Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 are two verses that many people think of when discussing the Bible and same-sex relationships.
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. (Leviticus 18:22, KJV)
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. (Leviticus 20:13, KJV)
The precise meaning of "lie with mankind as with womankind" is discussed in What Does Leviticus Mean?, but in this article I want to look at the word "abomination". Many people think that because Leviticus uses this word then it is describing a particularly serious sin or transgression, something that is a sin even outside the Law of Moses. In the words of one email: "How can something that was an abomination now no longer be considered an abomination?"
Looking at these verses in isolation does give that impression that "lying with mankind as with womankind" is a severe sin, something that will forever be considered wrong. Looking at them in context gives a different picture.
There are several abominations in Leviticus 11: shellfish (verse 10), some birds (verses 13 to 20), and insects and other creeping things (verses 41 to 43). Most Christadelphians today don't think that eating shellfish is wrong. There is a temptation to justify this with Acts 10:11-15:
And [Peter] saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending upon him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. (Acts 10:11-15, KJV)
But does this passage override Leviticus 11 and make shellfish acceptable? How could it? Acts 10 does not mention shellfish. What does make shellfish an acceptable food for those under Christ? It is Galatians 3:23-25:
But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. (Galatians 3:23-25, KJV)
We are in Christ, we are no longer under the schoolmaster, the law. This is why Christadelphians may eat shellfish, even though shellfish are an abomination under the law of Moses. Something that is an abomination is not an eternal sin. How can something that was an abomination under the Law of Moses no longer be considered an abomination? Because we are no longer under the Law.
We are no longer under the Law. This cannot be emphasised enough. Just because something is described as an abomination in the Law does not mean that it is an abomination under Christ, but "abomination" is slightly more complex than the above discussion shows. "Abomination" in Leviticus 11 is a translation of sheqets, but "abomination" in Leviticus 18 and 20 is another word, toevah, which is also used in several other places, including Deuteronomy 17:1:
Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the LORD thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish, or any evilfavouredness: for that is an abomination unto the LORD thy God. (Deuteronomy 17:1, KJV)
Toevah is a word associated with "ritual" abomination, such as idolatry. In Romans 1, there is a connection between same-sex sexual activity and idolatry, and the same connection exists in 1 Kings 14:24. It is certainly plausible that toevah in Leviticus links the same-sex sexual activity it describes with idolatry. This suggests that, as well as the meaning of Leviticus being restricted to some forms of same-sex sexual activity, it is restricted to same-sex sexual activity in an idolatrous context. Cult prostitution was known in the ancient Middle East (it is mentioned in 1 Kings 14:24). Leviticus 18 may actually be about idolatrous activity. A loving Christadelphian same-sex couple could not be further from idolatry, and so there is nothing abominable about their relationship.
Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world
Matthew 25:34, NIV