P
Prodigal_Son
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The exact meaning of “arsenokoitai” is obviously “men who lie =have sex with] with men”. The Greek is extremely clear.The passage in 1 Corinthians does not say anything about “sodomites” and the concept of “sodomy” as a sexual sin did not even exist before the 11th century when it was first used by the Catholic theologian Peter Damian. The Greek word used in Paul is “arsenokoitai” which appears to have been invented by Paul since it is not known in any Greek text before him. It is made up of the Greek words “arsen” which means “man” and “koitai” which means “beds.” It’s exact meaning is unknown. It could hardly have been intended by Paul to refer to sexual activity between males since he would have used the standard Greek word for that which was “paiderasste.”
In Greek and Roman history, a strong minority of philosophers taught that homosexual activity was wrong and should be made taboo. Plato and Aristotle were part of this group. They specifically distinguished intimate friendship between two men from a sexual relationship between two men.
“Pederasty” was not usually used to refer to adult male lovers. In such couplings, there were words for “active partner” and “passive partner”. The passive partner was thought of as effeminate and despicable. The active partner was perfectly well respected, in most cases.