Abstract:
This is the second of two contributions that are asking how the New Testament could be used in a responsible manner in the debate about homosexuality. After an introductory discussion about the possibility that the NT writings provide us with guidelines, the five passages used in the debate are briefly surveyed. It is suggested that 1 Cor 6:9-11 might be understood against the backdrop of the existing cults and religious practices that were found in 1st century Corinth. Some guidelines are then formulated in order to proceed to a more responsible handling of the NT in the debate. Apart from an acknowledgment of the diversity of terms that are used, it is clear that immorality is closely connected with the idolatry and in association with homosexual behaviour. Homosexuality was thus closely linked with idolatry, immorality and perversity in the ancient NT socio-religious world. It is clear that there are no references to homosexual orientation as a sexual identity, on the one hand, and that the NT unequivocally rejects homosexual behaviour in a range of different forms, on the other hand. It is not possible to talk unqualifiedly about homosexuality any more.
