Then there is a third account, recorded in the First Book of Samuel, about the bond of friendship between David and Jonathan, Saul's son. In fact, after David's victory over Goliath and his meeting with Saul, we read: "When he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul" (1 Sm 18:1; cf. 18:3; 19:1; 20:4ff.). And after Jonathan's death in battle, David mourns him in lyrical words: "Your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women" (2 Sm 1 :26).
Certain advocates of homosexuality would be satisfied to find a biblical foundation for it. But it would not be honest to omit certain clarifications of a philological and cultural nature. With regard to the first text cited, two observations must be made: one concerns the image of a soul closely linked to another (expressed by the Hebrew verb qashar), to suggest a relationship of the most intense love; well, this also occurs elsewhere with regard both to the love of the Canaanite Shechem for Dinah, the daughter of Jacob (cf. Gn 34:3ff.), and Jacob's own love for his son Benjamin (cf. Gn 44:30f.), which turns out to be no more than a mere, though very expressive, metaphor. The other observation concerns the phrase "he loved him as himself", which recalls Lv 19:18, where the people are enjoined to love their neighbour (meaning probably their compatriots) as themselves. (Some have preferred to translate it: "Love your neighbour because he is like you"), even if the case in question concerns a special relationship. With regard to the second text, it is true that in the manuscript tradition of the Vulgate the Latin "super amorem mulierum" created difficulties for some copyists, who altered it to "sicut mater unicum amat filium", referring instead to maternal love; but the text refers precisely to that type of love which God has instilled in his creatures and is so strong that it makes one forget father and mother (cf. Gn 2:24), but which in our case is recalled merely as an example. It is moreover significant that in ancient Jewish tradition, no mention is made of a homosexual interpretation of the story. In short, the texts concerning the relationship between David and Jonathan are a testimony to the experience of a strong, tender friendship, no different from other classical texts about Orestes and Pylades, Euryalus and Nisus, Cloridano and Medoro, and in the Old Testament itself, the two women Naomi and Ruth (cf. Rt 1:16f.). On the other hand, the relationship between David and Jonathan is also based on a military alliance made in the Lord's name (cf. 1 Sm 18:4; 20:8; 14-16).
Concluding remarks
Putting aside then the friendship of David and Jonathan, which does not properly belong to our case studies, the Bible's tough, not to say harsh, tone with homosexuality is surprising. But here an explanation seems necessary. We must not of course adopt the Bible's primitive attitude of drastic harshness, or we would end up requesting the death penalty for those who succumbed even once to this weakness. A homosexual who yields to his inclinations is no more guilty than an adulterer, especially if his behaviour is due to a particular psychological or even physical disposition. But to distance ourselves from this rather crude and primitive mentality does not mean to reject the moral principles and guidelines it reflects. In the Old Testament these are not as clear as they are in the New Testament and in later moral reflection. The Old Testament laws we have examined express, more than anything else, a preoccupation with acts which, should they gain a foothold, would threaten to destroy society. Nonetheless we can say that certain ethical principles, which will be better formulated later on, are already clearly, though implicitly, expressed in the Old Testament.
This appears even more clearly, if we consider the overall message about sexuality presented in the Bible, which we can only briefly mention here. It concerns the doctrine of the complementarity of the human couple created by God in his own image. It is not right to say, as did Philo of Alexandria, and has sometimes been maintained in the past, that for the Bible the only purpose of sexuality is conception and reproduction. The couple is created in God's image also for the love they express and achieve: the love of spouses which first spreads within the family, to create for the children brought into the world that atmosphere and spiritual warmth to which they have a right and which, they particularly need in their early years; the love which, by multiplying families with internal harmony, creates a society as the divine plan intends it to be.
It can also be pointed out that God's plan for sexuality and for society also includes demands of renunciation and sacrifice. Not only are the sacrifices of married couples needed to put this plan into action (including sometimes the sacrifice of being faithful to one's partner), but also the sacrifices of those who are celibate by choice or necessity: although they possess the normal sexual instincts, they are called to sublimate them for the good of society, or because of their particular situations or because they have accepted the mission of renouncing them in order to be better able to help others in fulfilling their mission. Jesus will explain all these things better in the New Testament.
But perhaps the greatest misfortune today is not that of homosexuality or adultery, which nevertheless cause or hasten the ruin of so many couples and families. There have always been weaknesses of this kind among men and women, proof of the deep wound inflicted on human nature by original sin. But there is also redemption: by becoming incarnate, the Word of God took on our own nature in order to heal it. It is important to open ourselves to him in faith, accepting the salvation he came to offer us. To do this, we must acknowledge that we are sinners and turn to him as our true Saviour. Indeed, without a sense of sin we are aware only of our own selfish needs. But the blame for this should not be placed so much on homosexuals as on man in general, who by eliminating the sense of sin, also eliminates the perception of his own moral limits, a perception that could instead offer him a smoother way towards self-fulfilment by a humble and trusting openness to the Redeemer's grace.
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Homosexuality - 3