God and the Gay Christian

Zusatztext 41795950 Informationen zum Autor Matthew Vines Klappentext The landmark book exploring what the Bible actually says-and doesn't say-about same-sex relationships. As a young Christian man, Matthew Vines harbored the same basic hopes of most young people: to some-day share his life with someone, to build a family of his own, to give and receive love. But when he realized he was gay, those hopes were called into question. The Bible, he'd been taught, condemned gay relationships. Feeling the tension between his understanding of the Bible and the reality of his same-sex orientation, Vines devoted years of intensive research into what the Bible says about homosexuality. With care and precision, Vines asked questions such as: • Do biblical teachings on the marriage covenant preclude same-sex marriage or not? • How should we apply the teachings of Jesus to the gay debate? • Can celibacy be a calling when it is mandated, not chosen? • What did Paul have in mind when he warned against same-sex relations? Unique in its affirmation of both an orthodox faith and sexual diversity, God and the Gay Christian has sparked heated debate, sincere soul search­ing, and widespread cultural change on the issue of what it means to be a faithful gay Christian. Reclaiming Our Lightan Introduction I grew up singing a chorus in Sunday school about how we should share the light of our faith with the world. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, we sang in the classrooms at my family's church in Wichita, Kansas. Hide it under a bushel? No! I'm gonna let it shine. That was before I knew I was gay. Unfortunately, in recent years, many outside the church haven't been able to see our faith's light due to the rancor toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Increasingly, young believers in particular feel caught in and repulsed by an often meanspirited theological debate about sexual orientation. They long for a charitable yet biblically sound message on this topic that's not at odds with the Jesus of the Gospels. Most young people today, it seems, know someone who has been rejected by family, friends, or church after coming out. Citing chapter and verse, evangelical Christians have typically offered a response like this to the gay believers in their midst: We love you. It's your sin we hate. To be fair, many Christians now support same-sex relationships. But those who do tend to see Scripture as a helpful but dated guidebook, not as the final authority on questions of morality and doctrine. That is not my view of Scripture. Like most theologically conservative Christians, I hold what is often called a high view of the Bible. That means I believe all of Scripture is inspired by God and authoritative for my life. While some parts of the Bible address cultural norms that do not directly apply to modern societies, all of Scripture is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:1617, nrsv). That view of the Bible lies at the heart of our culture's polarization over same-sex relationships. While much of our secular society and many mainline churches have come to embrace gay relationships, the evangelical church has not. Why? Evangelicals' beliefs are based on how they read the Bible, and most evangelicals believe the Bible condemns all same-sex relationships. Today, that belief is coming under increasing pressure. For years, many conservative Christians supported efforts to change gay people's sexual orientation. Some still take that approach, but in 2013, the flagship ex-gay organization shut down and apologized for the false hope, pain, and trauma it caused.1 The failure of that movement has left evangelicals grappling with how to respond to the reality of sexual orientation without compromising their beliefs about the Bible's authority. Not unti...

Praise for ***God and the Gay Christian
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“For anyone who wants to know why some evangelicals find that the Bible does not condemn same-gender marriage, Matthew Vines’s book answers the question. Christians who oppose gay marriage should consider what he has to say.”
*— Tony Campolo, professor emeritus, Eastern University; co-author of Red Letter Christians
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“Many people believe you can either hold a high view of Scripture or affirm gay relationships, but not both. Matthew Vines proves them wrong. Provocative and relentlessly Bible-focused, God and the Gay Christian offers hope and insight for Christians who have felt conflicted on matters of sexuality.”
*— Justin Lee, author of Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays-vs.-Christians Debate
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“A must-read for all Christians, but especially parents. Matthew Vines brings great insight and wisdom to the conversation so urgently needed by today’s church. God and the Gay Christian has the information I was searching for when my son, Tyler Clementi, came out to me. This book will have a great impact on families, freeing parents of misunderstandings about their LGBT children while letting them hold securely to their faith.”
*— Jane Clementi, co-founder of The Tyler Clementi Foundation
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“Matthew Vines has accomplished a rare feat in this book, combining a detailed mastery of a wide range of material from the ancient world and the Christian tradition, a clear and articulate writing style, a deep commitment to his Christian faith, and an incisive judgment that can cut through complex arguments and mountains of data, and identify the core issues and their implications for human life. This book makes significant contributions, not only to ongoing scholarly conversations but also to the average person who wants to probe more deeply how to think about God and the gay Christian. It is the breadth of his reach and the integrated character of his vision that makes this book particularly worth reading.”  
*— Dr. James Brownson, Reformed theologian and professor of New Testament; author of Bible, Gender, Sexuality

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“God and the Gay Christian is a game changer. Winsome, accessible, and carefully researched, every page is brought to life by the author’s clear love for Scripture and deep, persistent faith. With this book, Matthew Vines emerges as one of my generation’s most important Christian leaders, not only on matters of sexuality but also on what it means to follow Jesus with wisdom, humility, and grace.  Prepare to be challenged and enlightened, provoked and inspired. Read with an open heart and mind, and you are bound to be changed.”
*— Rachel Held Evans, author of A Year of Biblical Womanhood and Faith Unraveled
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“Few things in today’s world divide churches and Christian communities more deeply than the issue of homosexuality. What lies at the very heart of the matter is the Bible and its interpretation. The very few biblical verses that touch upon same-sex-related matters say nothing about love and enduring relationships between people of same sex—on the contrary, these texts condemn harshly the activities they describe, such as attempted rape, debauchery, or depriving a person of his male honor. This has led theologically conservative Christians to condemn altogether what is today called ‘homosexuality.’ As the consequence of such an interpretation of the authoritative Scripture, hundreds of thousands of members of Christian communities have faced the difficulty, if not impossibility, to live out their non-heterosexual orientation while maintaining their Christian identity. Matthew Vines dedicates his book to ‘all those who have suffered in silence for so long.’ He reads the Bible and biblical scholarship as an evangelical gay Christian, giving a voice both to the biblical texts and its readers. He takes…