It’s strange to think that six little passages in the Bible have been used to justify so much violence towards gay and lesbian people over the past 2000 years. Times are changing and the homophobia underneath religious excuses is being exposed, however the six passages are still fascinating – particularly to LGBTI Christians who have been able to reconcile their faith and sexuality.
In the playlist below, watch masterful communicators Justin Lee (founder of the Gay Christian Network) and Matthew Vines (a Harvard student who was only 21 when he filmed this video) investigate these six magical passages. They examine the Greek and Hebrew words translated as homosexual – a word and concept that was created barely 150 years ago, thousands of years after the Bible was written – and suggest some alternatives.
There are many more arguments about these passages that could be printed here – such as the many other strange and seemingly random uses of homosexual in the New Testament – but Justin and Matthew’s insights are a great place to start!
Both of these fabulous speakers have books available. Inside Ex-gay highly recommends these publications to LGBTI people in evangelical churches or environments.
Matthew Vines
God and the Gay Christian
Justin Lee
Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays vs Christians Debate
And here’s some commentary from The Dish about Matthew Vines’ God and the Gay Christian
Wondering how evangelical organisations react to leaders and researchers who ask questions about the bible and homosexuality? Here is one example.
Evangelical development organisation Oasis recently came out in (qualified) support of LGBTI people and relationships. As a result the Evangelical Alliance – a global evangelical umbrella body – has cancelled Oasis’ membership of that organisation. This is typical of any evangelical organisation that dares to ask the tough questions about ingrained homophobia in the church.
The following video is a debate between Gay Christian Network’s Justin Lee and evangelical leader Ron Belgau. Hosted by Seattle Pacific University, the debate took place in April 2014 and contains material most evangelical leaders will be familiar with. Inside Ex-gay firmly sides with the views of Justin Lee.