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Note: I'm not defending anything but I am making a point.

Paul, The Apostle to the Gentiles and his 'thorn in the flesh'

So what was this thorn in the flesh that Paul spoke of?
Examine his writings and read between the lines...

Note: He did not marry and called himself a Pharisee.

2 Corinthians 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.

Romans 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry.

He seemed to have a problem with women.

1 Timothy 2:12 And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.

1 Corinthians 7:1 Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.

Who writes this? Certainly not a straight man. After all the first commandment is to be fruitful and multiply and you've got to touch a woman to fulfill that commandment.

He did write extensively about homosexuality (it takes one to know one) in Romans 1 then adds this line immediately after... Romans 2 Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

Sounds like 'thorn in the flesh' is a metaphor for gay sex. And now a quote from the fashion police, and who knows fashion better than gay men?

1 Corinthians 11:13 Judge among yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to G-d with her head uncovered? 14 Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? 15 But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering. 16 But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of G-d.

As for nature and long hair the lion has a mane the lioness short hair.

...we have no such custom, nor do the churches of G-d...

The verbal equivalent of a dog chasing its tail.

There you have it... Paul, the gay apostle to the goyim.

Actually, Paul could not be a Pharisee unless he was married. It was a requirement for consideration, and Paul was a Pharisee among Pharisees, who studied under Gamaliel the foremost teacher of the day.

So the popular consensus among biblical scholars is that Paul was either a widower or dare I say he divorced her sometime before he met Christ on the road to Damascus.

As for hating women. Most religious leaders at the time of Christ all hated women. Men could divorce their wife if they felt she made them sin. If she burnt the toast and he got mad he could divorce her because he sinned.

If the neighbor had a wife who was prettier than his wife, he could divorce her because she made him sin when he lusted for the neighbors wife.

So no, Paul's thorn wa not homosexuality.

If anything it was probably an eye disease. Something like a bad case of glaucoma that could have been a result of being blinded on the road by Christ, or other type of problem. Many conjecture that it was something wrong with his eyes, but probably a bad injury he suffered from one of the many times he was stoned, whipped or some other problem. We usually center on his eyes because of the following passage in Galatians.

You know that because of physical infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the first. And my trial which was in my flesh you did not despise or reject, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. What then was the blessing you enjoyed? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me. Galatians 4:13-15

I have always pictured an older man hunched over but not too much, with a walking stick he uses from walking from city to city as he spread the Gospel, who's eyes look like their half open with old scars around them from the many times he was abused for his testimony of Christ. Maybe even scares around the edges from having sharp stones or rod cutting open the skin when he was stoned or beat with rods or whipped with something similar to a cat of nine tails and left for dead.

in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness-- besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. 2Corinthians 11:23-28

No my FRiend, Paul was not a homosexual, he was a typical Pharisee who turned against his old ways, and met Christ to become the most persecuted follower of Christ outside of John the most beloved apostle.