I want to raise a point that you didn’t mention in your response which is if you look it up in the Roman empire I believe it is not sure I have the right era but my point will be the heron women had to be protected given that era, and they chose Unix they were born that way and weren’t damaged by castration as I understand the reading of the documents I’ve seen, should I change everything about the conversation.

Men have sperm that is used during intercourse with a woman, too create offspring (Sons,Daughters and Eunuchs). The man’s sperm joins with the woman’s ovum (egg), thus causing procreation. This is known as man laying with woman. It is the act of depositing ones sperm (seed) into the woman’s vagina to try to produce a child or children.

So as Jesus Stated in Matthew 19: 12 – For their are eunuchs that were born such from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs that were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs that have made themselves eunuchs on account of the kingdom of heavens. They that are able to receive this, let them receive it.

Now let me explain this, well you know what males and females are, but apparently you need to be schooled as to what an eunuch is. A born eunuch can not be a homosexual man, because a born eunuch has no sperm (seed) only men have that gift from Almighty God. And only man can spill their sperm (seed) inside another man, and receive the wrath of God Almighty for the sin of man laying with man, or homosexuality as it is known today.
Eunuchs born from their Mother’s womb are different genders than male and female, they are eunuch genders, let me explain further, thanks to science and medical technology today, we can now see what the Almighty God knows since before we are born. Male gender has the sex chromosomes of XY, and the female gender has the sex chromosomes of XX, eunuch gender has the sex chromosomes that can contain both of the sets of chromosomes of both the male gender and the female gender chromosomes or more or less of either X OR Y chromosomes. Science today gives male looking born eunuch’s many titles, some of which is Klinefelters syndrome or a variation of it call Klinefelters mosaic syndrome or intersexed or intergendered or bigendered,the list goes on, for example the gender chromosomes for Klinefelters mosaic persons or born eunuchs of the past that are born of their mother’s womb are XYXXY, what all of the eunuch’s have in common, is that they can not procreate, meaning the born eunuchs that may look like males but have no sperm (seed) to deposit into a woman to procreate with her, to cause the creation of Sons, Daughters and Eunuchs. Thus eunuchs cannot procreate, yet in most cases they can have sexual relationships with each other or any of the other genders such as males and females. But born Eunuchs are, infertile the void of sperm. Now you may say to me how could someone from a thousand years ago or further back or even a hundred years ago before the time of science know if someone was a born eunuch or not, well that is easy, even though they may look like males, there are some differences, such as the size of the skull which falls between the size of a males and a females, the unusually long arms longer than males and females, the male looking born eunuchs for instance, the area of the scrotum is smaller, because of the non functioning and deformed testicles, and usually have more feminine looking bodies, breast tissue and more rounded features, the body and facial hair of the male looking born eunuch may be spare to non-existent. As to the sexuality of the born eunuchs they are heterosexual because they are the opposite gender of both males and females. But unlike males and females they don’t have the same drive or urge for sex as much as the procreating males and females. This is the first part of what Jesus says about “eunuchs born of their mother’s womb”.

Now the second part of what Jesus said which pertains to,” eunuchs that were made eunuchs by men”, these eunuchs are not born eunuchs, not true eunuchs, they were born male, they had the gift of procreation removed from them by other men, their sex organs were either removed entirely or only had their testicles removed. This usually happened to male slaves taken in battle, so they could better serve there masters, by being submissive and less likely to cause violence again his master or his master property, their master’s also required them castrated so that could not procreate, so there was no worry of their master’s women becoming pregnant by them depositing their sperm (seed) into their master’s women. Depending on the damage done to their sex organs when castrated, controlled whether or not if they could have intercourse. Even though their testicles were removed they would still have sexual urges to some degree, but their masters had no worry of finding his women pregnant by his male slaves.

Now as the the third part of what Jesus said about eunuchs, “there are eunuchs that have made themselves eunuchs on account of the kingdom of heavens”. Some people think that he is talking about people who remain celibate, such as some priests and monks, but this is flawed, seeing they are not eunuchs, they have sperm (seed) but prefer not to use the gift of procreation, so celebrate men are not eunuchs. But back in the time before, during and after the time Jesus came, there were men who castrated themselves, some where pagans would did it for their pagan Goddess they worshiped, but some followed the teaching of God Almighty and still castrated themselves, so as to not have the same sexual urges as a fully functional male to better serve their Almighty God and spread his Holy Scriptures.

So, “they that are able to receive this, let them receive it.

Now that I have explained why eunuchs, whether they be born eunuchs, made by men eunuchs or made by their own hand eunuchs, they all have one thing in common, NO SPERM (SEED), can not deposit sperm into a woman, can not procreate with women, but provided they still have a working penis and it can get hard they can penetrate the woman or women but no offspring shall they receive from the sexual act of intercourse. Now you may say that what I said about born eunuchs is false, and you may use what science says about Klinefelters persons, that they are male because they have a Y chromosome or two, but Almighty God knows more than any scientist will ever know about human kind because he created us. Almighty God by his design males or men have sperm (seed) in which to procreate with women. So Klinefelters persons even thought they may look like males or men, they are born eunuchs in the eyes of Almighty God.

