Subj: Ps. 133:1; Romans, 1Cor., 1Tim. Date: 95-06-02 22:21:06 EDT From: Axios USA
More fodder for discussion:
“Behold how good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity.”
“How good and pleasant it is, to be together in Christ.”
These saints weren't “twisting Scripture” either, even though their hagiography quite explicitly says they were “sweet companions and lovers” (glykys hetairos kai erastes; the last word “erastes” derived from “eros”). For centuries, the church maintained the tradition of using Ps. 133:1, as well as referring to the saints' example of love in Christ, in the Adelphopoiia or Bratotvorenie rite (usually referred to since last June as Same-sex Union, after John Boswell's research on it) which was performed from early Christian times right to the present day (in some parts of Eastern Europe; some U.S. parishes have started to perform this also).
(In the Orthodox Christian tradition, Scripture and Tradition are complementary and not mutually exclusive. The New Testament was written over a period of time; the community of Christians did not put everything on hold until the N.T. canon was finished and accepted (that took a long time); they used the tradition handed down from Christ and the Apostles and their successors. So it is desirable to interpret Scriptural passages in light of tradition and the Church Fathers. In that vein, those who would use Romans 1:26-27 to clobber gays should consider St. John Chrysostom's words on that passage (some say that Paul whispered in his ear, BTW):
“They have no excuse. For he does not say that they fell in love or had passion for each other, but that 'they burned in their appetite [or lust] for each other'”.
Romans 1 speaks of Exchanging: truth for a lie, God for idolatry, love and healthy sexual passion for the frenzy of idololatric ceremonies. Gays don't “exchange” anything; and in fact St. Chrysostom (his name was John; Chrysostom means “golden-mouthed,” a title he was honored with for his eloquence) states above that love or ordinary passion would have been OK. Incidentally, regarding 1 Cor. 6:9 and 1 Tim. 1:10, he rarely uses the term “arsenokoitis” (the term which some mistranslate as “homosexuals”); when he does he uses it to mean “pederast” or child-molester (referring to sex with the underage, not between adults. (Exception: St. John the Faster uses the term in several ways, for specific acts both heterosexual and homosexual, but this penitential is something of an anomaly). He uses “hetairikos” for a male prostitute (not in the Bible). As for the other word sometimes mistranslated to throw stones at gays and lesbians, “malakos” (1 Cor. 6:9) simply means “soft” and in the Fathers as in modern Greek means either “soft” with no moral connotation (e.g. a soft pillow) or “masturbator.” Actually, the term is used so much nowadays that it has been diluted, much like the English “jerk” (one doesn't think of “jerk off” when using the word “jerk”, even though there may well be a connection).
I would guess, if the statistics are correct, that most of those who use “malakos” against gays are actually “malakas” themselves! (Now what was that about “judge not, lest you be judged…?)
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