LGBTQ+

Lost in Translation: Did Gay Marriage Exist in the Apostle Paul’s Lifetime?

Yes and No

Michelangelo’s David. Photo taken and edited by the author.

LGBTQ-affirming Christians, including me, often claim that consensual, committed LGBTQ relationships simply did not exist during Paul’s lifetime. His social and cultural contexts included plenty of pederasty, abuse of slaves, and gay prostitution, but not “out” loving, healthy gay relationships. If such relationships existed, they occurred “in the closet.”

Paul could not have condemned that which did not openly exist in his context.

But while researching Paul’s context, I discovered, to my surprise, that Emperor Nero threw not one but two gay weddings for himself and a partner. Nero reigned during Paul’s imprisonment outside of Rome. The Romans, apparently, practiced gay marriage while Paul was around.

Or did they?

The Roman View of Sexuality

Romans did not think in terms of “homosexual” and “heterosexual.” They thought in terms of “penetrator” and “penetrated.”

According to historian Ollie Burns:

The Latin language has no word for either heterosexual or homosexual, and instead partners in a sexual relationship would be presented as either active, synonymous with…