ONE PAGE
CHEAT SHEETS
FOR ALL SIX CLOBBER PASSAGES

GENESIS 19

LEVITICUS 18 and 20

ROMANS 1
RETHINKING OUR MISUSE OF
THE BIBLE ON HOMOSEXUALITY 1 CORINTHIANS 6


1 TIMOTHY 1

by COLBY MARTIN
 Greetings Friend!



Thanks for downloading my free resource:

UNCLOBBER ONE PAGE CHEAT SHEETS.

In this free PDF, I’ve distilled some of the major ideas from my
book as it relates to the six Clobber Passages, giving you a quick
one-stop shop for understanding how the Christian church has
historically misused the Bible when it comes to homosexuality.

Each page below covers a different passage by outlining:

1) How it’s traditionally been used to Clobber LGBTQ people

2) Why I think that’s been a misuse

3) A better way to understand the Clobber Passages

By no means is this comprehensive—for that, I recommend

reading the entire chapter devoted to each passage in my book,
UnClobber: Rethinking Our Misuse of the Bible on Homosexuality.

This is a free resource, so please feel empowered to share the

link on the final page and help others know that God fully loves,
accepts, welcomes, and celebrates
LGBTQ individuals!

Love and light to you,

Colby MARTIN

author of UnClobber
 Full Passage

GENESIS 19 “The LORD has found the cries of injustice so serious that the Genesis 19:1-29
A City Destroyed for Sin LORD sent us to destroy it.” -Genesis 19:13



Traditional interpretation Why that’s a misuse How to UnClobber it.

used to Clobber gay people of this passage A better way forward

PASSAGE RECAP IT’S NOT ABOUT KNOW OUR CALLING

HOMOSEXUALITY

presented by COLBY MARTIN

‣ God destroyed these ancient cities
‣ Israel was called to be a people
because of their rampant
‣ The male characters in the story are who embodied hospitality and
sinfulness.
not gay. They are power hungry sought justice for the oppressed.
‣ Central to their iniquities was monsters who wanted to gang-rape The destruction of Sodom and
homosexuality, evidenced by the foreigners. Gomorrah was a story passed on as
the men of Sodom wanting to have a warning should they forget their
sex with the male/angelic visitors. calling.
THE BIBLE EXPLAINS THIS
JUSTIFICATION FOR
STORY FOR US
DISCRIMINATION EMBRACE RADICAL
HOSPITALITY
‣ LGBTQ individuals are a threat to ‣ The Bible explains the “sins of
the well being of society. Sodom” for us in multiple places. ‣ In what ways do we today neglect
the call to radical hospitality? May
‣ God destroyed cities for it, and God ‣ Homosexuality is never mentioned.
we always open ourselves up to the
still punishes societies today that Rather, the focus is on pride and
failure to show hospitality. needs of the outsiders, the
tolerate LGBTQ activity. marginalized, and the outcast.

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“The point of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is that the people of God are called Learn more in
XXXX FUN FACT:
Other cultures had Genesis 19 type stories,

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to be people who receive the outcast and the outsiders… not create them.” Chapter 4 aka,“divine beings visit wicked cities and destroy
them.” See: Baucis and Philemon.
 Full Passage

Leviticus 18&20 “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; Leviticus 18:22 & 20:13
It is an Abomination it is an abomination” -Leviticus 18:22



Traditional interpretation Why that’s a misuse How to UnClobber it.

used to Clobber gay people of this passage A better way forward

PASSAGE RECAP BAD TRANSLATION SACRED CALLING

presented by COLBY MARTIN

‣ Two verses in Levitical law declare a ‣ The Hebrew word (toevah) did not
imply, “vile, gross, or subhuman.” ‣ The idea of Leviticus was that Israel
specific type of same-sex activity
between two men as toevah (in was to live differently from those
‣ Toevah was about a violation of
Hebrew), a.k.a. an “abomination.” around them when they entered the
cultural boundaries, not objective
offenses that are inherently wrong. promised land. This was a calling to
be holy, “set apart,” so as to reveal
JUSTIFICATION FOR
to the world the true heart and
NOT UNIVERSAL
DISCRIMINATION nature of God.
‣ The prohibition is about a specific
‣ Used as the basis for an OT ban act, not any/all same-sex activity.
against any/all same-sex sex acts. LIVING HOLY TODAY
‣ No prohibition against lesbians.
‣ If God called it “sinful” back then,
then surely it will always be so. HOW IS THIS FOR US? ‣ This calling remains for us today.
We are now the lights of the world.
‣ “Abomination” means vile, gross,
subhuman. This word has armed ‣ Leviticus was written for the Jewish What might it look like to live
the church with justification to see people as they entered the promised differently from the culture around
land. Not for us, 3,000 years later. us?
LGBTQ individuals as “less than.”

