“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” Leviticus 18:22 “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them.” Leviticus 20:13 Within the very nature of any group [...]

Posted in The Bible and Homosexuality 31 Comments »

We all know about Sodom. People who’ve never picked up a Bible have used the story of Sodom and its fiery demise as condemnation against homosexuality and here’s just one example from an email I received from someone who had a less than favorable view of homosexuality: “There is a story in the bible, i [...]

Posted in The Bible and Homosexuality 8 Comments »

“I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both [...]

Posted in The Bible and Homosexuality 3 Comments »

A Sermon by Jay Emerson Johnson, Programming and Development Director at the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry, presented on National Coming Out Day at Pacific School of Religion, 2005. According to Genesis, the beauty and wonders of creation came out of a formless void. Abraham, our ancient ancestor in faith, [...]

Posted in Coming Out, Queering the Bible, Theology No Comments »

This message was presented during a “Coming-Out” service at Pacific School of Religion in the Fall of 2002 by the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry (CLGS). Click here for the audio transcript. My name is Anita. I’m a third year student here at Pacific School of Religion, seeking ordination in [...]

Posted in Christian Lesbian Identity, Opposing, Personal Stories, Public Homilies, Queering the Bible, Questioning No Comments »

I should probably take a moment to explain the title, “The Queering of Job”, which actually says more about me than about anyone else since between the character of Job, the writer of Job, and myself, there’s only one known queer and that happens to be me. Whether we’re willing to admit it or not, [...]

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Job’s Orientation The moment we encounter Job in the story we’re impressed. Job is a wealthy family man with a distinguished reputation in his community. You might say he’s part of the in crowd, established and successful. And he’s a good man too as both the narrator and God will attest. That’s a little about [...]

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Job’s Disorientation Job’s children are dead. His cattle destroyed. His fields and property gone. Job has lost everything and still he holds strong in his faith. “The Lord gives and the Lord takes a way; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). Then Job is struck with boils that ravage his entire body, [...]

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Job’s Reorientation As described in the summary, in the end Job’s final response to God is to reject him. Reject the God of traditional theology; the God who was described in the speeches of Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar and Elihu; the God who appeared like a celestial bully from the middle of the whirlwind. No. Job [...]

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SUMMARY The main portion of the book of Job is written in poetic form, sandwiched between the prologue (chapters 1, 2) and epilogue (chapter 42) that are presented in phrose. The story opens with a peek into the life of Job, a man who is living a blessed life, surrounded by wealth and possessions, children [...]

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