In our Catholic (and other) biblical scholarship, the various sections of the Bible use all sorts of "literary forms". The Creation stories are written as a "myth" form. Many sections are Legends. Jonah and Job etc. are short stories. Psalms, of course, are poetry. 

And, of course, metaphor forms are also used. Some is even intended to record "history" though usually with a "spiritual" slant. Not often "history" as we understand it today.

It seems that the various legends and stories were written down over the course of time, and then were finally collected and re-written in what became "The Bible" Sacred Scrolls during the time of Exile in Babylon. Lacking other identity, the Jewish people became the "People of The Book" remembering their traditions and ancestry.

Good point about learning from the Jewish interpretation and Scholars.

The problems about homoseuality pre-date Humanae Vitae, of course. P. Paul 6 just felt obliged to repeat what what already taught, unfortunately.