2 Optional Textbooks
2 Optional Textbooks
A Gospel Path to LGBTQ Affirmation (On Demand)
Orientation (Read This First)
Orientation (Read This First)
Module 1 - Locating Ourselves in the Conversation
Module 1 - Locating Ourselves in the Conversation
Module 2 - Starting with Understanding
Module 2 - Starting with Understanding
Module 3 - The Non-Affirming Position in Good Faith
Module 3 - The Non-Affirming Position in Good Faith
Module 4 - God's Created Order (Genesis 1 & 2)
Module 4 - God's Created Order (Genesis 1 & 2)
Module 5 - Sodom & Gomorrah (Genesis 19 & Jude 1)
Module 5 - Sodom & Gomorrah (Genesis 19 & Jude 1)
Module 6 - The Leviticus Holiness Codes (Lev. 19 & 20)
Module 6 - The Leviticus Holiness Codes (Lev. 19 & 20)
Module 7 - The Soft Ones (1st Corinthians & 1st Timothy)
Module 7 - The Soft Ones (1st Corinthians & 1st Timothy)
Module 9 - Is Queer Life Represented in Scripture?
Module 9 - Is Queer Life Represented in Scripture?
Module 10 - What God Has Made Clean (Acts 10-11)
Module 10 - What God Has Made Clean (Acts 10-11)
Most of the ten modules come with recommended reading from the following two books. In a couple of cases, I provide excerpts to read; most of the time, I provide page numbers. Buying these books is certainly optional, but I highly recommend getting one or both to support your learning.
Each book is linked below to Amazon as well as to my local bookstore, Spoke & Word. The good folks there will happily ship to you.
God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships
(Revised and Expanded), by Matthew Vines. Available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook.
This is very accessible reading, but of the two options, is a bit more academic and theological. Of the two, this one is more in-depth on some theological and scriptural issues and less personal.
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4fVe8Gz
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Spoke & Word Books: https://spokeandwordbooks.com/item/W-jD3uuK5Epih83USxNaKQ
Torn: Rescuing the Gospel From the Fays - vs. - Christians Debate
(2nd Ed. Revised and Updated), by Justin Lee. Available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook.
Easy read, about 50% memoir and 50% issue-driven. Covers similar topics as God and the Gay Christian, but with less depth. For example, when discussing the same verse of scripture, Lee spends about four pages to cover the same questions that Vines spends an entire 20-page chapter on.
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4lFj0AR
Spoke & Word Books: https://spokeandwordbooks.com/item/a2ewiNE4ect32mxRdHeH8w
Note that the current audiobook is from the 1st edition, so some of the reading I assign will be in different places. I'll comment on that in the specific assignments.
Recommendation: Both are great, and I think you'd be well served to read both. If you want only one, decide whether you want to focus more on the personal experience (Torn) or the biblical/theological study (God & the Gay Christian).
For most modules, I will recommend passages from these books. In those recommendations, I will refer to these books as GGC and Torn.