Catalogues of Vices, the Decalogue and Homosexual Relations in 1 Cor 6:9-10 and 1 Tim 1:8-10

Marcin Kowalski

Katolicki Universytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II , Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8732-6868


Abstract

The author analyzes the Pauline statements on homosexuality in 1 Cor 6:9-10 and 1 Tim 1:8-10. The examined texts are first placed in their argumentative context, with a hint at the Old Testament traditions standing behind them (Gen 1: 27-28; Exod 20:1-17; Deut 5:6-21; Lev 18:22 and 20:13). Next, the author critically presents the positions of the scholars who limit Paul’s understanding of homosexuality in 1 Cor 6:9-10 and 1 Tim 1:8-10 to pederasty and prostitution. Philological and contextual arguments of the vast majority of researchers indicate that the terms μαλακός and ἀρσενοκοίτης used by the apostle should be read as a broad critique of all kinds of homosexual acts. In the last paragraph, the author sums up the contemporary discussion on homosexuality and its interpretation in Paul, pointing to inadequate methodology, language and new hermeneutics underlying the attempts to refute the Pauline critique of homosexual acts.

Keywords:

1 Cor 6: 9-10, 1 Tim 1:8-10, homosexuality, the Decalogue, Lev 18:22 and 20:13, sexuality, Christian ethics

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Published
2021-06-15


Kowalski, M. (2021). Katalogi wad, Dekalog i relacje homoseksualne w 1 Kor 6,9-10 oraz 1 Tm 1,8-10. Verbum Vitae, 39(1), 281–306. https://doi.org/10.31743/vv.12328

Marcin Kowalski  xmkowal@gmail.com
Katolicki Universytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8732-6868



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