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 Phil Robertson of A&E's "Duck Dynasty" has been suspended for his comments on homosexuality.
December 20th, 2013
11:23 AM ET
Does Phil Robertson get the Bible wrong?By Daniel Burke, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor (CNN) - The Robertson family of "Duck Dynasty" fame has rallied around its patriarch, saying his controversial comments on homosexuality are "grounded in the teachings of the Bible." But Scripture is fiercely contested ground, and some experts say Phil Robertson misinterprets a key Bible verse. A&E, the network that broadcasts the hugely popular "Duck Dynasty" show, suspended Robertson for a now infamous interview with GQ magazine. In the article, Robertson, who became a born-again Christian in the 1970s after a prodigal youth, is asked to define "sin." Here's what Robertson says: “Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men." Robertson, 67, then paraphrases a Bible passage from the New Testament: “Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers - they won’t inherit the kingdom of God.” That's a pretty close citation of 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, which is a letter from Paul, often called the father of Christianity theology, to a fledgling Christian community in Corinth, Greece. Here's what Paul's passage says, as rendered in the New International Version, by far the most popular translation among evangelicals and conservative Christians such as Robertson: "Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." Evangelicals, who make up about a quarter of the U.S. population, tend to take that passage at face value. The Robertson family pastor, for instance, told CNN on Thursday that "the verse explains itself." Robertson himself is no religious neophyte. He's an elder in the White's Ferry Road Church of Christ and offers spiritual counseling, charity and Bible studies to many in his hometown of West Monroe, Louisiana, the family pastor, Mike Kellett told CNN. The "Duck Dynasty" star also preaches around the country to conservatives that flock to hear his blend of woodsy, plainspoken Christianity. Many conservatives backed Robertson's views on Scripture and homosexuality this week, if not the "crude" way he argued his point to GQ. My Take: The Bible really does condemn homosexuality But other Bible experts said the Scripture Robertson cited isn't quite clear about homosexuality. "A lot of people misread this text because it's so complicated," said O. Wesley Allen Jr., an associate professor at Lexington Theological Seminary in Kentucky. First, scholars say, we have to look at the context surrounding Paul's letter. The Christian leader is trying to get the quarreling Corinthians to stop taking each other to civil courts and being judgmental. "The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already," Paul says. Things were supposed to be different after they became Christian believers, Paul continues; they were supposed to stop their sinful ways. Then Paul lists some of their sins of the past, including greed, drinking too much, worshipping idols and sexual immorality. "That is what some of you were," Paul says. "But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." The list of sins is likely based on rumors that Paul heard about Corinth, says Warren Throckmorton, a psychology professor at Grove City College in Pennsylvania who has studied the Bible's teachings on homosexuality. Bible scholars call it a "vice list," and it appears several times in Scripture. So what does Paul's "vice list" say about homosexuality? That's the tricky part. The first word Paul uses is "malakoi," which means "soft" in Greek, according to Allen. By analogy, the word came to mean "effeminate," which is how the King James Version of the Bible translates it. "In the ancient world, it would refer to a boy in a relationship with an older man," Allen said. "It was pederasty, not homosexuality as we think of it today." The other relevant word on Paul's "vice list" is "arsenokotai," which means "male sex." It refers to the other half in the man-boy relationship, common in Greece at the time, Allen said, the older male having sex with the "soft one." "It isn't anything to do with what we would see today in an intimate, mutual relationship between gay adults," said Allen, who is co-authoring an upcoming book on homosexuality and heterosexuality in the church. My Take: The Bible’s surprisingly mixed messages on sexuality Even so, scholars such as Allen acknowledge there are no Bible passages that support same-sex relationships, and at least seven that appear to condemn gay sex. "There's no way around the fact that those passages take a negative view of homosexuality, and nowhere in the Bible is a positive view offered," Allen said. "So conservatives and liberals continue to debate." Liberals say that some parts of the Bible offered particular truths for a specific times and places but those times and places, as well as human understanding of sexuality, have progressed dramatically. "The Bible may be divinely inspired, but its authors were human and saw, as St. Paul puts it, through a glass darkly," said Jim Naughton, a Christian gay rights activist and communications consultant. "On the subject of homosexuality, the Bible doesn’t mean what Phil Robertson thinks it means." Conservatives such as Robertson, on the other hand, argue that the Bible is the bedrock of their faith, unchanging and unalterable. "We want you to know that first and foremost we are a family rooted in our faith in God and our belief that the Bible is His word," the Robertson family said Thursday. For decades, the gulf between the two sides has divided denominations, churches and families. To paraphrase Lincoln, both sides read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and both invoke his aid to argue against each other. Which is why our contemporary debate over homosexuality is so fierce, and so seemingly unending. soundoff (5,719 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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God killed every Gay in sight when he destroyed Sodom&Gomorrah
thats right thats a true fact
Wrong.
