Great article there – and always good to see stuff like that out there…..

When I was dealing with those issues this stuff wasnt so easy to find and it makes a huge difference.

There´s actually quite a good New testament that I can recommend to people who are interested in what the scriptures really say….

Study New Testament For Lesbians, Gays, Bi, And Transgender by A. Nyland

Unlike the mainstream translations where politics and funding concerns are (reportedly) as important as correctness – this is a scholars translation – designed more to be correct based on the latest knowledge rather than theologically not controversial.

I actually found it Very interesting not only in scriptures we deal with for GLBT issues but in other issues (for example – and this is from memory because my copy is on loan) the notes on Jewish divorce show that you need to understand the contemporary legal code of divorce to understand what Jesus meant. They would have known this – but without it – its easy to misunderstand what he really was saying.

Not only would I recommend this article – but I would recommend for those interested in studying this – to consider this translation of the new testament.

Hi Brunski,

As far as why only these parts of the Bible have been mistranslated–It is my understanding, someone correct me if I'm wrong, that the reason why some of these passages might be mistranslated is that they are not common Greek words, but words that Paul made up himself. It would be harder, in my opinion, to accurately represent what those words meant in context than it would be to translate other passages, using more common Greek words and ideas. Additionally, there are many difficult passages where, rather than the specific words being mistranslated, the ideas have been "mistranslated," in a sense. I suppose "misinterpreted" could be a better term. Like the passages saying women should cover their heads, not speak in church, and not be in positions of authority over men. Or the ones saying slaves, obey your masters. All of these examples have been used to support slavery or the oppression of women-things that I'm sure God does not approve of. In these cases, it's not the words that are wrong, so much as our understanding of them.

All, or most, Christians today look at the Bible and try to reconcile it with their own beliefs about morality. I suppose the point is to look at the overall message of the Bible–God loves us, God saved us, there is hope, we should love others as we love ourselves–rather than getting too caught up in specific, difficult, potentially-ancient-culture-specific passages. And to look at the easier, major passages of the Bible (or the overall message of the Bible) to help us understand the more obscure ones. At least, that's where I'm at right now. This is a lesson I'm still learning. 🙂