Queer Faith

There are many dimensions to religious faith – and so there are many approaches to faith from a queer perspective.  I think in terms of the major headings:

Queer Readings of Scripture

Queer Spirituality: Encounters with a Queer God

Theology: Gay and Lesbian Theology / Queer Theology / Indecent Theology

Ecclesiology: Queer Inclusion in Church

Queer Church History (including Queer Saints & Martyrs, Ancient and Modern)

Each of these has it’s own pages: follow the links, or see the introductory sections for each, below:

Queer Readings of Scripture

We are so accustomed to the use of Scripture as an offensive weapon by those who wish to use “religion” as an excuse to justify their bigotry, that it is routine for LGBT Christians to become preoccupied with focussing on responses to the half dozen clobber texts, instead of the much bigger picture of the Good News contained in Scripture taken as a whole. Unfortunately, we cannot afford to ignore these texts:  for our own peace of mind, we need to understand  how they have been misused, misinterpreted, and possibly even mistranslated – while numerous other texts of comparable (in)significance are totally ignored.

On the other hand, there are also far more texts that we should be warmly embracing, from the pervasive and fundamental insistence on love, justice and inclusion, to the more specifically queer and LGBT-friendly passages that are routinely overlooked, or read without recognition of their gay or lesbian contexts.  I like Keith Sharpe’s major division of his book on The Gay Gospels, between what he calls the “Defensive Testament”, and the “Affirmative Testament”. As gay men, lesbians or trans people of faith, we need to understand both. For most of us, it is probably important to begin with at leas a basic appreciation of the Defensive Testament (by which he means the means to defend ourselves against the clobber texts (also known as the texts of terror). In the long run, it is more important to develop an appreciation of the Affirmative Testament, so that we can begin to see the Bible in its proper light: Good News for all – and that includes queer Christians. It is also important to understand just how the Bible should be read, so I structure these pages on Scripture into three parts:

    • How and Why to Read Scripture for Queer People of Faith
    • Defensive Readings
    • Affirmative Readings

(Follow the links for more on these)

Queer Spirituality: Encounters with a Queer God

There is a homoerotic strand deeply embedded in the history of Christian spirituality and mysticism. A number of modern writers are also exploring queer spirituality, both within and outside the Christian tradition.  Finally, spiritual experience is intensely personal, and so accounts of personal experience are important. I group posts on queer spirituality into three headings:

    • Homoerotic Spirituality in the Christian Tradition
    • Modern Approaches to Homoerotic Spirituality
    • Personal Accounts

Theology: Gay and Lesbian Theology / Queer Theology / Indecent Theology

Moral Theology / Sexual Ethics

Queer Ministry: Towards LGBT Inclusion in Church

Queer Church History / Queer Saints & Martyrs, Ancient and Modern

Building Sexual Theology From the Ground Up St Paul’s Celebration of God’s Gift of Sexuality.

Gay & Lesbian Theology, Queer Theology

  • “Hate Has No Place In The House of God”:  Desmond Tutu A stirring declaration by Nobel Laureate Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, on why there is no place in the Christian Church for discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender, any more than there is for discrimination on the grounds of race.
  • Welcome. Come in, and Come Out. The opening statement with which I launched “Queering the church”

Sexual Ethics

LGBT Inclusion in Church

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