God and the Gay Christian

While continuing my journey to figure out just what the Bible does and doesn't say about Monogamous, committed, homosexual relationships (and whether or not they're sinful), we've come to this starting point on the topic for the affirming side of things.

Which is probably how I'd best describe this particular book. When it comes to affirming that "Yes, you can be a gay Christian and have a committed marriage the way heterosexual couples go", Vines introduces some interesting arguments and stepping stones toward deconstructing the main passages in scripture that would argue against it and arguing that their meaning is misinterpreted by the traditional church teachings.

Vine's main arguments used to counteract traditional views of these passages typically involve using the cultural contexts of the day the passages were written in order to find their meaning. Most of the time this ends up focusing on the belief that the same-sex relationships the Bible are condemning have more to do with excess lust (women no longer satisfied so they looked for more elsewhere), practices like pederasty, and displays of dominance & power more so than sexual fulfillment. Or in other words, his belief is that a monogamous, committed relationship wouldn't fall under that same situation.

However, I feel like this is also where the book falls a little short. He spends a lot of time saying that a loving, committed same-sex relationship wouldn't qualify as sinful, but Vines also does not list any examples of said relationships. Even a non-affirming book I'd read recently mentioned that there are historically monogamous, same-sex couples throughout history that could have been used as examples. He ultimately spends time focusing on the more negative aspects of Same-Sex couples throughout history, which seems to paint this picture that the "good kind" of those relationships are mostly recent (which through my limited research seems to be false).

Considering most people who hate the idea of same-sex relationships are already assuming all of them are like his negative examples, it'd be nice to counter balance them with some examples of a same-sex couple that is true to each other and their worship of God, historically or modern.

However, that does not mean I don't believe his arguments are without merit. The above mentioned argument that the "Same-sex relationships they're talking about are not the ones of today" are not the only topics Vines covers. He also dives into the complimentary nature of genders, celibacy, marriage in and of itself, procreation, and a few other key points that would relate to the topic at hand.

While Vines does an excellent job of bringing up counterpoints and giving small introductions to these topics, I'd like to research them further before making any sound judgements. At the end of the day, much like when I read a book non-affirming these relationships, I just don't know enough about these topics to know how far the author may be reaching to prove his point, or how smack dab on the head of the nail they hit.

For example, he discusses the meaning of a particular word as it's translated in a key scripture, and came up with a meaning entirely different from another source I'm reading. Since both this book and the other source have reason for bias in promoting their own cause, it's hard to tell who has the closer definition to the word's true meaning at my current level of study.

Aside from that, however, it was an emotional read that was very heartfelt and was very personal in places. I feel this book was definitely worth a read and was a worthy introduction to affirming same-sex marriages, wether you ultimately end up agreeing or not.

Interesting read. His thesis is if gays do not have a choice in who they're attracted to, then Biblical Christianity must change either its views on voluntary celibacy or same-sex marriage.

Two lynchpins of his argument are that homosexuals do not choose their orientation and they cannot change their orientation, although they may change their behavior. The most compelling evidence for this is the failure of the so-called ex-gay movement. Exodus International was a leading organization offering this "therapy" and recently closed its doors and issued an apology to all the people and families it harmed while trying to change the unchangeable. Christians have held strong beliefs about interracial marriage, slavery, divorce and remarriage, which have changed completely as a result of new information and modern culture. Vines believes a similar reinterpretation is happening now as a result of people realizing gays don't become gay by choice or as a result of a moral or spiritual failing.

Although he may not convince everyone -- this book comes pretty heavily from a fundamentalist perspective, and may not be entirely satisfying to someone from a Catholic background -- he makes some excellent historical and Biblical observations about views on same-sex relationships, and makes the case for God giving His blessing on faithful, monogamous same-sex marriages.