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Hi <<First Name>>,
“I tell you, in that night, Two men shall be in one bed, One shall be seized, and the other left.Two women shall be grinding together, One shall be seized, and the other left.” (Luke 17:34-35)
The Galilee Episode resulted from a simple question, “Could the two couples in Luke 17 be gay and lesbian?”
Ronald W. Goetz began where any seminary-trained Bible interpreter might With Old Testament antecedents. Then he looked at the context, at Luke 17. He explored Latin and Greek usage. His research took him to new places: the Q Source, Yohanan b. Zakkai and Philip the Tetrarch. He immersed himself in the historical setting of northern Galilee and the Roman Province of Arabia. Slowly the trial, legal policy and political strategy that underlay Luke 17:34-35 took shape. A previously undetected imperial legal episode in Palestine was thus uncovered.
For hundreds of years these obscure verses were used to justify the Rapture theory, the idea that all true Christians will be taken to heaven in bodily form. Others refused futuristic theologizing, but only said we don't know which is better, to be taken or to be left.
If you are interested in the history of homophobia, Second Temple Judaism, New Testament exegesis, Christian origins, theological coverups, textual criticism or the history of law enforcement, or simply can’t resist the meat and potatoes of the Talmud and Josephus, these all comes together in The Galilee Episode.
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