Queer Theology: Do God Hate Gay People? | BU Today | Boston Universy

Contents:

• QUEER THEOLOGY: DO GOD HATE GAY PEOPLE?
• WHAT DO THE BIBLE ACTUALLY SAY ABOUT BEG GAY?
• BELIEF GOD SUPPORTS PREJUDICE AGAST GAYS AND ATHEISTS
• IS GOD ANTI-GAY?
• DO GOD HATE GAYS / HOMOSEXUALS?

QUEER THEOLOGY: DO GOD HATE GAY PEOPLE?

Those who would exclu homosexuals om God’s kgdom choose to ignore J, turng stead to the Old Ttament – most particularly to Genis 19, the stctn of the ci of Sodom and Gomorrah.

WHAT DO THE BIBLE ACTUALLY SAY ABOUT BEG GAY?

Levic 18:22 and 20:13, for example, are not about “homosexualy” as we now unrstand – as the rg, lovg and sexual relatnship between people of the same sex. At the heart of the claim that the Bible is clear "that homosexualy is forbidn by God" is poor biblil scholarship and a cultural bias read to the Bible.

BELIEF GOD SUPPORTS PREJUDICE AGAST GAYS AND ATHEISTS

Although s unlikely that the biblil thors had any notn of sexual orientatn (for example, the term homosexual wasn't even ed until the late 19th century) for many people of fah, the Bible is looked to for timels guidance on what means to honor God wh our liv; and this most certaly clus our sexualy. ” In askg, “What do the Bible say about homosexualy” (or more appropriately stated, “what do the Bible say about attractn to someone of the same sex, ”) our task is to explore what the relevant biblil passag on the topic meant their origal ntext and what they mean for today. Do not be ceived: neher the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practise homosexualy, nor thiev, nor the greedy, nor dnkards, nor revilers, nor swdlers will her the kgdom of God.

You might not expect openmdns about stereotypg to e up a semar lled Queer Theology, which studi qutns about God and relign posed by gay, transgenr, bisexual, and genr-qutng people, many of whom, acrdg to teacher Pamela Lightsey, ask, “Do God hate me? After class, Gray said that while sexual orientatn wouldn’t be an issue an ial world, the one we actually live is such that “assumptns of who is gay by means of appearance is judgg wh whom you n be safe. A multextured approach is necsary not only bee nservative church flat-out nmn homosexualy, but also, Lightsey believ, bee male church, cludg Roman Catholicism and Methodism, preach a nfg msage, damng homosexual acts as s while exhortg members to love the sner.

IS GOD ANTI-GAY?

Matthew V, an openly gay, evangelil Christian and the thor of “God and the Gay Christian: The Biblil Case Support of Same-Sex Relatnships, ” has been actively enuragg nservative Christians to re-evaluate their beliefs about homosexualy.

Caleb Kaltenbach, lead pastor of Disvery Church Simi Valley, Calif,, to talk privately wh a small group of evangelil lears to discs what the Bible says about gay relatnships. Kaltenbach is the thor of the forthg book “Msy Grace, ” which is about how he rencil his nservative Christian nvictns wh his experience as the child of gay the ssn, they were each asked to terpret some of the most ced vers relatg to homosexualy the Bible. Do not be ceived: Neher the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostut nor homosexual offenrs nor thiev nor the greedy nor dnkards nor slanrers nor swdlers will her the kgdom of God.

In this text, Pl two Greek words—malakoi and arsenokoai—that likely refer to some forms of male same-sex behavr, but not the morn ncept of homosexualy. The Bible mak very few mentns of homosexualy - lbianism isn't mentned at all the Old Ttament - and as the exampl below show, terpretatns of the vers that do exist differ hugely.

DO GOD HATE GAYS / HOMOSEXUALS?

Pl later wr: "Make no mistake: no fornitor or idolator, none who are guilty eher of adultery or of homosexual perversn, no thiev or grabbers of dnkards of slanrers or swdlers, will posss the kgdom of God.