Below is a list of Gay religious books that cover a verity of topics from Bible studies to personal stories.
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Gay Religious Books: Most Popular
God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships
- As a young Christian man, Matthew Vines harbored the same basic hopes of most young people: to some-day share his life with someone, to build a family of his own, to give and receive love. But when he realized he was gay, those hopes were called into question. The Bible, he’d been taught, condemned gay relationships. Feeling the tension between his understanding of the Bible and the reality of his same-sex orientation, Vines devoted years of intensive research into what the Bible says about homosexuality. With care and precision, Vines asked questions such as:
• Do biblical teachings on the marriage covenant preclude same-sex marriage or not?
• How should we apply the teachings of Jesus to the gay debate?
• Can celibacy be a calling when it is mandated, not chosen?
• What did Paul have in mind when he warned against same-sex relations?
Unique in its affirmation of both an orthodox faith and sexual diversity, God and the Gay Christian has sparked heated debate, sincere soul searching, and widespread cultural change on the issue of what it means to be a faithful gay Christian.
Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays-vs.-Christians Debate
- As a teenager and young man, Justin Lee felt deeply torn. Nicknamed “God Boy” by his peers, he knew that he was called to a life in the evangelical Christian ministry. But Lee harbored a secret: He also knew that he was gay. In this groundbreaking book, Lee recalls the events–his coming out to his parents, his experiences with the “ex-gay” movement, and his in-depth study of the Bible–that led him, eventually, to self-acceptance. But more than just a memoir, TORN provides insightful, practical guidance for all committed Christians who wonder how to relate to gay friends or family members–or who struggle with their own sexuality. Convinced that “in a culture that sees gays and Christians as enemies, gay Christians are in a unique position to bring peace,” Lee demonstrates that people of faith on both sides of the debate can respect, learn from, and love one another.
Living the Questions: The Wisdom of Progressive Christianity
- Pastors David Felten and Jeff Procter-Murphy, along with an all-star cast of Bible scholars and top church teachers, provide a primer to a church movement that encourages every Christian to “live the questions” instead of “forcing the answers.” Based on the bestselling DVD course of the same name, Living the Questions: The Wisdom of Progressive Christianity includes commentary from such bestselling authors as Diana Butler Bass, John Shelby Spong, Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, Brian McLaren, and others. Tackling issues of faith and controversial subjects such as the church’s position on homosexuality, Living the Questions is the most comprehensive, indeed the only survey of progressive Christianity in existence today.
Calling the Rainbow Nation Home: A Story of Acceptance and Affirmation
- This book is a journey for truth.-Samuel Kader Sr., Pastor, Community Gospel Church, Dayton, Ohio, Openly Gay, Openly Christian, Leyland Publications.Am I going to hell because I am gay? Is homosexuality a sin? Should I remain celibate my entire life? If you or someone you love is struggling with these issues, this book is for you. Follow Reverend Elaine Sundby’s journey as she takes us on her personal quest for truth and self-acceptance-a path that eventually led her to enter the ministry. Reverend Sundby was determined to discover God’s plan for her and equally determined to do what was right in the eyes of God, without taking “the easy way out.” Simple to understand, yet rooted in spiritual truth, Calling the Rainbow Nation Home has the potential to heal-to heal the battered soul of the Christians who are struggling to reconcile their homosexuality with their faith, and to heal their relationships with those who love them and want to understand.A new era is just beginning in the gay Christian community, as thousands begin to realize that God loves us all just as we are.
The Cross in the Closet
- Timothy Kurek, raised within the confines of a strict, conservative Christian denomination in the Bible Belt, Nashville, Tennessee, was taught the gospel of separation from a young age. But it wasn’t long before Timothy’s path and the outside world converged when a friend came out as a lesbian, and revealed she had been excommunicated by her family. Distraught and overcome with questions and doubts about his religious upbringing, Timothy decided the only way to empathize and understand her pain was to walk in the shoes of very people he had been taught to shun. He decided to come out as a gay man to everyone in his life, and to see for himself how the label of gay would impact his life. In the tradition of Black Like Me, The Cross in the Closet is a story about people, a story about faith, and about one man’s “abominable” quest to find Jesus in the margins.
