Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality, Revised and Expanded Edition

Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality, Revised and Expanded Edition PDF

Author: Jack Rogers

Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press

Published: 2009-04-14

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1611640504

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In this revised and expanded best seller, Rogers argues for equal rights in both the church and society for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered people. He describes how he moved away from opposition to support, charts the church's history of using biblical passages to oppress marginalized groups, argues for a Christ-centered reading of Scripture, debunks stereotypes about gays and lesbians, and explores texts used most frequently against homosexuals and gay ordination. In this newly revised edition, he maps the recent progress of major U.S. denominations toward full equality for LGBT persons, adds a new chapter that examines how Scripture is best interpreted by Jesus' redemptive life and ministry, and updates his own efforts and experiences. The book also includes a guide for group study or personal reflection.

God Is Not a Homophobe

God Is Not a Homophobe PDF

Author: Philo Thelos

Publisher: Trafford Publishing

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 1412020301

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Homosexuality is perhaps the most volatile topic discussed in today's church and society. A war rages that will ultimately determine how much civil liberty can be enjoyed by consenting homosexuals, and how much religious equality they will be granted. Several books already exist attempting to demonstrate that the Christian Bible does not, in fact, condemn consenting-adult homosexuality. But God is Not a Homophobe has a unique perspective in that the author has a lifetime of experience in pastoring hard-core fundamentalist churches. His former bitter opposition to all forms of homosexuality has given way to a rational, unbiased acceptance that the Bible says hardly anything about homosexuality, and what it does say cannot honestly be used to condemn consenting same-sex unions. In God Is Not a Homophobe, the author examines in detail every Bible verse and every Bible-based argument against homosexuality, and concludes with a view radically different from what is offered by the modern church. His conclusions will surprise many, and will surely aggravate and anger many more. But he believes the evidence in this book will stand the test of investigation. This unbiased look at homosexuality in the Bible gives much food for thought, and hopefully, much incentive for change in our attitude toward and treatment of those whose sexual orientation is "different."

Homosexuality and the Bible

Homosexuality and the Bible PDF

Author: Dan Otto Via

Publisher: Fortress Press

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 134

ISBN-13: 9781451405606

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In this brief book, two New Testament scholars discuss the relevant biblical texts on the subject of homosexual behavior and orientation.

Homosexuality Biblical Interpretation

Homosexuality Biblical Interpretation PDF

Author: Willard M. Swartley

Publisher: Herald Press

Published: 2003-06-06

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13:

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Grounded in a lifetime of biblical study, New Testament scholar Willard M. Swartley takes a fresh look at the Scriptures and what they would teach on the current and controversial subject of homosexuality. In a spirit of love and generosity, Swartley presents all sides of the issue, drawing from contemporary scholarship and cultural analysis. He concludes with a model for congregational discernment and suggestions for the path forward.

End of Story?

End of Story? PDF

Author: Andrew Perriman

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2019-11-12

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 1532670192

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This book is an exercise in a thoroughgoing narrative theology. The social and legal validation of same-sex relationships in the West over the last two decades has presented an immense challenge to the church insofar as it seeks to remain faithful to Scripture. But it is not an isolated ethical problem. It is just one element--albeit a very important one--in the much broader, long-term overhaul and reorientation of Western culture after the collapse of the Christian consensus. The forces of history that are driving this transformation, however, have also alerted us to the historical perspectives that constrained biblical thought. Andrew Perriman suggests that Paul's argument about same-sex behavior, perhaps more clearly than any other issue, highlights the narrative shape of the mission of the early church in the Greek world. By the same token, we must ask how that storyline has been refracted across the boundary of modernity, and how it now shapes the mission of the church as it adapts to its marginalized position in an aggressively secular world.

Making Sense of the Bible [Leader Guide]

Making Sense of the Bible [Leader Guide] PDF

Author: Adam Hamilton

Publisher: Abingdon Press

Published: 2014-09-15

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 1501801325

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In this six week video study, Adam Hamilton explores the key points in his new book, Making Sense of the Bible. With the help of this Leader Guide, groups learn from Hamilton as his video presentations lead groups through the book, focusing on the most important questions we ask about the Bible, its origins and meaning.

Reforming Sodom

Reforming Sodom PDF

Author: Heather R. White

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 2015-07-24

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 1469624125

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With a focus on mainline Protestants and gay rights activists in the twentieth century, Heather R. White challenges the usual picture of perennial adversaries with a new narrative about America's religious and sexual past. White argues that today's antigay Christian traditions originated in the 1920s when a group of liberal Protestants began to incorporate psychiatry and psychotherapy into Christian teaching. A new therapeutic orthodoxy, influenced by modern medicine, celebrated heterosexuality as God-given and advocated a compassionate "cure" for homosexuality. White traces the unanticipated consequences as the therapeutic model, gaining popularity after World War II, spurred mainline church leaders to take a critical stance toward rampant antihomosexual discrimination. By the 1960s, a vanguard of clergy began to advocate for homosexual rights. White highlights the continued importance of this religious support to the consolidating gay and lesbian movement. However, the ultimate irony of the therapeutic orthodoxy's legacy was its adoption, beginning in the 1970s, by the Christian Right, which embraced it as an age-old tradition to which Americans should return. On a broader level, White challenges the assumed secularization narrative in LGBT progress by recovering the forgotten history of liberal Protestants' role on both sides of the debates over orthodoxy and sexual identity.

Beyond Male and Female?

Beyond Male and Female? PDF

Author: Sam Ashton

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2023-09-21

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 0567713156

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In this incisive work, Sam Ashton provides a compelling, consistent and erudite argument for a foundational approach to the matter of sexual difference, drawing on biblical and doctrinal material and using resources in their original languages. He tracks and traces the sexed body as it moves from creation, through the fall, to redemption “now,” and final consummation “not yet.” In doing so, Ashton presents what is perhaps the strongest case that can be made for 'male and female He created them'. Each chapter privileges biblical exegesis, drawing upon figures in church history (notably Augustine and Aquinas) as and when they illumine Scripture. By doing so, the book considers the difficulty presented to sexual dimorphism by the phenomenon of intersex. Ashton seeks to develop an understanding that is generous, inclusive and affirming, so he works carefully through the writings of Thatcher, Song and Cornwall in a way that invites engagement and dialogue. With the complete divine drama in view, the book offers synthetic judgments about what remains essential for the “structure” of the sexed body as it travels through history and what may be accidental to the sexed body's “direction” within a particular theo-dramatic act. Ashton concludes by considering ways to transition from dogmatic judgments about intersexuality to the moral-pastoral care of concrete intersex individuals, briefly thinking about the complex matter of marriage.