A Bible for gays! “Queen” James Bibe

The issue of how the Christian doctrine views homosexualtiy through its appoved sacred scriptures is one of great contention. There are passages in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testament that clearly condemn sodomy and the act of homosexuality. Engaging in sexual relations with a person of the same sex is considered a mortal sin by the Church. But with the rise of acceptance of homosexuality in contemporary society, more and more gays and members of the LGBT community, who have an affiliation with the Christian faith, are campaigning to also receive acceptance within the Christian worldview grounded in holy scriptures. One of their main arguments deriving from textual interpretation is that Christ himself preached that men should love their neighbours as themesleves. In the western strain of Christianity, where the role and presence of homosexuality in the folds of the Church has been steadily rising, the LGBT community has taken it a step further in their efforts to interpret the ancient texts to conform with their liking.

The King James Bible has been used across the English speaking world for over 400 years. It was first used un 1611 when it was fully compiled and is also known as the Authorised Version (AV). A “gay-friendly” version of the King James Bible that was first publsihed in 2012 and is available on Amazon is an attempt “to resolve a long-standing interpretive ambiguity in key Bible passages regarding homosexuality”, as the authors of the book claim. Available on Amazon.com, the Bible, which is emblazoned with a large rainbow cross on the front cover, is described on its website as “big, fabulous Bible” that draws its name from King James I, who was behind the popular traditional version, and but was also allegedly “a well-known bisexual”: Though he did marry a woman, his many gay relationships were so well-known that amongst some of his friends and court, he was known as “Queen James.”
This new version updates several passages from the original version that address homosexuality, including this passage from Leviticus 18:22:
KJV: Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is an abomination.
QJV: Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind in the temple of Molech: it is an abomination. (Page 75)

The website explains that “homosexuality was first overtly mentioned in the Bible in 1946 in the Revised Standard Version. There is no mention of or reference to homosexuality in any Bible prior to this — only interpretations have been made.” The new edits are only “for interpretive clarity. The edits all confirm that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality, and therefore renders such interpretations impossible.”

But not everyone is convinced the new interpretations are accurate. “Few, if any English translations use the actual words ‘homosexuality’ or ‘homosexual.’ But the history of English translation shows that versions have consistently used other language to refer to what we would call homosexual relationships,” Douglas J. Moo, Wessner Chair of Biblical Studies at Wheaton College and a professional Bible translator, told The Christian Post.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Catholic Online also slammed the version as seeking “legitimize the homosexual equivalency movement” by changing the Bible’s language so that it reads “in a fashion different from their original intent.”