Sodom was destroyed because of GREED.
Yes Greed in defying what God had set as Holy and Pure, and turning from a man to woman relationship to a man to man or woman to woman was part of that.. go visit the pillars of salt there.. archeology has time and time proven what written in the Bible as accurate
This entire scenario is nothing more than a brilliant PR move. Duck Dynasty will be back next year with even better ratings, more corollary Duck merchandise, and even bigger royalty agreements. I have no doubt that Phil Robertson will be the star of the show. Bravo to the PR genius who arranged the GQ interview.
Maybe. But I think when someone tells you flat out that they're a redneck...believe them. It would have been a total surprise if he felt otherwise.
Possibly. Or more likely, this whole thing will have blown over by then and all but the hard-core fans will have moved on to the Next Big Thing.
How old are you?
you can say what you want... that's everyone's right in this country... if you want to be gay then be gay... if you want to be a Christian be a Christian. right or wrong its going on today... men sleeping with men women sleeping with women... just because Phil has his belief does not mean everyone should be so upset... what you do is your decision... your free will and in the end the only one who has to answer for what you have done is you....
Well put C.S. Heck, I'm pretty sure they even allow blacks to vote in the south. Won't be long before they let blacks marry whites down there.
Truly a great nation.
Hey, SLY, WELCOME IN THE 21st CENTURY BRO!! HOW IS IT GOING IN YOUR 18th CENTURY?
Retarded article. There are many places in the Bible where gay choices are discussed and condemned. It doesn't matter if he got it wrong or right anyway. Many people don't know or care what the Bible says.. The point is freedom to speak and think..
In the New Testament, there is only one other passage that seems to reference ho/mose/xuality.
The "malakoi ar.senkotai" translation issue from Corinthians is pretty well addressed in the article, so we'll skip that.
The other passage is in Romans. A group of Christians turn apo.state and have a bi-se.xual or.gy with a bunch of pagans.
Do you think God would've been OK if it had been a hetero or.gy?
Stupidity like this is why cnn is dying. Mainstream media has become vintage media. A&e is making a huge mistake.. How hard is it to find a hit show? You can always find sponsors.
Why are you here?
LOL. Somehow I think you know what's really dying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0-04VDrCbM
Phil Robinson is correct being gay is a sin the passage is also meant to taken at face value I used the original King James Version that is the most accurate true Word of God. The New International Version is not as accurate it takes out many words including Jesus Christ God and many other words if you think I am wrong then do your own research and you will see I am NOT. I say thank you to Phil Robinson for speaking your beliefs openly and not being scared to share your opinion. God said they will hate you because they hated. me first that is speaking of the world
mark I,
So do you support slavery and beating helpless children too, or do you just hypocritically pick and choose from the Bible?
*crickets...*
Where does the bible say beating helpless children is okay? Where does it say slavery is okay?? The bible is harmonious, as far as beating children ( Prov 13:24 "whoever spares the rod, spoils their child", depending on the translation you read ) so perhaps this is the one you are thinking of, but 1 john 4:8 says "god is love", would a loving god tell us to beat their kids, well, Heb 12:6 ( god disciplines those whom he loves" ) .. every parent disciplines their child. It doesn't say beat a child. Now slaves, slavery did not have the same meaning as it does today. In the original greek, Hebrew language, slavery was a loving provision, however jesus recognized the term was changing into a negative meaning, how do we know this, John 15:15," I no longer call you slaves, but friends" .. the bible is harmonious, you have doubts about one scripture, find another to get the understanding
God personally kills millions of children, so it is not much of a stretch to think that he would be o.k. with beating them. In fact he even says that you should stone unruly children to death.
[KJV] "that is the most accurate true Word of God"
LOL!
The King James version of the new testament was completed in 1611 by 8 members of the church of England. There were (and still are) NO original texts to translate. The oldest manuscripts we have were written down 100's of years after the last apostle died. There are over 8,000 of these old manuscripts with no two alike. The king james translators used none of these anyway. Instead they edited previous translations to create a version their king and parliament would approve. So.... 21st century christians believe the "word of god" is a book edited in the 17th century from the 16th century translations of 8,000 contradictory copies of 4th century scrolls that claim to be copies of lost letters written in the 1st century.
how misled do you feel now?!?!
