Abstract
Whereas the liberal deconstruction of conservative claims about the Bible “obviously” condemning homosexual practice of any kind has been a great help to Christian and Jewish gays and lesbians seeking to reconcile their sexual and religious identities, it has done little to help them use the Bible in a gay-affirmative way. By being in essence a counter-argument against anti-gay discourse, it still leaves the Bible in a perillously close connection to homophobic imagination. Queer readings of the Bible have come as a welcome remedy. They turn their back on the question of what the Bible condemns, reclaiming the Scriptures as a positive spiritual resource for LGBT people. This is both a political and a deeply spiritual move, and it is empowering gays and lesbians in church and synagogue. Strikingly however, queer Bible commentaries do not seem to have made their way into the institutional debates of as gay-friendly a denomination as the Episcopal Church, the American branch of the Anglican Communion. In the recent Episcopalian discussion that has led to authorising the blessing of same-sex marriage, however, one may see the signs of some future full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the grand biblical narrative of creation, redemption and renewal, which is central to Christian identity.
Highlights
Whereas the liberal deconstruction of conservative claims about the Bible “obviously” condemning homosexual practice of any kind has been a great help to Christian and Jewish gays and lesbians seeking to reconcile their sexual and religious identities, it has done little to help them use the Bible in a gay-affirmative way
Considerando que a desconstrução liberal de reivindicações conservadoras sobre a Bíblia condenando “obviamente” a prática homossexual de qualquer tipo tem sido uma grande ajuda para gays e lésbicas cristãos e judeus que procuram conciliar as suas identidades sexu
It seems to me that the incipient gay and lesbian inhabiting of the biblical text, sidestepping institutional discussions about “what the Bible really says about homosexuality,”6 is parallelled by the method of the Episcopal Church in working towards its policy of full inclusion for gays and lesbians
Summary
Whereas the liberal deconstruction of conservative claims about the Bible “obviously” condemning homosexual practice of any kind has been a great help to Christian and Jewish gays and lesbians seeking to reconcile their sexual and religious identities, it has done little to help them use the Bible in a gay-affirmative way.
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