{"id":1324,"date":"2010-05-03T11:06:00","date_gmt":"2010-05-03T11:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2010\/05\/biblical-evidence-that-50-of-homosexuals-will-be-raptured\/"},"modified":"2010-05-03T11:06:00","modified_gmt":"2010-05-03T11:06:00","slug":"biblical-evidence-that-50-of-homosexuals-will-be-raptured","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2010\/05\/biblical-evidence-that-50-of-homosexuals-will-be-raptured.html","title":{"rendered":"Biblical Evidence that 50% of Homosexuals Will Be Raptured"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Here\u2019s another example of how a literal reading of the English Bible is relevant to the question of homosexuality and salvation, considered from a conservative Christian viewpoint. The King James Version of Luke 17:34-35<\/a> reads:<\/p>\n

I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pretty clear, isn\u2019t it? Roughly one out of every two homosexuals will be raptured!<\/p>\n

For\u00a0many readers, this is probably an old joke they had heard before. But it does illustrate an important and serious point. Words change in their meaning, the connotation of English words in their contemporary usage provides a dubious ground for determining \u201cwhat the Bible says,\u201d and cultural context is relevant. There are cultures today in which two men sleeping in the same bed has none of the sexual connotations it does for American readers of the King James Bible.<\/p>\n

But perhaps we should set aside such concerns, and encourage so-called Biblical literalists to take these verses at face value and believe them literally\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s another example of how a literal reading of the English Bible is relevant to the question of homosexuality and salvation, considered from a conservative Christian viewpoint. The King James Version of Luke 17:34-35 reads: I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBiblical Evidence that 50% of Homosexuals Will Be Raptured<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here's another example of how a literal reading of the English Bible is relevant to the question of homosexuality and salvation, considered from a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2010\/05\/biblical-evidence-that-50-of-homosexuals-will-be-raptured.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Biblical Evidence that 50% of Homosexuals Will Be Raptured\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here's another example of how a literal reading of the English Bible is relevant to the question of homosexuality and salvation, considered from a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2010\/05\/biblical-evidence-that-50-of-homosexuals-will-be-raptured.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. 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