sort of activity. That was half the reason he wrote most of his letters in the first place, the other was to inspire the faithful to continue in their faith in the face of challenges.