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The study of the '''history of homosexuality''' attempts to catalog evidence of [[homosexuality]] from its earliest occurrences to the present.  

The study of the '''history of [[homosexuality]]''' attempts to catalog evidence of [[homosexual behavior]] from its earliest occurrences to the present, with this manner of perversion being manifested in different sources from ancient times.  

==Terminology relating to the history of homosexuality ==

==Terminology relating to the history of homosexuality ==

''See also [[Homosexuality and the Bible]]''

''See also [[Homosexuality and the Bible]]''

Homosexuality, as evidenced by homosexual acts, is manifested not long after the [[fall of man]] and its resultant harmful effects, with man realizing an Adamic nature and its tendency to sin, which may somewhat vary in intensity as to a type of sin. The history of homosexuality in the Bible may begin in Genesis 9:2-24, in which many Christian scholars believe that [[Ham]], the youngest son of [[Noah]], committed a homosexual act on his father,<ref>[http://www.robgagnon.net/2Views/HomoViaRespNotesRev.pdf Notes to Gagnon’s Essay in the Gagnon-Via Two Views Book, #32, by Robert A. J. Gagnon, Ph.D.]</ref><ref>The Bible and Homosexual Practice, pp. 63-78, 91-110</ref> while the latter was asleep, having been overcome with wine. Later, [[Leviticus 18]] universally outlaws men laying with men as with women, with this being a capital crime,  (Lv. 18:22; 20:13), with an additional separate prohibition evidently forbidding homosexual religious prostitution. (Dt. 23:17) The context of these commands is one which invokes the practice of Israel's surrounding culture as an example of what not to do, thus evidencing that this was a pagan cultural practice. Additional evidence shows that homosexual practice was generally not outlawed in the Ancient Near East (ANE), and was certainly tolerated in that area and time in private as well as religious life.<ref>Mesopotamia: Writing, Reasoning, and the Gods, Jean Bottero, Univ of Chicago:1992, pp. 190-192</ref> Miller adds that in contrast, "Israel's God condemned this behavior in EVERY culture in which it was mentioned(!): ANE (i.e. Sodom), Canaanite and Egyptian (i.e. Lev 18:3), Israelite (Lev 18, 20), Roman (Rom 1), Hellenistic (I Tim 1.9), and Greek (I Cor 6.9)."<ref>[http://www.christian-thinktank.com/qamorite.html  Good Question... Homosexual practices]</ref> For the follower of the Bible therefore, homosexuality is not new, nor unexpected, but neither is it justified, as God is seen giving man grace to resist and  overcome sin. (Gn. 4:7; Ja. 1:12-15)

Homosexuality, as evidenced by homosexual acts, is manifested not long after the [[fall of man]] and its resultant harmful effects, with man realizing an Adamic nature and its tendency to sin, which may somewhat vary in intensity as to a type of sin. The history of homosexuality in the Bible may begin in Genesis 9:2-24, in which many Christian scholars believe that [[Ham]], the youngest son of [[Noah]], committed a homosexual act on his father,<ref>[http://www.robgagnon.net/2Views/HomoViaRespNotesRev.pdf Notes to Gagnon’s Essay in the Gagnon-Via Two Views Book, #32, by Robert A. J. Gagnon, Ph.D.]</ref><ref>The Bible and Homosexual Practice, pp. 63-78, 91-110</ref> while the latter was asleep, having been overcome with wine. Later, [[Leviticus 18]] universally outlaws men laying with men as with women, with this being a capital crime,  (Lv. 18:22; 20:13), with an additional separate prohibition evidently forbidding homosexual religious prostitution. (Dt. 23:17) The context of these commands is one which invokes the practice of Israel's surrounding culture as an example of what not to do, thus evidencing that this was a pagan cultural practice. Additional evidence shows that homosexual practice was generally not outlawed in the Ancient Near East (ANE), and was certainly tolerated in that area and time in private as well as religious life.<ref>Mesopotamia: Writing, Reasoning, and the Gods, Jean Bottero, Univ of Chicago:1992, pp. 190-192</ref> Miller adds that in contrast, "Israel's God condemned this behavior in EVERY culture in which it was mentioned(!): ANE (i.e. Sodom), Canaanite and Egyptian (i.e. Lev 18:3), Israelite (Lev 18, 20), Roman (Rom 1), Hellenistic (I Tim 1.9), and Greek (I Cor 6.9)."<ref>[http://www.christian-thinktank.com/qamorite.html  Good Question... Homosexual practices]</ref>

 

[[Romans 1]] clearly shows homosexual behavior to be a product of idolatry, which was especially manifest in Rome and Greece at that time, but which was and is a historical constant among all peoples, with different degrees of moral degeneration being realized. For the follower of the Bible therefore, homosexuality is not new, nor unexpected, but neither is it justified, rather it is unequivocally condemned, while God is seen giving man grace to resist and  overcome sin. (Gn. 4:7; Ja. 1:12-15' 1Cor. 6:9-11)

==Jewish and early ecclesiastical attitudes toward homosexuality==

==Jewish and early ecclesiastical attitudes toward homosexuality==