Conservative Christians often insist that “biblical marriage,” can only be between one man and one woman. This is clearly wrong as actual biblical marriage practices included polygamy, allowed for concubines, and prescribed levirate marriage where a man was expected to marry his brother’s childless widow to produce heirs. Ick. I’m not seeking to understand why… Continue reading Biblical Marriage
Category: LGBTQ+
God of the In-betweens
All of life is a spectrum. God made it so. Now, some of the language in our scripture may seem more black and white: male and female, light and dark, land and seas, sheep and goats, life and death. But again, language doesn’t make things so, God makes them so. I’m especially fond of dawn… Continue reading God of the In-betweens
Why “Welcome” Must Mean Full Participation in the Church
For roughly 20 years I was a member of an Open and Affirming (ONA) congregation in the United Church of Christ (UCC). For those of you who aren’t familiar with the ways of the UCC, some congregations are ONA (I’ve heard a little less than half) and many are not. ONA is a designation for… Continue reading Why “Welcome” Must Mean Full Participation in the Church
The Bible Directly Supports Full Transgender Inclusion
It’s always interesting to me how much emphasis some people put on the stories in Genesis. Now please understand, there are great lessons there. I’m not minimizing Genesis in this post, I’m trying to elevate what I see is an arc in the Christian story. It’s an arc that in many places – especially when… Continue reading The Bible Directly Supports Full Transgender Inclusion
Deuteronomy Should Not Tell You How to Dress
A clobber verse that gets carelessly tossed around a lot by conservatives who fear LGBTQ+ people is this: Deuteronomy 22:5 “A woman shall not wear a man’s apparel, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for whoever does such things is abhorrent to the Lord your God.” But I say, why stop at this verse… Continue reading Deuteronomy Should Not Tell You How to Dress
Does Mike Johnson Read the Bible?
I just wrote about similar topics three months ago so it kind of pains me to do it again so soon. But that dullard Mike Johnson has made yet another attack against the Bible, against Christian faith and against our trans sisters and brothers. While making a victory lap after passing a bill banning transgender… Continue reading Does Mike Johnson Read the Bible?
God’s Gender
Why would Christians assign a male gender to the God of all creation? First, many of us including myself don’t, at least not intentionally. More on that later. However many Christians inherited referring to God as a male directly from scripture. In ancient Israel, it would have been natural to think of the highest ruler… Continue reading God’s Gender
It’s Adam and Eve, Not Christopher and Olivia
Something funny happened on the sixth day of creation: Genesis 1:27 So God created humans in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. You see, it says right there in the first chapter of the Bible that God created man and woman. So does that mean there’s nothing… Continue reading It’s Adam and Eve, Not Christopher and Olivia
Romans 1 Is Not About Same-sex Relationships
I didn’t intend to write about Romans 1 today. I intended to approach it at some point in the future with greater depth than I will probably accomplish here. Romans itself is extremely complex and mired in several hundreds of years of specific interpretations that I’m not sure Paul ever intended. Romans 1 is especially… Continue reading Romans 1 Is Not About Same-sex Relationships
And Now, My Frustration with N.T. Wright
Last week I posted how N. T. Wright influenced my views of the resurrection. I was already convinced of the living Christ based on personal experience, but I found his resurrection arguments a convincing enough explanation of the peculiarities of early Christianity. Unfortunately, Wright holds some very conservative views on same-sex relationships that I disagree… Continue reading And Now, My Frustration with N.T. Wright