Gay Study Bible

In case it’s not obvious, this is NOT a book recommendation! It’s a post to inform you of the efforts of some to justify their sinful choices.

Better Bibles Blog points us to a new study Bible that seeks to show that the New Testament doesn’t condemn same-sex sexual behavior: the Study New Testament for Gay, Lesbian, Bi, and Transgender: With Extensive Notes on Greek Word Meaning and Context, published by Smith and Stirling Publishing, “an independent Australian publisher that will not be intimidated by subgroups of the Religious Right or other intolerant Fundamentalist Christian groups, nor will be bought out by other publishers who are a front for such groups.”

Here’s the central thesis of the study Bible:

The New Testament in the original Greek does not speak against Gay, Lesbian, Bi or Transgender people. Yes, many Christians believe it does, but then again many people believe there were three wise men who visited Jesus as a baby and gave him three gifts.

In this study Bible, “there are no theological notes, solely notes of the word meaning and context, taking into account the latest academic scholarship.” Hmm. Pure objectivity, I’m sure.

What’s unique about this Bible is that it does not attempt to throw out the portions that speak against same-sex sexual relationships. Rather, it offers a new translation of these texts based on supposedly more accurate word meanings.

The author of the study notes is Classical Greek scholar and lexicographer Dr. Ann Nyland, translator of The Source New Testament (TSNT), which is the translation included in the study Bible and apparently the only accurate translation out there:

The translations of most New Testament versions are based on a lack of understanding of Greek word meaning and display a disregard for published academic research which shows passages in earlier translations to be wrong.

Find out more about Dr. Nyland by reading this interview about the study Bible or this interview about the translation.

Here’s a selection from the introduction:

Generally speaking, many Christians are a judgmental and do not approve of women as Church leaders, divorced people, or homosexuals. However, these biases are not supported by the Bible itself. Some may appear to be, due to mistranslation, others are not supported even by that. Many Christians, when shown that a word they thought meant one thing in fact means something entirely different, simply do not wish to know. They prefer to disregard the evidence in order to adhere to their own closely held traditions.

In the New Testament, Jesus railed against legalistic religious leaders, and told us to beware of them. He at no point told us to beware of women as Church leaders, of divorced people, or of homosexuals. And of course he would not, as the New Testament in the original Greek does not speak against these three groups in any way whatsoever.

Read the rest of the introduction.

HT: Better Bibles Blog

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