What was Jesus' sexual orientation?
Well?
There has been considerable speculation that Jesus was gay. For example:
http://www.spiritrestoration.org/Church ... us-Gay.htm
A missing chunk of Mark's gospel, which reads:
As far as I can tell, there is nothing in the Bible to suggest that Jesus had sexual relations with women.
In fact, quite the opposite:
As far as we know, Jesus never kissed a girl, but he did kiss Judas Iscariot.
Jesus never married, which would have been unusual for a Jewish boy at the time.
He may have been influenced by Greek culture, where homosexuality among men was normal.
Missing chunk of Mark's gospel! I'm sorry, what leads you to believe that it was originally in there in the first place? Could you provide the earliest known appearance of this text?
The reference to Jesus discussing "looking to lust" is taken out of context. He is discussing the fact that sin is not just what we do, but what we feel, in other words that our secret life can be wrong with God. In Hebrew, as in many other languages, the male pronoun is used to refer to both males and females, and it is likely that He referred to men lusting after women, rather than women lusting after men, since men in that society got away with a lot more than women did. It had nothing to do with His sexuality.
Also, if there had been a shadow of a sign that Jesus was homosexual, He would have been stoned to death. When He was tried before the Sanhedrin the court didn't even hint at such a juicy capital offence. They accused Him of blasphemy, not sodomy. (Remember that is one thing that would certainly have got a Jewish man killed in those days.)
This is simply wishful thinking.
Leviticus predates Jesus by several hundred years.
At the time of Jesus, were they still stoning sodomites to death? Or, were attitudes toward queers more permissive, possibly due to the Greek influence?
In various of his letters, Paul criticizes Christians who practise homosexuality, but there isn't any record of any of them being executed as a result.
Here is something on the "Secret Gospel of Mark":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Gospel_of_Mark
It might have been a forgery, so take it with a grain of salt.
It is clear that Paul was asexual. He was much too much of a workaholic, and didn't much care for Christians having a good time (including especially a sexual good time).
The earliest Gospel was written more than a generation after Jesus had been crucified, so it is difficult for us to infer much into Jesus' sexuality. Some people probably believe in all earnestness that he never even had an erection.
At least Jesus is portrayed as being tolerant of people's sexuality. For example, in John 4, Jesus meets a woman who has been married 5 times, and who is presently living with a man who is not really her husband. He doesn't rebuke her at all (as Paul probably would have), but instead the woman leads the townspeople in being excited about Jesus being the Saviour of the world.
And, Jesus even saves the life of a woman who is about to be executed for adultery.
The Gospel of Mark was originally written in Greek, not Hebrew. Greek is in the Indo-European language family, and males and females have different pronouns.
Jesus probably spoke either Greek or Aramaic.
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Actually Paul was one of the lead people scourging and pounding on Christians, thought that they were filth, and really he was doing that the way many people might treat wackos of a new cult. You could in that sense consider him a bit of a redneck of his time, likely quite hetero unless his aggressive impulses were more of a cerebral nature.
Of course he was riding along, was struck blind for a few days, heard a voice, and the rest is quite a healthy stretch of the New Testament.
Jesus on the other hand - to go on the hypothesis that he both a) existed and b) was who he says he was (or at least believed it himself), I'd just say that the was on a very intense life long mission - when someone's existence is that driven to where they would not engage their sexuality in their belief that it would slow them down or take them off mark; you really can't make a clinical diagnosis, it says nothing about orientation and simply that their drive to resolve larger existential issues almost muted their sexuality in contrast.
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The writers of the Gospels were Jews whose first language was Hebrew. It is believed that they first drafted in Hebrew, then wrote the final versions in Greek.
He probably spoke both Greek and Hebrew. Certainly a relatively educated Jew at the time would have known Hebrew.
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The writers of the Gospels were Jews whose first language was Hebrew. It is believed that they first drafted in Hebrew, then wrote the final versions in Greek.
.
Believed by whom? By you? I've never heard that before. As I understand it, classical Hebrew by that time was no longer spoken--it was only used for liturgical purposes.