Now I will address your theory that homosexual men are eunuchs because they don’t find women sexually attractive, eunuchs do find men and women sexually attractive, but either by being born eunuch or by the hand of man or their own hand, they may or may not be able to penetrate a woman sexually, but can pleasure her in other sexual ways that don’t involve penis insertion into the woman vagina. they can also pleasure men as well. Born Eunuchs are heterosexual by nature, they can prefer either or both of their opposite gender of male or female. Homosexual men find the female body repulsive, not attractive, they prefer to penetrate men for the pleasure of sexual intercourse, they deposit their sperm inside each other, rather than inside a woman for procreation. You see a homosexual man or men, still have the ability to produce sperm (seed) for procreation, even though they don’t use it for procreation, they still have it, the sin of homosexuality or men laying with men, has nothing to do with men loving one another it has to do with wasting your sperm (seed) inside of a man, rather than depositing it inside a woman where it was designed by God Almighty to go for the purpose of creating offspring. So it is okay to love your fellow man, but not to unload your sperm(seed) inside of him, sperm(seed) is for the creation of offspring.

So, as I see it, there is one way and only one way for two men or males to have sexual intercourse with one another without incurring, the wrath of Almighty God, for the sin of man laying with man as man lays with woman. They must do as it says in the third verse about eunuchs, that Jesus said, they must make themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven, or to clarify it, they must remove what will cause the offense against Almighty God, they must have no sperm (seed) to waste inside another man, only by castrating themselves, by removing their testicles or thanks to modern medicine getting surgically castrated might not be as painful and as dangerous as doing it yourself, will they be able to have intercourse with each other, but have no sperm (seed) to unload inside their made eunuch lover and offend Almighty God. So the only way for a homosexual or gay man or men too be called eunuchs and not offend Almighty God is to be castrated, to have NO SPERM(SEED). Thus making them no longer male in the eyes of the Almighty God.

Now if you are wondering how I know this is what Jesus meant in Matthew 19:12 of the Holy Scriptures, well the reason I am so enlightened about this subject is that I am a born eunuch, born from my mother’s womb. So I have a better perspective then does a man or a woman on what exactly a born eunuch is and how we see the world around us, and how we see the glories of God Almighty, our minds are not always clouded with the urge for sexual conquest as we so observe in the other genders of male and female that we share this earth with, by the glory of God Almighty

Faris,
Thank you for your comment and support of the website – it means a lot to me. The site receives numerous emails from around the world and so it takes some time to respond to everyone – please forgive me that it has taken some time to get back to you. You comment on my reflection are also appreciated. I do think that you are correct in your analogy. I do think, and would agree with you, that Prof. Ringrose has a bit of a blind spot when it comes to the issue of gay people and the history of gay people. I also agree with your simple but concrete argument that gay people are born gay, have been born gay and so have been born that way for centuries plus. We can witness this today. There are gay people all over the world. The only question is how they are treated by various governments and societies – which then frequently determines the parameters of how they express their sexuality and desires. Being gay in San Francisco would mean feeling free and being allowed to express your love for your husband or wife – holding hands in public for example. However, being gay in Iran or even Russia today – entirely different issue.
I am looking forward to checking out your website and staying in touch.
Please feel free to do the same.
All the best,
Andriy

According to the scholarly literature not all eunuchs were hermaphrodites. If you check the literature that I quoted and cited (Ringrose) Shaun Tougher has also extensively researched this question, you will find evidence of this. There is no specific evidence that eunuchs were homosexual, as such memoirs would probably not have been recorded or preserved. In my reflection, I simply ask the question: if the Church was so concerned with eunuchs and that question has become irrelevant, perhaps the question about LGBT individuals will also become irrelevant. The Church will also recognize that gay people were created as such by God and we live our lives openly, loving and being loved, blessed by our Creator.
Andriy

Jim,
Thank you for your comment on one of the reflections. It would be wonderful if we had first hand accounts of the women who decided to become nuns rather than marry. Unfortunately these are far and few between given the historical time period as well as the socio-economic background of many of the women. But logic would tell us that such decisions were made for the reasons that you state. I would surmise that while some of the women who decided to enter a convent were lesbians, others probably made the decision because they did not want to marry the men chosen for them by the families. Either way – brave women!
As far as the proscription of “beardless youth” being allowed in monasteries, the various monastic rules and typicons are not unanimous on this issue. Some forbid such youth outright, others assign them to respected and elderly monks for education and “protection” and others do not mention them at all. The Slavic monasteries, with later rules and regulations, seem to suggest more rigorous rules than the Greeks.
Please stay in touch.
I bid you peace,
Andriy

Antoinette,
Thank you for your question and support. I have taken some time to research your question. Eunuchs are by definition (at least in the Byzantine era) men who are castrated. There is no understanding of female castration. However, I do assume that you ask – by extension – if there were females who were thought of as eunuchs because the “refused to marry.” Although I am far from an expert on this topic, although it has fascinated me enough that I have read extensively – the scholars in the field – Kathryn Ringrose, Shaun Tougher, and to some extent Averil Cameron and Dion Smythe who wrote on gender issues in Byzantium – agree to some extent that the vast majority of women simply did not the position or power to make those decisions on their own. Therefore we read about women who were manipulated by stronger fathers and society in general into marriages that they may or may not have desired. History usually records only the stories of the women of the upper class. I will keep my eyes open for any further historical research into the topic and the great question that you ask.
Andriy

One question: were there ever female eunuchs? If yes, what was their role in the early Church?