Sodomy according to the NIV
It is amazing to see the lengths to which man will
go to "prove" that he is right, regardless of what
the Bible really says. It is thinking such as that
outlined below that that should wake up every
Christian today to examine their own lives. When
men begin to justify their lives rather than repent,
sin reigns and righteousness is lost.
Listed here are the verses relative to sodomy from
the NIV and KJV, together with the comments, where
pertinent, of Dr. Mollenkott and the CRC Committee,
which was assisted by Dr. Woudstra.
I
think by including this, you will quickly see the
real nature of these "translators".
First, a few abbreviations used below:
ITHM The comments of Dr. Mollenkott are from
her book, Is The Homosexual My Neighbor?
(abbreviated in this test as ITHMN)
CRC in the following examination refers to
the "Curriculum Review Committee".
KJV refers to the King James Version
NIV refers to the New International Version
GENESIS 19:5 - THE SIN OF SODOM
KJV - "And they called unto Lot, and said unto
him, where are the men which came into thee this
night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know
them."
NIV - "They called to Lot, ‘Where are the men
who came to you tonight? Bring them out so that we
can have sex with them.’"
CRC REPORT: "From this story, read as an
isolated incident, we cannot conclude however that
homosexualism is here condemned. The evil that the
men of Sodom were planning with Lot's guests was
sexual assault and violence. ... From this account
therefore it does not follow that homosexualism
under other circumstances is wrong. ...We may not
conclude from this account that it was only because
of the sexual depravity in Sodom and Gomorrah that
these cities were destroyed" (CRC 1973 Report on
Homosexuality, No 42, Art. 53, assisted by Woudstra,
p. 617).
MOLLENKOTT, ITHMN, page 57 ". . . the Sodom story
seems to be focusing on two specific evils: (1)
violent gang rape and (2) inhospitality to the
stranger."
NOTE: The Bible states that the sin for which God
judged Sodom was connected with gross and strange
immorality. 2 Peter 2:7 refers to Sodom's "filthy
conversation." The same Greek word is translated
"wantonness" in Rom. 13:13 and 2 Pet. 2:18. Jude 7
refers to Sodom’s fornication and "going after
strange flesh." God did not send fire upon Sodom
simply for its inhospitality to strangers. In Gen
18:20 God speaks of the great sin of Sodom before
the angels had even visited the city, thus ruling
out their "inhospitality" to the angels.
LEVITICUS 20:13 - SODOMY
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."
NIV - "If a man lies with a man as one lies
with a woman, both of them has done what is
detestable. They must be put to death: their blood
will be on their own heads."
CRC REPORT: "The difficulty that confronts us
with these texts [Lev 18:22, 20:13] is the question
in what distinguishable respects they are normative
for us ... the problem ... is ... to determine what
is binding for us ... it may be questioned whether
homosexualism in non-cultic (e.g. moral) contexts is
condemned by these passages ... we ... hold that
18:21 forbids homosexualism and the same is true of
20:13. On the other hand we must recognize the
temporary character of much of Old Testament
legislation ... IN HOW FAR THE PROHIBITION OF
HOMOSEXUALISM IS BINDING ON US IS THEREFORE A
QUESTION THAT REMAINS ... we cannot simply apply the
Old Testament prohibition without considering
whether our knowledge of homosexuality [modern
'scientific' research] may not modify to some degree
our moral judgment about homosexual practices of
such persons" (emphasis added) (CRC 1973 Report on
Homosexuality, No 42, Art. 53, assisted by Woudstra,
pp. 617-619).
MOLLENKOTT, ITHMN, pages 110 through 121 - "Dr.
Mollenkott argues that this is part of the
ceremonial laws, and as such, is to be disregarded
by the Christian. She places this act on the same
level as wearing clothes of two different
materials."
DEUTERONOMY 23:17 - SODOMITE
KJV - "There shall be no whore of the daughters
of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel."
NIV - "No Israelite man or woman is to become a
shrine prostitute."
CRC REPORT: "Deuteronomy 23:17...forbids male
prostitution. All scholars agree that the Old
Testament condemns homosexualism, although they are
not all agreed on the rationale for such
condemnation, and on what ethical force it has for
all forms of homosexualism as we know it today" (CRC
1973 Report on Homosexuality, No 42, Art. 53,
assisted by Woudstra, p. 619).
JUDGES 19:22 - SODOMY
KJV - "Now as they were making their hearts
merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of
Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the
door, and spake to the master of the house, the old
man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into
thine house, that we may know him."
