Biblical Ethics HOMOSEXUALITY eee ; ») Listening to Scripture % | edited by Robert L. Brawley© 1996 Westminster John Knox Press All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Westminster John Knox Press, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202-1396. Scripcure quotations from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible are copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. and are used by permission. Excerpt from “An die Nachgeborenen” in Selected Poems by Bertolt Brecht, English trans. by H. R. Hayes, copyright 1947 by Bertolt Brecht and H. R. Hayes, and renewed 1975 by Stefan S. Brecht and H. R. Hayes. Reprinted by permission of Harcourt Brace & Company. Book design by Jennifer K. Cox Cover design by Kevin Darst First edition Published by Westminster John Knox Press Louisville, Kentucky ‘This book is printed on acid-free paper that meets the American National Standards Instiute Z39.48 standard. @ PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 96 97 98 99 00 O1 02 03 04 05 — 1098765432 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Biblical ethics and homosexuality ; listening to scripture / Robert L. Brawley, editor. — Ist ed. Pom. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-664-25638-4 (alk. paper) 1, Homosexuality—Biblical teaching. 2. Sex—Biblical teaching. 3. Ethics in the Bible. 4. Christian ethics—Biblical teaching. 5. Homosexuality—Religious aspects—Christianity. 1. Brawley, Robert L. (Robert Lawson) BS680.H67B52 1996 241'.66—de20 95-46243Contents Preface vii Part 1__Methods: How We Use the Bible in Christian Ethics 1 1_Creation and Human Sexuality in the New Testament 3 2. Textual Orientation 7 Choon-Leong Seow 3. The Power of God at Work in the Children of God 35 Robert L. Brawley Part 2_ ‘The Bible and Human Sexuality 51 4 Marriage in the Old Testament 53 J. Andrew Dearman 5_ Exploring the Implications of Paul’s Use of Sarx (Flesh) 69 6 The Holiness Code and Human Sexuality 87 Sarah 7. Melcher : 7. Same-Sex Sexual Relations in Antiquity and Sexuality and Sexual Identity in Contemporary American Society 103 Herman C. Waetjen : 8 Arsenokoités and Malakos: Meanings and Consequences 117 ind New Testament Directions for the Heterosexual Church 137 Jeffrey S. Siker Epilogue: Ending without Closure 153 Contributors. 156 Scripture Index 157