I think that you are wrong about the Gospels being first drafted in Hebrew.
The writers of the Gospels were Jews whose first language was Hebrew. It is believed that they first drafted in Hebrew, then wrote the final versions in Greek.
.
Believed by whom? By you? I've never heard that before. As I understand it, classical Hebrew by that time was no longer spoken--it was only used for liturgical purposes.
I think that you are wrong about the Gospels being first drafted in Hebrew.
I read it in a book on New Testament Greek a while back, unfortunately I don't have it with me to refer to now. As I recall, this assessment was based on some linguistic idiosyncrasies in the text of the Gospels that make more sense if you assume they were a translation from Hebrew, or at least that the authors were thinking in Hebrew. I believe there was something about the early chapters of John being written in the same form as traditional Hebrew poetry, but I would have to check again.
I'm heading home later this week, so I'll dig that book out and check it if you want.
_________________
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
As far as we know, Jesus never kissed a girl, but he did kiss Judas Iscariot.
Jesus never married, which would have been unusual for a Jewish boy at the time.
He may have been influenced by Greek culture, where homosexuality among men was normal.
Speculating about whether Jesus was queer makes as much sense as asking if Sam had the hots for Frodo.
ruveyn
Last edited by ruveyn on 09 Mar 2010, 9:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
hetero.
it is widely speculated that he in fact was married to mary magdala (also known as magdalene)... and even was kissing her... on the mouth - the naughty boy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Magda ... _Apocrypha
it is widely speculated that he in fact was married to mary magdala (also known as magdalene)... and even was kissing her... on the mouth - the naughty boy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Magda ... _Apocrypha
Actually, mouth kissing seems well accepted. It's other body parts that seem to disturb people. Nevertheless, ass kissing seems to be a way of life in some circles.
I'm heading home later this week, so I'll dig that book out and check it if you want.
There appears to be a spirited debate over whether the New Testament was originally written in Greek or Aramaic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_primacy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_primacy
There don't seem to be many people who adhere to the theory that the material was originally written in Hebrew.
Actually Paul was one of the lead people scourging and pounding on Christians, thought that they were filth, and really he was doing that the way many people might treat wackos of a new cult. You could in that sense consider him a bit of a redneck of his time, likely quite hetero unless his aggressive impulses were more of a cerebral nature.
Of course he was riding along, was struck blind for a few days, heard a voice, and the rest is quite a healthy stretch of the New Testament.
Jesus on the other hand - to go on the hypothesis that he both a) existed and b) was who he says he was (or at least believed it himself), I'd just say that the was on a very intense life long mission - when someone's existence is that driven to where they would not engage their sexuality in their belief that it would slow them down or take them off mark; you really can't make a clinical diagnosis, it says nothing about orientation and simply that their drive to resolve larger existential issues almost muted their sexuality in contrast.
Paul did work very hard to wipe out Christians. Another example of his workaholism is in 2 Thessalonians 3:
We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.
If you look, on the other hand, at Jesus when he visits Mary and Marth (Luke 10):
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
You perceive a much more relaxed attitude towards work. Paul, on the other hand, would have said: "Don't be such a lazy-bones, Mary! Get up and WORK!"
Also, Jesus is able magically to feed thousands of people with five loaves of bread and two fish. Paul would have said: "Okay, you lot, GET TO WORK, NOW!! !!"
In terms of sexuality, The Last Temptation of Christ has Jesus marrying both Martha and Mary. Most Sunday school versions have Jesus being a perfectly asexual gentleman.
Also, Paul certainly traveled a lot. I wonder if he might possibly have had some men or women on the side, like most modern day evangelists, but was successful in keeping it all hushed up?
The Gospel of Mark was originally written in Greek, not Hebrew. Greek is in the Indo-European language family, and males and females have different pronouns.
Jesus probably spoke either Greek or Aramaic.
Regardless of whether Jesus used the Greek or Hebrew plural referring to a mixed crowd of people, His use of the male pronoun would have been understood to include both male and female.