By David Gushee follow David on Twitter @dpgushee One of the most bracing books I read for doctoral work was Reinhold Niebuhr’s 1932 classic, Moral Man and Immoral Society. I pulled it off the shelf this week while thinking about…
Thanksgiving Day, 2060
By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee My wife Jeanie displays a famous Norman Rockwell painting every year around this time. It depicts the patriarch and matriarch of a large clan gathered around the Thanksgiving table preparing to tuck into a…
‘Gone Girl’: Money, marriage, madness and media in Missouri
By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee So, what else shall we talk about? How about a tame little movie/book review? Well, perhaps not so tame. My family has recently spent far too many hours watching, reading and talking about Gone…
What I have learned: The LGBT Issue, conclusion
Ten lessons learned in writing this series on LGBT issues. My series on LGBT issues and the Church is now over. A version of these essays, together with prefatory material and introductory comments by Brian McLaren, Phyllis Tickle and Matthew…
A dual-narrative tour: The LGBT issue, part 16
By David Gushee Follow David:@dpgushee Decades ago, theologian H.R. Niebuhr wrote that the first question of ethics is not “what should I do?” but “what is going on here?” He was on to something. So — what is in fact going on…
Transformative encounters and paradigm leaps: The LGBT issue, part 15
By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee In the last few essays I have gradually sought to reveal why traditionalist ways of connecting the biblical dots on the LGBT issue no longer are compelling to me. It could seem as if…
Toward covenant: The LGBT issue, part 14
By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee Many Christian colleges and seminaries are wrestling with the LGBT issue. Frequently in my visits to these schools over the last two decades this ubiquitous issue has come up, even when it is not…
Creation, sexual orientation, and God’s will: The LGBT issue, part 13
By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee Here are three proposals for responding to the very important claim that God’s design in creation rules out any same-sex relationships, a claim derived from Genesis 1-2, Matthew 19, Romans 1 and perhaps also…
God made them male and female: The LGBT issue, part 12
By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee There are only four passages of Scripture widely quoted on the traditionalist side that I have not yet considered: Genesis 1:26-28/2:18-25, Matthew 19:3-12 (and parallels), and Romans 1:26-27. Despite differences in content and background,…