After spending the majority of my life being agnostic due to rejecting religion as I believed it to be a tool of hate, I had some major spiritual/religious/supernatural experiences last year that made me believe in the possible existence of the Abrahamic God. Anyway, I've spent hundreds of hours researching the Bible--even attempting to translate some of the Greek and Hebrew myself.

What could be construed as references to homosexuality only appear in the Bible in Leviticus and the writings of Paul. Many believe that Paul coined the word arsenokoitai from the LXX translation of Leviticus. The interpretation of the Hebrew differs among various Jewish sects today. Some believe it referred to temple prostitution, raping men, just anal sex, or any homosexual act. It obviously doesn't refer to just being gay.

Paul (who I'm, to be honest, leary about since he seems to contradict Jesus at times and adds to the law) uses the word arsenokoitai, which was translated to "abusers of themselves with mankind" in the KJV and "homosexuals" in the NIV.

When searching for other Greek usages of this word, it seems to only be mentioned in reference to prostitution, although curiously it was used in the statement "In fact, many men even commit the sin of arsenokoitia with their wives.”

Also, in Matthew 19:12, Jesus says that "Only those who it is given to shall receive it" (as in, not all would understand unless it applies to them, I believe), but there are eunuchs who were born that way. Upon investigation, it seems that 'eunuch' described anyone who didn't have sexual relations with women. Personally, I have literally never lusted after a female in my life--not even once.

Anyway, so since it seems very ambigious, what do you think is actually prohibited concerning gay people? Personally, I am completely fine not having anal sex. But what about being intimate? Cuddling? Kissing? David and Jonathan seemed to be very intimate. Jonathan stripped of his robe and gave it to David, and they kissed. He said that the love he had for him surpassed that of any woman. There are also many other examples that can be interpreted as David and Jonathan having more than just a friendship.

Anyway, I'm curious about what Reddit thinks about the issue. I know it has been discussed many times before, but still, I'd like to know if you think it's okay for me to hold and kiss someone that I love.