NIV - "While they were enjoying themselves,
some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the
house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old
man who owned the house, ‘Bring out the man who came
to your house so we can have sex with him.’".’"
MOLLENKOTT, ITHMN, page 57 - "Violence--forcing
sexual activity upon another--is the real point to
this story."
I KINGS 14:24 - SODOMITES
KJV - "And there were sodomites in the land:
and they did according to all the abominations of
the nations which the Lord cast out before the
children of Israel."
NIV - "There were even male shrine prostitutes
in the land; the people engaged in all the
detestable practices of the nations the Lord had
driven out before the Israelites."
CRC REPORT: "There are other Old Testament
passages that bear on the subject of homosexualism
... I Kings 24:24; 15:12; 22:40 ... which relates
the attempts of the kings of Judah to abolish male
cultic prostitution and the like" (CRC 1973 Report
on Homosexuality, No 42, Art. 53, assisted by
Woudstra, p. 619).
NOTE: The rendering "male temple prostitutes" is an
interpretation, as is the rendering "sodomite."
According to Strong’s, the Hebrew term is "qadesh,
kaw-dashe'; from H6942; a (quasi) sacred person,
i.e. a devotee (by prostitution) to licentious
idolatry." In the Authorized Version this Hebrew
word is translated "sodomite" and "unclean." The
term "sodomite" was brought over from the Geneva
Bible, because the translators understood the sin
described in these passages is connected with the
moral perversion of old Sodom. Many older Bible
dictionaries connect sodomy with homosexuality in
general.
Eadie (1872) defines Sodomite as "not dwellers
in Sodom, but practisers of unnatural lust--the sin
of Sodom. This sin was consecrated in many Eastern
kingdoms." The People’s Bible Encyclopedia by
Charles Randall Barnes (1903) says: "The sodomites
were not inhabitants of Sodom, nor their
descendants, but men consecrated to the unnatural
vice of Sodom (Gen. 19:5; comp. Rom. 1:27) as a
religious rite."
Note that Barnes connects the sin of sodomy
with the homosexuality described in Romans 1:27.
Hastings (1898) says: "The term ‘Sodomite’ is
used in Scripture to describe offences against the
laws of nature which were FREQUENTLY connected with
idolatrous practices" (emphasis ours). Note that
Hastings did not claim that the offences against the
laws of nature were restricted solely to idolatrous
temple worship. The term "sodomy" in these passages
doubtless did refer, at least in part, to
homosexuality connected with immoral pagan
religions.
The problem with the NIV translation is that it
LIMITS this sin to that particular connection rather
than allowing the larger meaning of homosexuality in
general. It also creates the confusion that the
practice of sodomy in the Old Testament and the sin
of Sodom itself was limited to male prostitution.
I KINGS 15:12 - SODOMITES
KJV - "And he took away the sodomites out of
the land and removed all the idols that his fathers
had made."
NIV - "He expelled all the shrine prostitutes
from the land and got rid of the idols his fathers
had made."
I KINGS 22:46 - SODOMITES
KJV - "And the remnant of the sodomites, which
remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out
of the land."
NIV - "He rid the land of the rest of the
shrine prostitutes who remained there even after the
reign of his father Asa."
II KINGS 23:7 - SODOMITES
KJV - "And he brake down the houses of the
sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where
the women wove hangings for the grove."
NIV - "He also tore down the quarters of the
male shrine prostitutes, which were in the temple of
the Lord and where women did weaving for Asherah."h."
MOLLENKOTT, ITHMN, page 59 & 60 - "Most
scholars agree that in the fertility religions of
Israel's neighbors, male cult prostitutes were
employed for homosexual acts. The people who loved
and served the God of Israel were strictly forbidden
to have anything to do with such idolatry, and the
Jewish men were commanded to never serve as temple
prostitutes."
LUKE 10:12 - JUDGMENT UPON SODOM
KJV - "But I say unto you, that it shall be
more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that
city."
NIV - "I tell you, it will be more bearable on
that day for Sodom than for you."
MOLLENKOTT, ITHMN, page 59. "Jesus refers to
Sodom, not in the context of sexual acts, but in the
context of inhospitality." And on page 71, she
expands this thought with "the idea of a life long
homosexual orientation or 'condition' is never
mentioned in the Bible."
ROMANS 1:26 & 27 - HOMOSEXUALITY
KJV - "For this cause God gave them up unto
vile affections; for even their women did change the
natural use into that which is against nature: And
like wise also the men, leaving the natural use of
the woman, burned in lust one toward another; man
with men working that which is unseemly, and
receiving in themselves that recompense of their
error which was meet."
