There’s already a remixed Bible, but now it’s remixed all over again because a new, gay-friendly version is now on the market. The—wait for it—“Queen James” edition is named, interestingly enough, in honor of King James, who legendarily had more than his fair share of gay relationships. In this incarnation of the Good Book, scriptures that have historically been the go-to verses for fire-and-brimstone condemnation against homosexuality have been tweaked, making make the Word more palatable—and inclusive—for the LGBT community.
“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,” editors explained. “The Queen James Bible addresses those controversial verses by editing them very slightly for interpretive clarity. The edits all confirm that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality, and therefore renders such interpretations impossible.”
See the distinction:
Genesis 19:5 (King James)
And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, ‘Where are the men which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
Genesis 19:5 (New Century Version)
They called to Lot, “Where are the two men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sexual relations with them.”
Genesis 19:5 (Message Bible)
Before they went to bed men from all over the city of Sodom, young and old, descended on the house from all sides and boxed them in. They yelled to Lot, “Where are the men who are staying with you for the night? Bring them out so we can have our sport with them!”
Genesis 19:5 (Queen James)
And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may rape and humiliate them.
Not at all surprisingly, this ought to get Christian anti-gay crusaders and overzealous Bible thumpers—traditional Bible thumpers—in a snit. Many biblical scholars also question the accuracy of the translation. But hey, if it brings folks seeking a relationship with God closer to the Word without making them feeling marginalized and left on the fringes of the faith, I say more power to them and the Good Book. The most important messages about faith, love, hope, peace, and the joy of the Lord—yeah, they’re still the same.
Do you think the Queen James Bible is good word or a bad idea?
Image via gaybible.org
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Comments 30
Bad idea. As a queer person and also a Christian, the bible is the bible is the bible, love it or not.
Implying that gay people don't know about the word, scripture or need it more "palatable" in order swallow is pretty insulting, too.
The fact that it's so flippantly named is insensitive as well, given what serious content the bible holds. This just screams "straight person trying to make money by reaching out to a demographic they don't understand".
My personal study of the original language indicates the text wasn't referring to homosexuality - the word used most often was "pedastery" which referred instead to rape, ritual (temple) sex, pedophilia, and prostitution. It's not just tweaking the Bible to our liking, it's about trying to actually come to the most honest interpretation. This instance on reading everything literally only dates back to the Protestant Reformation - fundamentalism only dates to the 1920's - and literalism twists the meaning of the text, in one way out of many, by insisting on the importance of words which were come about through poor translations. The word homosexual didn't even exist until the 1800's. And reading the Bible while ignoring the actual context - the original language, tradition, etc, etc, is much more lazy and innacurate than admitting that the Bible doesn't actually really address homosexuality at all.
excuse me, lol, I'm running on next to no sleep for the last two days - the word, I mean, was "pederasty". my brain is shutting down, haha ;)