By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee The essentials of the traditionalist reading of scripture on same-sex relationships can be rendered by this formula, though of course there are variations: Genesis 1-2 + Genesis 19 + Leviticus 18:22/20:13 + Judges 19…
Biblical inspiration, human interpretation: The LGBT issue, part 7
By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee The (Protestant) Bible has 66 books, 1,189 chapters and 31,273 verses, spoken, written and edited over more than a millennium, in three different languages, in multiple social settings, by dozens of authors, with the…
If this is where you get off the bus: The LGBT issue, part 6
By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee It should be clear by now that “the LGBT Issue” is by no means just one issue, and that its complexity requires a sufficiently complex response. Careful readers will see that my approach in…
If This is Where You Get Off the Bus: The LGBT Issue, part 6
By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee It should be clear by now that “the LGBT Issue” is by no means just one issue, and that its complexity requires a sufficiently complex response. Careful readers will see that my approach in…
Six options for the churches: The LGBT issue, part 5
By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee What is the posture that forgiven sinners in the church should have toward other forgiven sinners? Pope Francis rocked the Christian world with his response in a 2013 interview when he was asked about…
‘Third-way’ Baptist church faces possible expulsion
By Bob Allen The 175-church Los Angeles Southern Baptist Association is expected to vote this fall on whether to expel a member church for embracing a “third way” besides discrimination against or unqualified endorsement of people who identify as gay….
The power of witness
On July 28 I was one of about two dozen clergy, activists, family and friends who traveled with a couple to the Jefferson County courthouse in Louisville, Ky., to get a marriage license. We went knowing it was a fool’s…
A proper starting place
With three parts out of several written and published, I have enjoyed reading David Gushee’s careful examination of the issue of homosexuality and the church. The care and sensitivity he is bringing to the issue combined with an obvious desire…
Gay Christians exist: The LGBT issue, part 4
By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee While some traditionalist voices still dispute it, more are willing to acknowledge that the LGBT community contains a sizable population of professing Christians. However one defines a Christian — by baptism, by stated personal commitment…