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.”
You are kidding, right?
Are you advocating sodomy because 1 Cor does not specifically mention anal sex? The text CLEARLY says, "Shun immorality. Every other sin which a man commits is outside the body; but the immoral man sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Knowing the Scriptures… why would you allow your body (the Temple of the Holy Spirit) to be defiled by another man by inserting his penis into your anus? (sorry to be so graphic but that IS the dictionary definition of sodomy)
You can “make up” whatever interpretation you want for “arsenokoitai”. EVERY Catholic Commentary I have searched regards them as wrongdoers who will not inherit the kingdom of God (no matter what interpretation you give).
The precise meaning of the word arsenokoitai is uncertain: in 1 Cor. 1:9, it has been translated as “sodomites” (NRSV, NJB), “homosexual offenders” (NIV), and abusers of themselves with mankind (KJV); in 1 Tim. 1:9, it has been rendered “sodomites” (NRSV, RSV), “perverts” (NIV), “homosexuals” (NJB), and “them that defile themselves with mankind” (KJV). Although the word arsenokoitai does not occur anywhere else in Greek literature, it is an obvious combination of arsen (“male”) and koitai (“to lie with *”); accordingly, most scholars maintain that Paul probably had the aforementioned texts from Lev. 18:22; 20:13 in mind when he used (or possibly coined) this term. The arsenokoitai condemned in the NT are men who lie with males in a manner prohibited in the Leviticus Holiness Code, though the question of whether such men should be called “homosexuals” and of whether their activity should be deemed an example of “homosexuality” remains in dispute (often owing to what those English terms are thought to imply or convey). This discussion is complicated somewhat by the occurrence of another term in the “vice list” of 1 Cor. 6:9. The word immediately preceding arsenokoitai is malakoi, which literally means “soft people” and which has also been translated in a variety of ways: “male prostitutes” (NRSV, NIV), “the self-indulgent” (NJB), and the effeminate (KJV). A common view among modern scholars is that the two words malakoi and arsenokoitai should be taken together as describing the passive and the active partners in a sexual act between two males; both participants, then, are condemned. [As we say in Modern Terms - Pitchers and Catchers - GROSS!!!]
The most extensive biblical reference to sexual acts between same-sex partners (and the only biblical reference to such acts between women) is found in Rom. 1:26–27. There, such activity is mentioned as an example of the perversions that follow when humankind refuses to give glory and thanks to the one sovereign God (see Rom. 1:18–25, 28–32). Paul views such activity as evidence that God’s judgment is in effect; because people did not honor God as God but worshiped images, God gave them up to “degrading passions.” Specifically, “their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another” (Rom. 1:26–27). Paul views such sexual behavior as “shameful acts” and as the products of “a debased mind” (Rom. 1:27, 28). Again, whether the people described by Paul in this text should be called “homosexuals”—and whether the actions described should be regarded as instances of “homosexuality”—is in dispute, depending to some extent on what is meant by those terms.
Furnish, V. P., & Powell, M. A. (2011). homosexuality. In M. A. Powell (Ed.), The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (Revised and Updated) (Third Edition., p. 388). New York: HarperCollins.*