Not even close to being true, Dyslexic.
absolutely true my delusional friend.
and i guess two cities that were destroyed because of it means nothing either that's the sign of the times we live in it also predicts what will happen in the latter days which we are in they also fail to mention another saying of Paul Romans one there's is no way around that one
We hate you alright, but it's not what you think. It's because you're so damned smug about it. (and you're "speaking" for a deity...)
The Deity (GOD) who created you and me can pretty much do, say, think, act, behave any way he wants. It's his creation and we are under his rule. Pretty simple. But he's given us a choice to accept his foregiveness for our stubborness. We can continue being stubborn, reject his promise, and spend eternity in the lake of fire. Or accept his gift and be with him in paradise. In my mind, a very simple decision. And I don't even have to be a Bible scholar to come clean on that one.
Obviously if god is real he can do anything he wants, but that doesn't make any of it moral or mean that I have to agree with it. In fact all of Christianity is based on something that I consider to be immoral, and that is letting someone else take your punishment which I am sure you also think is immoral, except of course, when it comes to Jesus.
Or you could accept the gift of Jesus and end up in Viking hell with all the atheists.
Why does it matter? This guy is just an actor. he has no more, and no less, power or influence than most people do.
How important is it to speak freely without being punished?
Is it as important as the right to vote freely without being punished?
It doesn't matter which is more important, because we are guranteed both.
Listen the Holy Bible is not out to condemn anyone but rather to save us from us hurting ourselves.
you're like an abused spouse making excuses for your abuser ...
"Save us from us hurting ourselves" from those things it condemns us for, right?
Why don't you take out your concordance and cross reference all the things the Bible calls an "abomination" and get some perspective, or read this link:
http://www.dragonlordsnet.com/abomination.htm
Dr. Bart Ehrman is a Bible Scholar, Historian and a Christian Theologian, used to be a reborn again Christian. But for several reasons and contradictions in the Bible he left Christianity and is now an agnostic. In this video which contains several clips Dr. Ehrman talked about many issues.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twX5HlBDZEI
Dr. Ehrman, author of over 25 books including three college text books, received his PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary (magna cum laude). He is currently the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Dr. Erhman just concluded an all-day seminar entitled "The Other Gospels: Accounts of Jesus Outside the New Testament" which was held Dec. 7 at Smithsonian Institution's S. Dillon Ripley Center on the Mall in Washington, D.C.
So???? How is his opinion/interpretation more correct or incorrect than anyone else's? Even if I didn't believe in his opinions/interpretations it doesn't mean I dislike him or am against his right to speak his mind.
How is this different from Si or anyone else speaking their beliefs?
The man is considered an expert in understanding ancient texts. But with regard to how that understanding supports the Christian belief (or not), that is obviously involves faith. If you disagree with his interpretation of the texts, then I would suggest detailed where you have an issue. Personally I have a lot more issues with the alleged evidence supporting Christianity other than any particular interpretation.
Doris,
Nice try. This man's beliefs and teachings have been refuted by many real Bible Scholars. He is an apostate and their many out there like him trying to convince us that Jesus is not the Son of God and we don't need God... Well, they are wrong.
Really? Which scholars?
refuted by many real Bible Scholars
-----
LOL. The only "real" bible scholars are the one's that have the same position as you, right? Remember.......this mand IS a bible scholar. He has forgotten much more about religion than you'll ever know.
The ones that say we don't need god are certainly correct.
Worrying about how a book of fiction is interpreted and then basing our lives on it in 2013. Scary stuff.
The Word of God has more textual evidence than any other work period. NO book addresses the human condition as accurately and after 200+ years no one has been able to posit a logical argument against its validity. The "supposed" contradictions are not contradictions at all simply people not willing to investigate the text.
Yup, reminds me of Trekkies.
Sad!
Would make me reconsider why I would dismiss it. 2000 years and still be talked about... maybe there's some TRUTH in it! Better take another look.
a gay liberal explaining it away... yea ok
Gee, it's almost like you think being "gay" or "liberal" is a bad thing. 😉
Because these are simply his beliefs, and they weren't delivered in a hateful, mean spirited or nasty way, I think it is up to the rest of us to be more tolerant. The hate being directed back at him is what is making me cringe right now. And I firmly disagree with his POV. Because I disagree doesn't give me license to hate.
Who really fiver a crap!
A&E doesn't want their brand to be associated with hatred, bigotry, and ignorance.
They did the right thing in firing Phil.
A&E is owned by gaygews
Disney-ABC are gaygews??
They didnt fire him and they are going to reverse the "suspension". You think they are going to fire a character from the #1 rated show on television? Go take your liberal agenda to Rachel Maddow buddy!
a very sad indication of the intelligence level of this country that this is the number 1 show.
