I’m a Christian and I’m queer. So far as I’ve come out to people in my life, I’ve been met with so much love and support and I cannot say how impactful that is. To know that there are people that remind us that we are still loved and valued the same, no matter who we love, brings a sense of belonging and security that so many who’ve had to hide themselves have lacked. I’ve gone through years of hating myself and wanting to change, but over the past couple years, I have allowed myself to accept who I am and that I truly am beautifully and wonderfully made.
I know that can be difficult for some people to understand, but I’ve done a lot of research, study, and prayer to come to that conclusion. Following are some of the resources over Biblical history/culture/linguistics/etc. that I’ve been reading. This is not everything you need to know if you are learning about how Christianity and Queerness coexist, but it is a list of some things that I have found helpful in my personal journey. If you have any that have been helpful for you – I would love to know about them!
Please know that most of these are not even trying to be persuasive. Some are simply informative and others use what they say to provoke thought and help guide the reader to see perspectives outside of their own. It is completely ok to disagree with anything you read; the point is simply to listen with an open and understanding heart.
Books
Shameless – A Sexual Reformation by Nadia Bolz-Weber
First one I read out of all of these – really great at showing multiple perspectives.
This I Know – A Simple Biblical Defense for LGBTQ Christians by Jim Dant
Super small, super quick read
Queer Virtue – What LGBTQ People Know About Life and Love and How It Can Revitalize Christianity by Reverend Elizabeth M. Edman
Pretty dense, and I’m a slow reader so I’m not even done with all of it
Online Resources
Queer Theology
A number of types of resources here. One that helped kick things off for me was their “Is It Ok to be Gay” course. They email videos and articles over the course of a week. They dig into the main passages that mention homosexuality in the Bible in this. https://www.queertheology.com/is-it-ok/
The Bible Project
They are on Spotify and Youtube! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS RESOURCE! It never talks about homosexuality specifically, but in their videos and podcasts Tim Mackie talks a lot about historical context and culture. I’ve found having a better grasp on this gives better perspective and understanding when reading the Bible. He also has a really great way of explaining things to make them super understandable and it really makes you think about what many churches teach and how they teach it and which parts may or may not have gotten skewed. https://bibleproject.com/
Online Articles
Has ‘Homosexual’ Always Been in the Bible? – United Methodist Insight (Obviously this article can’t contain everything, but it’s a start to learning about translations!)
What are the clobber passages? Stop shaming LGBTQ people with the Bible – Political Theology Matters by the Rev. Dr. Marcia Ledford, Esq. “Seven Biblical passages are used to beat LGBTQIA over the head. The spiritual harm we suffer as a result is impossible to describe or quantify.”
There’s also a movie being made about the translation of the RSV. “1946” and their website 1946themovie.com has some helpful information as well as other sources to go to. From their site: “1946 is not an attack on Christianity or the Bible. It is a quest to discover biblical truth and honor God’s Word.”
