When I started wrg my new book, God and the Gay Christian, I was well aware that Christians who oppose same-sex marriage the church have long ed the Bible to fend their pot of view. As a gay Christian om an evangelil church Kansas, that stat quo has had a damagg impact on my life, which is one reason I'm settg out to change the flty perspective. Here are 10 reasons why God accepts gay Christians.
Contents:
10 REASONS GOD LOV GAY CHRISTIANS
The Bible vers aren't about nmng homosexuals, gays, lbians, or transgenr people. Rather, read God's lovg warng and grace for those who have strayed om His will for sex * god and gays *
The term “homosexual” didn’t exist until 1892. Some morn Bible translatns say that “homosexuals” will not her the kgdom of God, but neher the ncept nor the word for people wh exclive same-sex attractn existed before the late 19th century. While the Bible rejects ltful same-sex behavr, that’s very different om a nmnatn of all gay people and relatnships.
Requirg that all gay people rema celibate is at odds wh the Bible’s teachgs on celibacy, which are ground Scripture’s re affirmatn that God’s physil creatn is good. Mastream nomatns like Prbyterians and Epispalians now orda openly gay clergy, and there are seeds of change evangelil church as well. Matthew V is the thor of God and the Gay Christian and is the founr of The Reformatn Project, a Bible-based non-prof anizatn that seeks to reform church teachg on sexual orientatn and genr inty.
WHAT DO GOD THK ABOUT GAY PEOPLE?
* god and gays *
A mon argument for the acceptance of homosexualy and same-sex marriage is that, if God is love, He would not nmn the love of others. The world and maybe even our own sensivi might say that allowg others to live a homosexual relatnship is to see to their well-beg. Romans 1:26 says homosexualy is disgraceful and dishonorg.
GOD AND GAYS
First Corthians 6:18 says that sexual immoraly, cludg homosexualy, is a s agast one’s own body. If homosexualy rults a dishonorg, harmful separatn om God’s blsg, then the lovg thg to do is to stay away om . That beg said, those wh homosexual attractns are sperate need of love.
Even if they agree wh the Bible that homosexualy is a s and rolve not to seek fulfillment of their sexual sir, they mt still fd love other relatnships—the self-sacrificg love of agape and the iendly pannship of phileo. The need for love is no different for sgle heterosexuals than is for those wh homosexual attractn. If God is love, why do He nmn homosexualy?
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. What Do The Bible Say About Homosexualy?