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In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:9-11, Paul lists some sins, and at first glance it sounds like homosexuality is included in these sins.
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, NIV)
We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me. (1 Timothy 1:9-11, NIV)
In 1 Corinthians 6, "male prostitutes" is a translation of the Greek word malakoi (singular: malakos), and "homosexual offenders" is a translation of arsenokoiati (singular: arsenokoites), which occurs in one other place in the Bible, 1 Timothy 1:10, where it is translated as "perverts".
The correct translation of these words is highly debated, and there is no consensus among Bible translators. Malakos is translated as "effeminate" (King James Version, American Standard Version), "pervert" (Contemporary English Version), "male prostitutes" (New Revised Standard Version), and even "the self-indulgent" (New Jerusalem Bible). In the NIV, arsenokoites is translated as "homosexual offenders" in 1 Corinthians but as "perverts" in 1 Timothy. As it is possible to be a heterosexual pervert, these English terms are clearly two different things. Other translations for arsenokoites include "homosexuals" (New American Standard Bible, New Living Translation), and "sodomites" (New Revised Standard Version, New King James Version). Some translations translate malakos and arsenokoites as one word or phrase, such as "men who practise homosexuality" (English Standard Version), "homosexual perverts" (Good News Bible), or "sexual perverts" (Revised English Bible, Revised Standard Version (2nd Edition)).
When translators cannot agree on the general meaning of a Greek word, it is a sign of their uncertainty. These verses are important for Christadelphians when thinking about same-sex relationships, so it is very important to look at these words as carefully as we can.
What does malakos actually mean? The word is widely used in Greek texts, including the New Testament. It literally means "soft" and it is used like this elsewhere in the New Testament (Matthew 11:18). It can also mean "effeminate", and it is used like this in other Greek texts.1 Although some gay men are effeminate, the two words are not synonyms. Not all effeminate men are gay, and very few gay men are effeminate. Being malakos also has connotations of being wanton or unrestrained.2 In the first century, when Paul wrote his letters, malakos was not a term that was applied to gay men.
It is very difficult to say exactly what Paul meant when he wrote malakoi but there is no evidence that he was referring to same-sex relationships of any kind, and plenty of evidence that he meant something else.
Although the range of translations for arsenokoites is narrower that the range for malakos, it is still a difficult—some would say impossible—word to translate. That difficulty can be seen in the NIV's use of two different English words to translate it. "Perverts" and "homosexual offenders" are two different things. Arsenokoites is used in a handful of other Greek texts from the first few centuries after Christ, and none of them really give enough context to determine what the word means. The Penitential attributed to John the Faster (d 595) mentions arsenokoitia in the context of opposite-sex relationships:
In fact, many men even commit the sin of arsenokoitia with their wives.3
This important quotation shows that arsenokoites cannot be translated by "homosexuals" or any similar word. Please look at all of the texts that use arsenokoites and related words. They are all available on the Internet (see Further Reading). When the context gives any clue to the meaning of the word, none of these texts require that arsenokoites means "homosexual" or anything similar, and some, like the Penitential quoted above, show that it cannot have this meaning.
As with malakos, we cannot say with certainty what Paul meant when he wrote arsenokoites, but it is clear that it does not refer to same-sex relationships.
It is tempting to look at the etymology of arsenokoites to find out what it means. However, the etymology of a word gives only its history, not its meaning.4 In English, for example, the etymology of the phrase "lady killer" suggests either "a lady who kills" or "a person who kills ladies", but it really means "man who knows how to charm ladies". The only reliable way to determine the meaning of a word is from how it is used. The way arsenokoites is used indicates that it does not mean "homosexual". However, the etymology of this word does give a clue (and it is no more than a clue) about what it means.
Arsenokoites is a compound word, formed from arseno- which means "men", "male humans", and koiati, which refers to the penetrating partner in sexual intercourse. When these two parts are put together, forming a word meaning something like "man-penetrator", it is not clear if it means "a man who penetrates" or "a man who is penetrated", or, like "lady killer", it could mean something completely different. We can get a little more context from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament.
The word arsenokoites almost appears in the Septuagint, in Leviticus 20:13: hos an koimethe meta arsenos koiten gunaikos
. It might be the case that arsenokoites is a contraction of arsenos koiten. If it is, then Paul possibly meant to repeat the Leviticus prohibition. That restriction is not a general prohibition of male-male sex, but is a prohibition of a specific sexual act (see What Does Leviticus Mean in Leviticus). If Leviticus is the origin of the word, and the origin of the word gives an indication of the meaning, then arsenokoites refers to just that sexual act, and that is a sexual act that both same-sex and opposite-sex couples can practise. John the Faster's use of arsenokoitia supports this suggestion. Therefore, Paul's uses of arsenokoites are injunctions against certain types of sexual activity, not against same-sex relationships.
It is sometimes thought that malakos and arsenokoites are a pair, one being the 'active' partner, the other being 'passive'. The English Standard Version has this footnote for 1 Corinthians 6:9: "The two Greek terms translated by this phrase refer to the passive and active partners in consensual homosexual acts." Looking at the two words on their own is sometimes criticised as the "divide and conquer" approach.
Are malakos and arsenokoites a pair? There is no evidence to suggest that they are, and plenty of evidence to suggest that they are not. Arsenokoites is used twice in the Bible, but it is only used once with malakos. If the two words are a pair, it doesn't make sense for Paul to use only arsenokoites in 1 Timothy. In other Greek texts, the only times the two words are used together is in quotations of 1 Corinthians 6. These words are not a pair.
If 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 could be translated as "... homosexuals ... will not inherit the Kingdom of God", or anything like that, then this debate would be over, for the Christadelphians at least. But arsenokoites and malakos can't be translated in that way. We have to conclude that 1 Corinthians 6:1-10 and 1 Timothy 1:9-11 have nothing to say about same-sex relationships.
Before looking for Biblical affirmation, there is one more passage we have to look at, Romans chapter 1.
1. See pp 124 to 128 of Arsenokoites and Malakos: Meanings and Consequences by Dale B. Martin in Biblical Ethics and Homosexuality edited by Robert L. Brawley. Available online: Arsenokoites and Malakos: Meanings and Consequences.
2. See p 106 of Christianity, Social Tolerance, And Homosexuality by John Boswell.
3. See p 364 of Christianity, Social Tolerance, And Homosexuality by John Boswell.
4. See Chapter 6 (Etymologies and Related Arguments) of The Semantics of Biblical Language by James Barr.
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