XXX
“When it comes to questioning the sinfulness of people born with same sex attraction, XXX FUN FACT:
Moses acknowledged to Pharaoh that the
or the sinfulness of a gay couple living together in a loving relationship, these two Learn more in
verses in Leviticus simply do not help. They are not trying to answer those questions.” Chapter 6 XXX Jewish worship of Yahweh was “toevah”
(an abomination) to the Egyptians.
 “The males traded natural sexual relations with females Full Passage

Romans 1 Romans 1:26,27

Abandoning what is Natural and burned with lust for each other.” -Romans 1:27



Traditional interpretation Why that’s a misuse How to UnClobber it.

used to Clobber gay people of this passage A better way forward

PASSAGE RECAP RIPPED OUT OF CONTEXT RESTORE INTENT

presented by COLBY MARTIN

‣ Paul describes both men and ‣ These two verses are part of a larger ‣ This clobber passage was part of a
thing Paul was doing in Romans 1,
women who turned their back on larger effort from Paul to unify
which was part of a larger thing he
God and exchanged natural Christians in Rome who were
was doing with the letter altogether:
relations for unnatural ones. fractured along ethnic lines.
attempting to unify Jewish and
Gentile Christians in Rome. ‣ We have to know why Paul wrote
JUSTIFICATION FOR
Romans (to bring unity) or we’ll
‣ The point of this passage was never understand these two verses.
DISCRIMINATION expose Jewish prejudice against
A simple reading isn’t enough.
Gentiles and level the playing field,
‣ Used as Biblical support for labeling so as to bring everyone together.
homosexuality as “unnatural.”
OWNING PREJUDICE
‣ Lesbians are finally mentioned (and NOT PAUL’S PERSPECTIVE
equally condemned). ‣ The church needs to bring to the
‣ These aren’t Paul’s beliefs on the surface its long-held prejudice
‣ Homosexuality is a broken state that sinfulness of homosexuality. He against LGBTQ individuals.
is a result of people turning their borrowed rhetoric from common
backs on God and chasing their Jewish sources which were originally ‣ Once named/owned we can repent
own desires. written to be anti-Gentile. & begin efforts for reconciliation.

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“In a tragic twist, these words—originally written in an attempt to unify two fractured
XXXX FUN FACT:
Early church fathers interpreted Paul’s

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groups—have been misused to justify the division and support the enmity between Learn more in “unnatural sex” to be sex-acts that were non-
Chapter 8 procreative (not “same-sex” acts).
the church and the LGBTQ community.”
 “Do not be deceived… male prostitutes, sodomites… Full Passage

1 COR 6 & 1 TIM 1 1 Cor 6:9-10; 1 Tim 1:9-10

Will Not Inherit the Kingdom will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” -1 Corinthians 6:9



Traditional interpretation Why that’s a misuse How to UnClobber it.

used to Clobber gay people of this passage A better way forward

PASSAGE RECAP TRANSLATION ISSUES WHAT’S REALLY AT STAKE

‣ Translators can’t decide on how to

presented by COLBY MARTIN

‣ These two poorly mistranslated
‣ In two different letters, Paul writes handle two Greek words—one of words refer to those who exploit
out a list of sins and includes which Paul seemed to create others for sex, who sell themselves
“homosexuality” as something that (making it hard to know for certain). for sex, or where there is an
excludes you from the Kingdom.
‣ Some translations go with behavior imbalance in power.
(aka, “men who have sex with
‣ If there is exploitive or transactional
JUSTIFICATION FOR
men”), others go with identity (aka, sex between two people of the
DISCRIMINATION “homosexuals”). same gender, that is incompatible
with life in the Kingdom.
SPECIFIC, NOT GENERAL
‣ This makes the Bible “clear” that
homosexuality is a sin. ‣ Paul was naming specific kinds of
CONSISTENCY
same-sex behavior, he was not
‣ Not worse than other sins, perhaps, saying that any/all sex acts ‣ Let’s call all people—regardless of
but nonetheless still sinful. their sexual orientation—to a life of
between two men/women are sinful
equity, mutual respect, and love.
‣ Same-sex behavior is incompatible
‣ A person’s sexual identity is not May all people strive for a healthy
with a life lived for God.
what is at stake in these verses. sexual ethic together.

XXXXX
“The next time someone asks you, “do you think homosexuality is a sin,”
try responding with, “do you think heterosexuality is a sin?” This often helps people
XXXXX FUN FACT:
The ancient world used the term “eunuch” to
Learn more in
XXXXX
name castrated males and males who showed
think through a “sometimes yes/sometimes no” sexual ethic for all people, Chapter 10 no sexual interest in women.
regardless of their sexual orientation.”
 THANK YOU
for downloading this free PDF

Here are three things you can do next…

presented by COLBY MARTIN

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