twisted brother

Let me preface this question by stating that I am absolutely, completely serious about this question. It is not meant to be inflammatory. It may inflame you if you hate homosexuality, but then, that's a personal problem.

Was Jesus gay?

1. His father did not have sex with his mother to produce him. Homosexuality is hereditary, so perhaps his father was not inclined to have intercourse with a woman. Maybe Joseph and god made a deal. He did have siblings, but they were barely mentioned, so their origins are not discussed.

2. He prefers the company of men. If he was truly egalitarian, and loved everyone equally, how was it that there were no female apostles?

3. He spent extensive, intimate time with his apostles. He went camping with them, traveled with them, ate with them, and spent much of his life with them.

4. He never showed a romantic interest in women. Perhaps he was "above" having a sexual relationship, but didn't he have a need for intimacy? He ate, he sleeped, he demonstrated many of the physical needs and emotions of lowly humans, so did he not need or desire intimacy, sexual or otherwise?

Could it have been so?

Toto

I think you have posted an argument for Jesus being asexual, not gay. And if Joseph was not Mary's biological father, Jesus would not have inherited any of his tendencies.

I see two possibilities:

1) Jesus did not exist, and this asexuality is more evidence that he was not real. Devout Jews were supposed to marry and procreate

2) We know that women were prominent in early Christianity. Paul speaks of women supporters and converts. So it is possible that Jesus' women disciples were edited out by later misogynist church fathers, surviving only in the character of Mary Magdalene.

If you are interested in the topic of whether Jesus was gay, google "Secret Mark". There is a Secret Mark Homepage.

Magus55

or maybe possibility 3)

Jesus was God, and didn't come to earth to have intimate relationships - he had no need for them since premarital sex is a sin, and God has no need to marry.

Roland

I AM GAY, SO IN MANY WAYS, I WOULD LIKE NOTHING BETTER THAN TO BELIEVE THAT JESUS WERE GAY, BUT I BELBIEVE A NUMBER OF YOUR ASSERTIONS ARE FAULTY.

1. His father did not have sex with his mother to produce him. Homosexuality is hereditary, so perhaps his father was not inclined to have intercourse with a woman. Maybe Joseph and god made a deal. He did have siblings, but they were barely mentioned, so their origins are not discussed.

WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA THAT HOMOSEXUALITY IS "HEREDITARY"? THE VAST MAJORITY OF GAY PEOPLE COME FROM STRAIGHT PARENTS - MYSELF INCLUDED.

2. He prefers the company of men. If he was truly egalitarian, and loved everyone equally, how was it that there were no female apostles?

STRANGELY ENOUGH, MANY GAY MEN PREFER THE COMPANY OF WOMEN, EVEN THOUGH THEY DON'T INTERACT WITH THEM SEXUALLY. STRAIGHT MEN ARE ALSO HIGHLY INCLINED TO HANG AROUND WITH THEIR "BUDDIES" - MUCH TO THE CHAGRIN OF THEIR COMPLAINING WIVES.

3. He spent extensive, intimate time with his apostles. He went camping with them, traveled with them, ate with them, and spent much of his life with them.

SEE THE ANSWER ABOVE.

4. He never showed a romantic interest in women. Perhaps he was "above" having a sexual relationship, but didn't he have a need for intimacy? He ate, he sleeped, he demonstrated many of the physical needs and emotions of lowly humans, so did he not need or desire intimacy, sexual or otherwise?

MEN WHO TAKE VOWS OF CELIBACY ARE NOT UNHEARD OF IN MANY RELIGIONS.

twisted brother

ROLAND, YOUR ALL CAPS IS OFFENSIVE. I DID NOT YELL AT YOU SO DON'T YELL AT ME. IF YOU DIDN'T MEAN TO YELL, TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.

Actually, there have been studies to show that homosexuality is hereditary, I'll get to work looking them up. And of course, Roland, most homosexuals are born to heterosexuals. That would be the most likely way for people to have babies. Heredity is not limited to the parents, heredity is an influence of all of the genetic heritage of the parents. It is possible to inherit something from your mother which was not realized in her.

In fact:
http://health.discovery.com/centers/...sexuality.html

And while it may be the case that gay men like the company of women, they must prefer men over all - because they are gay. That is the definition of homosexuality is they play hide the weasel with other men, even if they like to shop with women.

And finally, Roland, I think that vows of celibacy are complete bullshit. Not only does there seem to be quite a few pedophile priests who tried to leave their sexuality behind and couldn't, but there are many, many, many homosexual priests who take the vow and break it. I know from extensive, first hand experience. Jesus never iterated a vow of celibacy.

And Magus55, you speak more to my point: if he ate, slept, peed, pooped, got popped outta Mary, and rode on a donkey, why do you think he didn't have sexual relations? Does it say he didn't expressly? Or does it just not say?

Toto: I'm sorry, I have a tendency to be indirect and simply imply what I mean.
I mean if he went into the wilderness with his chums and got a little delirious from lack of water, and they slept out in the open, and it gets cold in the desert at night, they mighta huddled together and...well, if you ever huddled together with a bunch of guys at night, trying to stay warm, you'd know.


I actually requested this thread be killed because right out of the box, it was pointed out to me that my first statement was flawed (funny, but flawed).

Calzaer

This is sort of like debating whether or not Optimus Prime was gay, in that neither he nor Jesus WAS EVER A REAL PERSON. Geeze.

Toto

I think the gospels show that he went into the wilderness alone for 40 days. Otherwise he preached to large crowds of men and women, and stayed in the houses of friends and supporters.

That is, if you believe any of it.

Asha'man

I'll raise your speculation a notch, twisted brother.

Who exactly was the naked young man who fled when Jesus was arrested, and why was he naked? (Mark 14:51-52)

And who exactly was the desciple "whom Jesus loved" (John 21:7), why would you single out one desciple as being loved differently than the rest, and how exactly did he love this desciple?

I think you may be on to something here....

Asha'man

Ask the question this way: was there ever a point in the evolution of the story where Jesus was implied to be gay. Forget the real person, focus only on the history of the story.

I should point out that homosexual relations weren't that uncommon in Greek society (or anywhere the Greeks had significant cultural influence). What's the old Roman quote, a boy for loving and a woman for having children?

The story of Jesus places him in Egypt for a number of years, and Egypt had a strong Hellenistic influence at the time. Many of the ideas that Jesus supposedly spoke of are clearly more similar to Greek philosophy than to Jewish philosophy. And what language was everything written down in?

What might the early readers have believed about their new savior?

Spaz

Well with what asha'man said, it certainly wouldn't be absurd to say that the jesus character might have had sex with men. But as with the greeks, he wouldn't really be "gay" so to speak, because certainly the greeks weren't considered so, they just had guys for pleasure, and women for babies, it was part of their culture. That part of his life certainly isn't emphasised much in the bible though, and being a character in a story, characteristics not stated in the story don't exist.