Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 172:685 (Jan 2015)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Matthew S. DeMoss

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BSac 172:685 (January-March 2015) p. 112

Book Reviews

By The Faculty of Dallas Theological Seminary

Matthew S. DeMoss

Editor

God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships. By Matthew Vines. New York: Convergent Books, 2014. 224 pp. $22.99.

Vines is “the founder of the Reformation Project, a Bible-based nonprofit organization that seeks to reform church teaching on sexual orientation and gender identity” (dust jacket). He explains his goal for this book: “My core argument in this book is not simply that some Bible passages have been misinterpreted and others have been given undue weight. My larger argument is this: Christians who affirm the full authority of Scripture can also affirm committed, monogamous same-sex relationships” (p. 3, italics his). He continues, “Instead of accepting the divide between more progressive Christians who support marriage equality and conservative Christians who oppose it, this book envisions a future in which all Christians come to embrace and affirm their LGBT brothers and sisters—without undermining their commitment to the authority of the Bible” (ibid.).

The book begins with Vines’s story of his discovery of his sexual orientation and of his disclosure to his family. He returns to this narrative throughout the book, particularly to describe his parents’ process of coming to accept their son’s support of gay marriage.

Vines believes that the traditional interpretation of biblical texts needs to change. He introduces his discussion of the pivotal passages this way: “Six passages in the Bible—Genesis 19:5; Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9; and 1 Timothy 1:10—have stood in the way of countless gay people who long for acceptance from their Christian parents, friends, and churches. I was blessed by my parents’ continued love, but absent a significant change for my dad in particular, we were likely to end up stuck in the same place: compassion, but no support for a future romantic relationship” (p. 11). For Vines, acceptance of gay people demands acceptance of homosexual practice and support of the option of gay marriage. He rejects the view many Christians hold, that Christians who experience same sex attraction must remain celibate. He explains the “fundamental difference between celibacy for Christians who cannot find a partner and mandatory celibacy for all gay Christians” this ...

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