Are the ancient law codes relevant to today’s discussion, either those that tolerated homosexual behavior or later codes that dealt harshly with homosexuals?
The Revisionist Answer
The later Christian emperors used their influence to change the legal standing of homosexual behavior so that law came to restrict it. They did this out of a Christian bias and a misinterpretation of Scripture. These prejudiced laws should have no standing in today’s culture.
The Biblical and Historical Answer
Because proscription of homosexuality begins with regulations of Leviticus 18 and 20, calling for the death penalty, this dismissive attitude seems premature. Paul (1 Tim. 1:8–10) includes homosexuality in his list of immoralities that he believes society should proscribe. The Mishnah and targums, intertestamental literature, Philo and Josephus, and early Christian church fathers share this emphasis in any reference remotely dealing with the subject.
Even the Greeks did not allow unbridled homosexual behavior. The increasing restriction of homosexuality by law under Christian emperors was a consequence of decisions informed by biblical conviction. It witnesses to a common Jewish and Christian interpretation of the Bible regarding homosexuality. The rulers saw the event of Sodom as having portent for future societies, since Sodom itself was a pagan or worldly society. Even before Christ, ancient Greek and Roman law codes began a tradition of restricting homosexual behavior that has carried forward to modern law codes and legislation.
