Christian thor Matthew Pl Turner out as gay, announc divorce

Contents:

• CHRISTIAN THOR MATTHEW PL TURNER OUT AS GAY, ANNOUNC DIVORCE
• WHY ‘GOD AND THE GAY CHRISTIAN’ IS WRONG ABOUT THE BIBLE AND SAME-SEX RELATNSHIPS
• GOD AND THE GAY CHRISTIAN: AN INTERVIEW WH MATTHEW V

CHRISTIAN THOR MATTHEW PL TURNER OUT AS GAY, ANNOUNC DIVORCE

(RNS) — On Friday (July 17), Christian thor Matthew Pl Turner me out as gay via Facebook and Instagram and announced that he and his wife, fellow wrer Jsi Turner, are divorcg. “But for the first time my life, spe the sadns and grief I’m feelg right now, I n say wh nfince that I’m ready to embrace eedom, hope, and God as a gay man. In March 2012, Matthew V posted a vio on YouTube suggtg that "beg gay is not a s, " and that the Bible "do not nmn, lovg, mted same-sex relatnships.

So V sought to arm himself wh biblil scholarship on the affirmatn of same-sex relatnships and strove to nvce his fay and church that they were wrong—that homosexualy is not a s.

V's new book, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblil Case Support of Same-Sex Relatnships, expounds further on the arguments ma his vio. His aim is not to prent new rmatn, but to synthize gay-affirmg arguments and make them accsible for a broar and younger dience.

WHY ‘GOD AND THE GAY CHRISTIAN’ IS WRONG ABOUT THE BIBLE AND SAME-SEX RELATNSHIPS

God and the Gay Christian begs wh an emotnal appeal om Matthew 7:18, "A good tree nnot bear bad u. " V stat that universal nmnatn of same-sex relatnships has been damagg and stctive for those who intify as gay Christians, producg bad u (prsn and suici, for stance). Cg 1 Timothy 4:3, V even argu that those who forbid gay marriage are false teachers who promote hostily toward God's creatn.

Six biblil passag directly addrs homosexualy, and V sists that none addrs same-sex orientatn as we know today. Pl Romans 1:26-27 is not referrg to monogamo, gay relatnships, but stead to ltful excs and the breakg of ctomary genr rol. The tone of God and the Gay Christian is que different.

Unlike others who advote rpectful dialogue on this divisive issue, V charg that those who do not affirm same-sex relatnships are sng by distortg the image of God and are sentially rponsible for the suicis of many gay Christians. From this perspective, he says, one n still affirm gay relatnships.

GOD AND THE GAY CHRISTIAN: AN INTERVIEW WH MATTHEW V

One of the ma weakns of God and the Gay Christian is that V's methodology of biblil terpretatn clash wh the high view of the Bible he claims to hold.

Like V, I also me out as a gay man while I was a stunt.

Intertgly, a chapla gave me a book om a gay-affirmg thor, John Boswell, claimg that homosexualy is not a s.