Subject: Re: new translation of genesis -- basically, gays & ye ole Bible
From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 27 Aug 1996 13:43:47 -0400

Jessea kindly posted news of a new translation of Genesis, but I thought I'd
add a few citations on retranslating and reinterpreting the Bible for any who
are interested in knowing more about the actual language of the Bible and,
particlarly, gay themes in the Bible.  The following are pieces that I cited
in an honors thesis on "A Lesbian Interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures"
(that's the so-called Old testament for us Christians).

There are of course many other sources out there on "The Bible and
Homosexuality 101".  (John Boswell, Bishop Spong come to mind.)

I apologize in advance for rampant typos.

"Twice Blessed: On Being Lesbian or Gay and Jewish", editied by Chrisite
Balka and Andy Rose, has a couple of pieces specifically on interpretation of
the Levitical passages stating that to "lie with a man as you would wih a
woman" is an "abomination".  There's also a lot on just growing up
gay/lesbian in the Jewish community/religion, being a rabbi, etc.

"On Being a Jewish Feminist: A Reader" (edited by Susannah Heschel) features
an article by Batya Baumann on "Women-Identified Women in Male-Identified
Judaism".

"Doctrinal Congregation/Revised Text Responding to Legislative Proposals on
Discrimination Against Homosexuals" (Origins: CNS Documentary Service, Vol.
22, No. 10 from August 1992) gives the Catholic Church's stated opinion on
gays, law, gaybashing, and society, as penned by the Pope's right-hand man,
Navarro-Falls.  Don't read this unless you have some Rolaids with you.

Howard Eilberg-Schwartz wrote an article entitled "Mesntrual Blood, Seme, and
Discharge: the Fluid Symbolism of the Body" in a book called "The Savage in
Judiasm."  This actually does not discuss homosexuality, but does give
excellent background on ancient Israelite understanding (as written in the
Bible) of sex, sexuality, and the sacredness or lack thereof of the human
body and human activities.  It ties in rather well.

Margaret Farley's "Feminist Consciousness and the Interpretation of
Scripture" in "Feminist Interpretation of the Bible" (edited by Letty M.
Russell) is about just what it says.  I found this also useful as background.

Phyllis Trible, the goddess of Chrisitan retranslation of Hebrew text, has
two books to offer: "God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality" re-evaluates the Eden
stories and various other passages by going back to the Hebrew and analyzing
the original language meanings and the literary structure of the texts.
 Interestingly, much of her analysis was incorporated into the New Standard
revised Version of the (Christian) Bible.  She also wrote "Texts of Terror:
Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives", using the same methodolgy
as that in "God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality", but this time examining
passages that she found to be irredeemable for women, even from a feminist
interpretation, except as points of departure for further movements to
equality.

Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, a reformed Christian fundamentalist and born-again
lesbian, wrote "Sensuous Spirituality: Out from Fundamentalism."  As I
recall, this book doesn't do too much with scriptural exegesis, but I might
be mis-remembering.  However, it does deal a lot with religious faith.

Carter Heyward, one of the first Episcopal female priests ordained
(originally without the permission of the Episcopal church -- an Episcopal
bishop "illegally" ordained her ad several other women in Philadelphia quite
some time ago), has written numerous books on faith and social justice,
including "Touching Our Strength: the Erotic as Power and the Love of God"
and (my favorite) "Our Passion for Justice" - especially the piece on
"Sexuality, Love, and Justice."  She is, by the way, a lesbian.

Mary Hunt, another out lesbian theologian, penned "Fierce Tenderness: A
Feminist Theology of Friendship," which re-evaluates the Christian and Jewish
ideal of a heterosexual dyad as the primary sacred relationship through which
to express love for God, family, and community.  As you can tell from the
title, she substitutes friendship (on all levels) as a better primary sacred
relationship.

Judith Plaskow published what I consider to be one the major texts on
Biblical scripture and women, analyzing women's place (or lack trhereof, in
Israel's relationship with God.  There's also several juicy tidbits about
lesbians.  It's titled, "Standing Again at Sinai: Judiasm from a Feminist
Perspective."  This is a must-read.

Renita Weems published "Just A Sister Away: A Womanist Revision of the
Bible," which reinterprets several Biblical passages from a Black American
womanist perspective.  This is fantastic for inspiration, but a little fast
and loose with actual scriptural text.  It's not __inaccurate__, just
loosely-connected.

Various Jewish sources and texts are always important to interpretation of
scripture, including the Jewish Publication Society's commentaries, the Union
of American Hebrew Congregation's English and Hebrew version of the
Pentateuch (edited by Ginther Plaut) that includes various nifty snippets
from the Talmud, modern rqabbis, and other commentators on scriptural
passages and historical context.  Nahum Sarna (not my favorite guy, but
still) has published several books analyzing Geneis, Exodus, etc., usually
titled "Exploring Gensis", "Exploring Exodus", etc.  I find that it's
interesting to site with the Torah, the King james version of the Bible, and
the Standard revised Version or New Standard revised Version of the Bible
side by side and compare -- oh, not just actual translations, but even what
each editor finds important to footnote and how they do so.  However, I admit
this exercise is mostly for the addict.

All you people out there who've been screeching about someone's soul being
"black as ink" as an non-racist epithet (yeah, right), are probably wondering
why I've consulted so much Jewish, female, and non-white sources for this
little bibliography.  Well, IMHO: 1) Jewish texts are understandably more
devoted to better translation of the Hebrew. 2) Feminist, womanist, and
mujerista scholars and activists have done more to advance the cause -- for
better or for worse -- of comprehensively analyzing the Bibles (both Jewish
and Christian) than all the Popes and all the bishops put together over the
past two thousand years.  3) The communities creating liberation theology --
James Cone, Gustavo Gutierrez, Delores Williams, and various other
representatives whose names I'm blocking right now -- are the only modern
equivalents to the ancient Israelites and early Christians in terms of
economic and political positioning -- basically, small communities fighting
against oppression. Protestant and Catholic churches, at least in this
country, are just not in this position  on the whole, although I'm aware that
various congregations are losing numbers, various fundamentalist scream that
their religious rights are being abridged, etc., etc.