Have you watched the show?
Bob, you talk about ignorance while you set yourself up as the epitome of it. Do you not think that this street goes two ways? Do you not realize that everyone is advocating some lifestyle to the detriment of the other? Gays are looking to win over as many as possible to their persuasion too... They forcefully state their beliefs and opinions too. Don't be small-minded.
Why is private censorship holier than government censorship?
What's the rationale for this distinction?
Is being beaten by a private individual holier than being beaten by a cop?
Who was beaten here?
Who was censored?
He didn't loose his right to free speech, he lost his job.
My point is: when you're assaulted, who did the assautl is irrelevant.
The distinction between private and government is irrelevant.
Why should the distinction be relevant when you are censored?
it is an artificial distinction.
The Bible is neither right nor wrong. It is authoritative on nothing. People believe in it and use it to confirm their prejudices – prejudices regarding God, history, the world and people. They are misled about as often as someone who relies on a ouija board.
well said!
The bible had nothing to do with prejudice. It's about tolerance and love
Especially the parts where God command His followers to slauighter villages of pagans.
Can you cite the source? Its not from The New Testament...and I'm guessing you have NO idea what that distinction means.
you obviously have not read all of the bible.
what an ignorant statement!
Well stated and precisely the reason one should keep ones beliefs to themselves. It is a belief and that is personal, but not neccessarily correct.
The Bible is total B S.
End of story.
You forgot "in my opinion" at the beginning of your comment.
When anyone presents a book of fairytales to the world claiming it to be the infallible word of God, the burden of proof is on them.
No proof whatsoever has ever been presented for the truth of the many tall tales in the bible.
Should we give Christians another couple thousand years to present proof or should we just call it what it is, B S?
I want to hear your slander Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and Shintos the way you do Christians. I want to hear you call their faiths "fairytale BS" and then tell the world you are not a bigot.
Bob, You truly are the epitome of ignorance. Any fool can Google Bible history and archaeology and find ample proof that the Bible is true in what we can see. They have found over 25,000 ANCIENT manuscripts of the New Testament alone and not to even mention the Dead Sea scrolls in that. Stop peddling lies.
Invicta they are fairy tale bs as well.
The evidence points to it being mainly BS.
it's clearly BS, no opinion needed.
Merry Christmas! Oh I'm sorry did that offend you?
No, everyone realized you were just being petty.
Merry Christmas to you too 🙂
Just guessing, but I'm assuming your B.S. meant Beautifully Stated.
LOL....ok dude. good luck with that.
You can argue this forevever but being African American you can't argue about his comments that we loved working in cotton fields and whistling dixie. How can you defend that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You can't.
But they'll keep trying.
Duck says that the African Americans loved being slaves.
And when his Daddy, the KKK Grand Dagon, used to hang the blacks from trees, you should've seen their big watermelon smiles.
All blacks really respect the KKK and racist whites, and good Duck was just pointing this out to us.
His grandson is African American. You are very, very ignorant.
To be fair he said he never saw mistreatment and that African Americans he knew seemed happy.
So, what about his comment, "we're with the blacks, we're white trash."?
How would you know? Were you there? Did you live in that era? Were you on his cotton field? He only gave an insight as to HIS experience.
Actually, he didn't say that, you just twisted his words. He was saying that blacks, in general, were better off during those times. And to that there's a legitimate discussion to be had. Were blacks better off without a 70-80% illegitimacy rate? Without the black on black violence? Without the ridiculously high incarceration rate among young black men? The problem is that we no longer want to have serious discussions, we simply want to label people we disagree with, so that we can avoid the issues, and comfort ourselves with smug self-righteousness.
Sir,
The blacks that were around working with him in the cotton field were happy. He didn't know any blacks that were "unhappy".. He never said either way if black in whole were happy or unhappy.. We can have our own opinions on that now in this time , 2013 that they weren't happy as a whole. Fact is. You don't know, I don't know.. how every "black" felt during crowe. However, Phil's memory of working those fields is and was his opinion...... Got it..? Great 🙂
He said he had not seen nor heard any complaints from the black people he knew or worked along side in the fields with. His comment does not appear to say that all blacks loved the societal environment and or Jim Crow. His comment pertains to his little world around himself. Don't try to take his little comment and extend it to all black people.
Be thankful for your opportunities you have now instead of living in grass huts like your relatives
I wrote a comment on yahoo stating the same thing. People use this book as the "word"of god but with their own interpretation. this guy is a prime suspect of that. He's drawn all of same haters out of their holes to defend him,people who love to hate anyone that does not agree with them.