Journal: Eikon
Volume: EIKON 06:2 (Fall 2024)
Article: "The Widening Of God’s Mercy: Sexuality Within The Biblical Story"
Author: Thomas R. Schreiner

Eikon 6.2 (Fall 2024) p. 132

The Widening Of God’s Mercy: Sexuality Within The Biblical Story

Thomas Schreiner

Thomas Schreiner is the James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Christopher B. Hays and Richard B. Hays. The Widening of God’s Mercy: Sexuality Within the Biblical Story. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2024.

Introduction

Sometimes when people change their mind it is occasion for joy and celebration, for there is no virtue in adhering to past opinions for the sake of tradition or fear of criticism. In this case, however, Richard Hays’s change of mind is a cause of grief and sadness instead of joy, especially for those like me who have learned so much from his outstanding scholarship over the years.1 The father (Richard — a New Testament professor for many years at Duke) and son (Chris — an Old Testament professor at Fuller) rightly emphasize God’s mercy as a central theme of the biblical storyline, and many observations (especially in the New Testament portion of the book) are helpful

Eikon 6.2 (Fall 2024) p. 133

and true, but their understanding of mercy when it comes to same-sex relationships deviates radically from Scripture.

We might say, Why does their view of same-sex relationships matter? Christians, after all, have different opinions on a variety of issues and we also dispute what is the right thing to do in a number of instances. For example, evangelicals are divided on what the biblical text says about divorce. Still, same-sex relations are not in the same category as some other disputes. In the matter of divorce, a long exegetical and ethical debate exists on what the text teaches. When it comes to same-sex relations, no such debate exists. Both the Old Testament and New Testament teach unreservedly and clearly that same-sex relations are contrary to God’s will. Nor is there even the tiniest crack in the window in Second Temple Jewish literature and in the orthodox Christian tradition. Divergent voices only began to emerge in the twentieth century.

Ignoring The Texts On Same-Sex Sin

Remarkably, none of the texts about same-sex behavior are discussed in the book. The authors believe the issue can be resolved without even considering what these verses say. These half-dozen texts, they aver, can scarcely be the basis for determining the issue, for that is like establishing our view of slavery on Exodus 21:2 and 1 Peter 2:18. Chris says the Bible remains...