NIV - "Because of this, God gave him over to
shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural
relations for unnatural ones. In the same way men
also abandoned natural relations with women and were
inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed
indecent acts with other men, and received in
themselves the due penalty for their perversion."
CRC REPORT: "We conclude that the New Testament
passages which make reference to homosexual
behaviour are in harmony with the judgment of Old
Testament: homosexual acts are sinful. But again, we
need to ask whether the judgment of Paul applies to
those who are homosexuals as we have defined them,
i.e. those who are constitutionally homosexual [born
that way] in their sexual orientation. Does the
exchange from the natural to the unnatural which
Paul deems dishonourable apply to such persons? ...
The male homosexual does not exchange his passion
for a woman for passion for a man, nor gives up the
natural attraction for a woman, for he does not have
such passions, such are not 'natural' to him" (CRC
1973 Report on Homosexuality, No 42, Art. 53,
assisted by Woudstra, p. 621).
MOLLENKOTT, ITHMN, page 62 - "The key thought
here seems to be lust, 'unnaturalness,' and, in
verse 28, a desire to avoid the acknowledgment of
God. But although the censure fits idolatrous people
with whom Paul was concerned here, it does not seem
to fit the case of a sincere homosexual Christian.
Such a person loves Jesus Christ and wants above all
to acknowledge God in all of life, yet for some
unknown reason feels drawn to someone of the same
sex, for the sake of love rather than lust. Is it
fair to describe that person as lustful or desirous
of forgetting God's existence?"
I CORINTHIANS 6:9 - REJECTION OF HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOR
KJV - "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall
not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived:
neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with
mankind…"
NIV - "Do you not know that the wicked will not
inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:
neither the sexually immoral nor idolators nor
adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual
offenders..."
CRC REPORT: "It has been suggested that the use
of these words stresses the activity rather than the
condition of homosexuality" (CRC 1973 Report on
Homosexuality, No 42, Art. 53, assisted by Woudstra,
p. 619).
MOLLENKOTT, ITHMN, page 67 - "Interpretation of
these passages depends on two Greek words used in I
Cor. 6:9 which have presented a problem for
translators in the King James Version, they
translated 'effeminate' and 'abusers of themselves
with mankind.' In the Revised Standard Version of
1952, they were combined and rendered simply
'homosexuals,' which implied that all persons whose
erotic interests were oriented to the same sex were
by the very fact excluded from membership in the
kingdom of God. But the original intent seems to
have been to single out specific kinds of same-sex
practices which were deplorable."
NOTE: We see that the New International Version
replaces the "effeminate" of the KJV with "male
prostitutes." The word "effeminate" in the KJV is
from the Greek word "malakos," which Strong defines
as "soft, i.e. fine (clothing)." The Greek word
appears three times in the New Testament, and in the
Authorized Version it is translated "effeminate" one
time (1 Cor. 6:9) and "soft" two times (Matt. 11:8;
Lk. 7:25). The New International Version translators
had no authority to translate this word as "male
prostitutes." They have replaced the New Testament
term "effeminate," which aptly describes male
homosexuality in general, with the term "male
prostitutes," thus diluting and perverting the
meaning of the passage.
JUDE 7 - STRANGE FLESH
KJV - "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the
cities about them in like manner, giving themselves
over to fornication, and going after strange flesh,
are set forth for an example, suffering the
vengeance of eternal fire."
NIV - "In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and
the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual
immorality and perversion. They serve as an example
of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire."
MOLLENKOTT, ITHMN, page 59 - "The 'unnatural lust'
thus could, in the context, and in view of the
apocryphal texts to which Jude made allusion, refer
to a desire for sexual contact between human and
heavenly beings."
It would not be fair to suggest that all people who
were involved in translating and producing the NIV
were in favor or showed interest in Homosexuality as
an alternate lifestyle, BUT IT IS FAIR to say that
those who were responsible for the final wording
were at the very least Sympathetic to Dr.
Mollenkott's and Dr. Woudstra's cause
(homosexuality).
One only has to look at the treatment of sodomy in
the NIV to reach this conclusion.
The IBS (International Bible Society originally
claimed that Mollenkott and Woudstra weren't even
regarded as translators, but after a slip in 1993 in
which they released a listing of Translators on the
NIV translation committee, we find that both
Woudstra AND Mollenkott were listed.
Could this be just more lies and deceit from the IBS
in an effort to cover up the TRUTH behind the NIV?
You'll have to decide that one for yourself.
Click here for a list of the NIV translators.
Let's wrap up this lesson on
the final page.
