Editing Sodomy (section)

== Modern Christian views ==
Though the etymology of the word sodomy is clear, there is a dispute about what the nature of the sin of Sodom actually was. Within [[Christendom]] there are basically two schools of thought.

# The traditional interpretation, where the primary sin of Sodom is seen as homoerotic sexual acts.{{Fact|date=June 2007}}
# Some recent scholars, starting with [[D.S. Bailey|Derrick Sherwin Bailey]], claim that the sins of Sodom were related more to violation of [[hospitality]] laws than sexual sins.{{Fact|date=June 2007}}

The traditional interpretation claims there is a connection between Sodom and [[Leviticus 18]], which lists various sexual crimes, which, according to verses 27 and 28, would result in the land being “defiled.”:

: for the inhabitants of the land, who were before you, committed all of these [[Abomination (Bible)|abominations]], and the land became defiled;
: otherwise the land will vomit you out for defiling it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.

The more recent re-interpretation claims that the explanation primarily is with the quote from [[Ezekiel]].

Some scholars, such as [[Per-Axel Sverker]], align this passage with the traditional interpretation, claiming that the word [[abomination]] refers to sexual misconduct, and that while homoerotic acts were not the only reason Sodom and Gomorrah were condemned, it was a significant part of the picture. Others, such as the aforementioned D.S. Bailey, claim that this passage contradicts the traditional interpretation altogether.

There is an ongoing [[exegetics|exegetic]] and [[hermeneutics|hermeneutic]] debate on this issue, including many other nuances in the text, and the scholarly world is far from consensus.