“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor 6:9-10, emphasis added).

I received an excellent email question from S.Z.:

Have you heard of a documentary called 1946? The movie’s main thesis is that a committee mistranslated 1 Cor 6:9 to emphasize the church’s growing abhorrence of that sin, where the Bible supposedly had no previous such attitude against it.

This seems to question whether the Bible condemns homosexuality. It also undermines the inerrancy of Scripture, although I realize that only the original autographs were without error, not the translations.

What would be a way to refute this idea?

I have not seen the documentary. I only viewed the trailer and read about it. They claim that before 1946, the word homosexual never occurred in an English translation of 1 Cor 6:9. My response is as follows:

1. Prior to 1946, all existing English translations of 1 Cor 6:9 had expressions that were synonymous with male homosexuality. In the 17th century, the KJV had “neither effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind.” Darby, in the 19th century, had “nor those who make women of themselves, nor who abuse themselves with men.”
2. Many translations have come out since 1946, and nearly all of them translate malakoi and arsenokoitas as homosexuals or synonymous expressions (e.g., NIV, HCSB, LEB, NKJV). See point 4 below for two examples.
3. The documentary talks about only the Revised Standard Version. The NT of the RSV was published in 1946. It had the word homosexuals in 1 Cor 6:9. It later changed that translation to sexual perverts. No other English translation uses sexual perverts for malakoi and arsenokoitas. The RSV mistranslation occurred in 1971 when it changed its translation to sexual perverts. A competing documentary should be made entitled 1971: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture.
4. The NIV has this note: “The words men who have sex with men translate two Greek words that refer to the passive and active participants in homosexual acts.” The NET Bible translates these words as “passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals.” It has a note saying that these words refer to “the active and passive roles in homosexual intercourse.”
5. The leading dictionary of the Greek NT defines malakos as “to be passive in same-sex relationship, effeminate…1 Cor 6:9” (BDAG, p. 613). It defines arsenokoitēs as “a male who engages in sexual activity with a person of his own sex, pederast 1 Cor 6:9” (p. 135).
6. Leviticus 20:13 says, “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.” See also Lev 18:33.
7. Romans 1:26-28 explicitly forbids both male and female homosexuality.
8. The destruction of the people of Sodom due to homosexuality shows that God indeed considers it an abomination.
9. The argument made by Evangelical homosexuals that all Biblical references denouncing homosexuality are only denouncing promiscuous (non-monogamous) and abusive homosexuality is not supported by any text in the Bible. It is reading into Scripture what one would like to see there.
10. The Bible forbids all sex outside of marriage, including heterosexual sex, bestiality, incest, and homosexuality.

S. Z. raises a good point about inerrancy. If the Bible forbids homosexuality, anyone holding the opposing view is essentially saying that the Bible is wrong.

Before December 1973, the American Medical Association listed homosexuality as a form of mental illness. What changed? Has ‘the science’ changed, or has increasing societal pressure caused a shift? It seems that those defending homosexuality as good, proper, and healthy will point to work stamped with the seal of science; however, substandard research is invariably plagued by logical fallacies that translate to false findings.

As I’ve often said before, homosexuals who believe in Jesus for everlasting life are born again. The phrase whoever believes in Him in John 3:16 includes homosexuals. The issue in 1 Cor 6:9-11 is ruling with Christ in the life to come, not kingdom entrance. See this journal article by me on Christians who lose their legacy.