USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center
Abstract
This article addresses the interpretations of Biblical texts used against queer believers. Commonly known as «texts of terror,» they have been cited as God-given prohibitions of same-sex relationships. The analysis uncovers the bias and the various representations of gender and sexuality in the Ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman contexts. Drawing from extensive scholarly work featuring contemporary hermeneutics the article challenges the thesis that same-sex relationships are the point of prohibitions. It concludes that the background of Ancient Near East and Greco-Roman worldview do not allow for anachronistic extrapolations of contemporary notions of gender and sexuality into the heart of the sacred scriptures
