Romans 1 - What Historical And Religious Context Did Paul Address
In First Century Rome?

Prostyle Temple Design This is a prostyle, hexstyle temple, with six columns across the front but with only three columns on each side. According to the University of Chicago, the Temple of Magna Mater - Cybele, (This Link will open in a new page), was a prostyle, Roman hexstyle Corinthian temple, with columns across the front but without columns along the length of both sides. "It was decided to attribute the actual ruins to the Temple of the Magna Mater [Cybele] because of the statue of the goddess found near the edifice, and now in the close Domus Tiberiana, and to an inscription found on the right side of the façade, that says: M(ater) D(eum) M(agna) I(daea). A coin of Faustina the elder confirms this, showing the entire shape of this temple of Corinthian order. Another confirmation is given by a relief of Claudian age, now at Villa Medici, with the representation of the same facade." On the edge of the Palatine Hill the ruins of an ancient temple can still be seen. The Temple of the Magna Mater, has been identified by archeologists as the temple of Cybele through inscriptions honoring the Magna Mater (the Great Mother of the gods). "This represents a temple of the Corinthian order, with curved roof, and a flight of steps on which is a statue of Cybele with a turreted crown enthroned between lions." In the ruins were the remains of a huge seated female figure, Cybele on a throne, the base of which featured lion’s paws. This Cybele figure with turreted headdress is not the original figure but conveys a general idea of the figure that was found. Cybele on her throne Lions were the traditional attendants of Cybele, the Magna Mater and Rome's reigning fertility goddess. The stone walls which supported the weight of the massive figure are 12’ thick. The ruins of Cybele's prostyle, Roman hexstyle temple indicate that the original temple was 56’ wide and 108’ long. Cybele’s main Temple on the Palatine Hill (there were five Cybele temples in ancient Rome), was destroyed in the 4th century AD. Today only the pictured ruins remain.

Since Paul was referencing a particular pagan religious activity, shrine prostitution, in Romans 1, it is dishonest to reinterpret his words as if they suddenly refer to modern gays, lesbians, bisexuals or transgendered people. Paul’s words in Romans 1 are neither generic nor theoretical.

In Romans 1, Paul addressed a real situation faced by Christians in first century Rome. He was not making a sweeping, universal condemnation of any and all same sex activity, divorced from the historical and religious context of his argument against idolatry.

If Paul's words in Romans 1:26-27 were not a universal reference to homosexuality in the first century AD, then Romans 1:26-27 cannot be a universal reference to homosexuality today.

Reading into the text what Paul did not say (a universal prohibition of homosexuality) is called eisogesis. That is an improper way to interpret scripture. That kind of faulty interpretation is unworthy of Christians who love the word of God.

Paul's words to the Christian community in ancient Rome come from his knowledge of the first century world in which he lived. His carefully tailored argument in Romans 1 is set in the specific context of Gentile and Jewish history, complete with first century illustrations familiar to first century readers.

Paul’s readers were intimately acquainted, as we are not, with Greek, Jewish and Roman culture and the shrine prostitution which permeated those ancient cultures.

As residents of the Imperial City, ancient Romans personally witnessed thousands of statues of false gods, hundreds of pagan temples and pagan worshipers thronging the grand streets for religious festivals. Commentators who ignore the historical and religious context of Romans 1 entirely miss the point of Paul's argument against idolatry and shrine prostitution.

Fertility goddess worship and shrine prostitution flourished in first century Rome and are precisely what Paul addressed in Romans 1. Attempts by nongay Christians, to divorce Romans 1 from its historical context are due more to their support of an anti-gay agenda than a desire to honestly understand Romans 1.

In the heart of Rome, a temple to Cybele was constructed in 194 BC. When fire destroyed the original temple, Augustus rebuilt it in 3 BC.

Cybele, a prominent first century fertility goddess, was sometimes called (Magna Mater) or Great Mother and (Mater Deum) or Mother of the gods. First century Romans worshiped her as the Sacred Protectress of Rome.

Click here for more photos and information about the fertility goddess Cybele as Mater Deum, “mother of the gods” on ancient Roman coins. Cybele worship included orgiastic sexual rites and ritual bloodletting by Galli priests and priestesses, similar to the practice of Baal worshippers in the Old Testament.

“And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.” - 1 Kings 18:28.

Some priests castrated themselves, accompanied by wild music and frenetic dancing. In the first century, religious festivals honoring Cybele were celebrated in the streets. Castrated, long haired priests preceded the image of the goddess, beating drums and cymbals, showing off their colorful clothing.

The priests of Cybele (this Link will open in a new page), were called gallus or galli, referring to their man-made eunuch status. They were physically castrated to further their sexual service to the fertility goddess. Male worshipers would engage in anal sex with the priests, as an offering to the goddess. This is the shameful activity Paul refers to in Romans 1:27.

Bas Relief of an Archigalla priest of Cybele.

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An Archigalla was a head priest.

"Galli, castrated, male, eunuch priests, were found in many goddess cults. They functioned as representatives of the goddess, offering themselves sexually to male worshippers.

These religious practices flourished in first century Rome."

A Dictionary Of Greek And Roman Antiquities, Third Edition, Appleton, 1874, p. 566, Galli definition.

Did you know that the ancient fertility goddess had many names? “The religions which developed these ideas were all based on a maternal figure, found under different names throughout a great part of the Near East. To the Phoenicians she was Astarte; to the Phrygians, Cybele; to the Babylonians, Ishtar; to the Thracians, Bendis; to the Cretans, Rhea; to the Ephesians, Artemis; to the Canaanites, Atargatis; to the Persians, Anaitis; to the Cappadocians, Ma. But though her names differ, her attributes are the same - she is always the mother who succours and helps, and who bestows fertility. This composite figure was generally known as Magna Mater, the great mother, and it was said that she was mother of all the other gods... ‘On certain days a multitude flocks to the temple, and the Galli in great numbers, sacred as they are, perform the ceremonies of the men and gash their arms and turn their backs to be lashed [I Kings 18:28]. Many bystanders play on the pipes, while many beat drums; others sing divine and sacred songs. All this performance takes place outside the temple... As the Galli sing and celebrate their orgies, frenzy falls on some of them, and many who had come as mere spectators afterwards are found to have committed the great act [self castration].” Sex In History, Gordon Rattray Taylor, 1954, Book 3, ch 12.

This idolatry and shrine prostitution are what Paul addressed in Romans 1,
not homosexuality
and not lesbianism.

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Painting of a Galli priest of Cybele.

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Paul grounds his Romans 1 argument in historical fact, dealing with what Christians witnessed in Rome every day, the idolatry and shrine prostitution which surrounded the worship of false gods.

For a more detailed study of Romans 1,
with many Links to additional info, visit:

Romans 1:18-32 - Paul, the goddess Religions and Homosexuality

by Jeramy Townsley

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Links for additional study

You’ve read about the historical context of Romans 1. Click Here To Return To Gay Christian 101.com Home Page.

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The book, Gay Christian 101, lists 18 possible ways to interpret the Levitical Holiness Code.

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