More Twisting of the Word?

James Bollinger’s article in today’s Star-Telegram, “Twisting the word,” is an excellent example of twisting the Word of Scripture.  He affirms that God didn’t destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their homosexuality.  He says that a former letter writer who made this assertion was “twisting the Scriptures” in saying that these cities were destroyed because of the practice of Sodomy.  Who is guilty of twisting Scripture?

Since Bollinger writes as though he is willing to consult the Bible, let’s accept it as true and ask what God says about this important subject.  First, God refers to Sodom and Gomorrah, saying, “Their sin is exceedingly grave” (Genesis 19:20).  What sin was so serious?  Then, in Genesis 19:23, we read that the men of Sodom were “wicked.”  What was their wickedness?  When the two men (actually angels) went to the house of Lot in Sodom to rescue this man of God, the Sodomites surround the house and exclaimed, “Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them” (Genesis 19:5, NASB).  What relations did they want to have with these men?  The Hebrew has “know” here, which is a term referring to sexual relations.  Lot then says that the Sodomites would be “acting wickedly” if the men came out to them (v. 7).  What wickedness did they intend to do?   What kind of sexual relations were in view, between the Sodomites and the men in Lot’s house?

The New Testament helps us even further in identifying the “wickedness” and “sin” of the men of Sodom.  In 2 Peter 2:6, we read that the men of Sodom were “ungodly,” and we also read of “the sensual conduct of unprincipled men” (verse 7).  What “ungodliness” and “sensual conduct” was involved?  We then read that the Sodomites “indulged in gross immorality” and “went after strange flesh” (Jude 7).  God calls the homosexuality (which traditionally has been called “sodomy”—after the sin of Sodom) of these men as “gross immorality” and describes the sexual relations as going after “strange flesh.”  Paul comments on homosexuality in saying that homosexuality involves “degrading passions” and doing something “unnatural” and committing “indecent acts” (Romans 1:26-27).  This definitely describes the sexual immorality that the men of Sodom habitually practiced.  Homosexuality indeed is not only sexual immorality, but “gross immorality.”

Peter says that those who “twist” or “distort” the Scriptures do so “to their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16). In light of all this Scriptural truth, we ask the question: Who is the one “twisting” the Word? 

Richard Hollerman