BGLAD speaker discusses Bible

Theologian and scholar Robin Scroggs believes attitudes toward homosexuality have changed a lot from ancient times to the present. Scroggs spoke to 180 members of the University community assembled in the Christian Association auditorium yesterday about the New Testament and homosexuality as part of the University's celebration of Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Awareness Days. According to Scroggs, there is a general tendency to look at Scriptures as "truth with a capital T." In his research and writings, he examines instead the historical situation surrounding the writing of the texts. The premise underlying Scroggs' lecture was two-fold -- first, he addressed how Scriptures can be used in contemporary discourse, and second, whether they can be used at all. Scroggs then offered a detailed explanation of "the Greco-Roman world," in an effort to determine what the Apostle Paul meant -- based on the prevailing social context -- when he condemned male homosexuality in Romans. Much of the remainder of the lecture was devoted to a discussion of pederasty, or homosexual love between adult males and pre-pubescent boys, which was the prevalent type of homosexual relationship in Biblical times. "The pederasty model was one of inequality from the beginning," Scroggs said. "There was no such thing as adult-adult, caring, permanent homosexual relationships." Scroggs said this "degrading" model co-existed with the "sublimated, non-sexual" platonic or socratic relationship between other sets of same-sex, different-age partners. Pederasty was also examined in the writings of some Hellenistic Jews "within the cultural manifestations of their environment," Scroggs said. After explaining that there are only three explicit references to homosexuality in the New Testament, Scroggs concluded that "Paul did not have the perspective we do" when he authored his section of the gospel. "There are times when we need to be liberated from [Scripture], to come to our own responsible judgements independent of what somebody said 2,000 years ago," he said. "In this debate [over the Bible's stand on homosexuality], we have no clear moral foundation on which to make our judgement," Scroggs added. Before his speech ended, Scroggs took questions from audience members, some of whom had brought their own copies of the New Testament to his speech. Scroggs teaches at the Union Theological Seminary in New York, said Executive Director of the Christian Association Beverly Dale.

*This article was edited at 3:24 a.m. on Oct. 9, 2009.

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