Interpreting “Sodom and Gomorrah” Passages in the Context of Homosexuality Controversy: A Nigerian Perspective

The issue of human sexuality, as a complex issue, has been a controversial one from time immemorial. Scholars have appealed to various evidences to support their arguments for or against any sexual issues they are interested in. One of the passages used to support or argue against homosexuality, for instance, is Genesis 19 which contains the story of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Traditionally, Sodom and Gomorrah were known and described as cities which God destroyed because of their sin of homosexuality. To call a man a „Sodomite‟ is to refer to the person as a homosexual. This has been the interpretation of the Church until recently when certain scholars began to challenge this interpretation. Such scholars interpret Genesis 19 differently in contrast to the orthodox interpretation. The sin of the people of Sodom is “inhospitality and not homosexuality” as this new interpretation proposes. Hence, this paper seeks to examine some of the passages relating to Sodom and Gomorrah in the Old Testament and New Testament in order to assert the validity, or otherwise, of the two interpretations given above. The methodology adopted is linguistic and exegetical analysis. The study maintains that top on the list of sins in Genesis 19 is homosexuality as clearly stated in the passage. It concludes that since the two angels came to Lot and not to the men of Sodom, the people could not have been guilty of inhospitality as being suggested by scholars like Derrick Bailey, Bartlett and Phyllis Bird. It concludes on a strong note that homosexuality is absolutely unacceptable to the Nigerian or African mentality