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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE December 18, 1992

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Two places in the Bible where gay love is praised

Continued from the previous page

Testament. The story of David--the same David who killed Goliath and became the great King--and Jonathan is the most romantic story in the Bible (I Samue 1:18 II Samuel 1).

Jonathan was the son of King Saul, and probably the heir to the throne. When he first met David, it is said that, "The soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul." (I Samuel 18:1) It says that he and David made a "covenant" (a kind of committed relationship) with one another, and that Jonathan gave David his royal robe, his armor, and his weapons. When King Saul later turned against David, Jonathan tried to get his father to change his mind, and then betrayed his father by telling David. Eventually Jonathan helped David to flee, after a touching farewell of embraces, kisses, and tears. King Saul was furious and some scholars believe he accused Jonathan of having a sexual relationship with David. (I Samuel 20:30). David and Jonathan never saw one another again, but when Saul and Jonathan were later killed in battle, David wrote a song of mourning that includes these words: "I am distressed for you my brother Jonathan; greatly beloved were you to me; your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women" (II Samuel 1:26). None of this "proves" that David and Jonathan ever had sex together, but it does show that two men can be in love, and that it's okay.

The story of Ruth and Naomi

"Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people will be my people, and your God my God. Where you

die, I will die, and there I will be buried" (Ruth 1:16-17). It is not uncommon to hear these words read at weddings. The strange thing is that they were originally spoken by one woman to another!

Ruth was the great-grandmother of David, and had originally come from the country of Moab. Naomi was her motherin-law. Both of their husbands were dead, but instead of following custom and returning to her family, Ruth decided to move back to Israel with Naomi. There aren't any indications that the two women were lovers, but they loved one another deeply enough for Ruth to commit herselfto Naomi in a relationship as binding as a marriage. So here, too, the Bible shows that it is okay for two women to love one another and be committed to one another.

Most Christians have misused the Bible and followed the mistake of the Pharisees. Their fears of gays have influenced them to misunderstand and to close their minds. For Jesus, love was what mattered the most. The Bible approves same-gender love, and sex is the natural expression of such love. The Bible disapproves of unloving sex, under any circumstances.

This is an abridged version of an article which appeared in More Light Update, the monthly newsletter of Presbyterians for Lesbian and Gay Concerns, a group of ministers, elders, deacons, and members of the Presbyterian Church, USA. Write the newsletter at P.O. Box 38, New Brunswick, NJ 08903-0038. (The Cleveland chapter can be reached at 382-0507.) The author revised this piece with the assistance of Doug Calderwood and Stuart Smith. Reprinted with permission from the Washington Blade.

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