Check out my Review of this book, and Timothy’s Ted Talk by clicking here
Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America
- Until Christmans Eve 1991, Mel White was regarded by the leaders of the religious right as one of their most talented and productive supporters. He penned the speeches of Ollie North. He was a ghostwriter for Jerry Falwell, worked with Jim Bakker, flew in Pat Robertson’s private jet, walked sandy beaches with Billy Graham. What these men didn’t know was that Mel White—evangelical minister, committed Christian, family man—was gay.
In this remarkable book, Mel White details his twenty-five years of being counseled, exorcised, electric-shocked, prayed for, and nearly driven to suicide because his church said homosexuality was wrong. But his salvation—to be openly gay and Christian—is more than a unique coming-out story. It is a chilling exposé that goes right into the secret meetings and hidden agendas of the religious right. Told by an eyewitness and sure to anger those Mel White once knew best, Stranger at the Gate is a warning about where the politics of hate may lead America … a brave book by a good man whose words can make us richer in spirit and much wiser too.
Uncommon Calling: A Gay Christian’s Struggle to Serve the Church
- In this book, Chris Glaser describes his personal journey of coming out to his family, friends, church–and to himself. He tells the story of how the church reacted to his disclosure and his subsequent “uncommon” calling that led him to devote his professional life to reconciliation between the lesbian, gay, and bisexual community and the church. By openly and honestly telling his story, Glaser furthers his calling–demonstrating that lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals are not abstractions, but real people struggling to remain faithful.
Gay Religious Books:
Personal Stories
A Life of Unlearning – A Preacher’s Struggle with His Homosexuality, Church and Faith
- Anthony Venn-Brown was a popular preacher in Australia’s growing mega-churches such as Hillsong. In 1991 he resigned from the ministry and came out. His bestselling autobiography ‘A Life of Unlearning’ was first released in 2004 and has enabled 1,000’s of gay and lesbian people from Christian backgrounds to find resolution of the perceived conflict between their faith and sexuality.
Reclaiming the Spirit: Gay Men and Lesbians Come to Terms with Their Religion
- This text explores the quest for an integration of homosexuality and spirituality. The author interviewed gay men and women who grew up in families belonging to traditional religions that rejected homosexuality as unacceptable. They reveal the balance between their gay and religious identities.
Both Feet Firmly Planted in Midair: My Spiritual Journey
- With the publication of his groundbreaking The Church and Homosexuality in 1976, John McNeill placed himself in the vanguard of scholars who were challenging long-held assumptions about the Bible and homosexuality. Through his continued scholarship, spiritual reflection, and untiring activism, McNeill has brought hope and affirmation to thousands of gay and lesbian Christians. Both Feet Firmly Planted in Midair is McNeill’s autobiography.
Prayers for Bobby: A Mother’s Coming to Terms with the Suicide of Her Gay Son
- Bobby Griffith was an all-American boy …and he was gay. Faced with an irresolvable conflict-for both his family and his religion taught him that being gay was “wrong”-Bobby chose to take his own life.
Prayers for Bobby, nominated for a 1996 Lambda Literary Award, is the story of the emotional journey that led Bobby to this tragic conclusion. But it is also the story of Bobby’s mother, a fearful churchgoer who first prayed that her son would be “healed,” then anguished over his suicide, and ultimately transformed herself into a national crusader for gay and lesbian youth. As told through Bobby’s poignant journal entries and his mother’s reminiscences, Prayers for Bobby is at once a moving personal story, a true profile in courage, and a call to arms to parents everywhere.
Gay Religious Books:
Bible Study
The Children Are Free: Reexamining the Biblical Evidence on Same-sex Relationships
- In The Children Are Free, Rev. Jeff Miner and John Tyler Connoley offer a comprehensive yet easy-to-read examination of the biblical evidence regarding loving same-sex relationships and God’s attitude toward them.
Openly Gay, Openly Christian: How the bible really is gay friendly
- The Bible really is gay-friendly and affirming says Rev. Samuel Kader as he shows in his ground-breaking book what lessons can be learned from Scripture, history and experience. Here is direct language we find what is really contained in the Bible regarding homosexuality and gay relationships, and the results are truly surprising. Jonathan, an Old Testament lsrealite, was probably not only gay but in love with the same man (David) as his sister. Both brother and sister had a marriage ceremony of life commitment to King David in the Biblical account. But David declared he loved Jonathan the most. Ruth proclaimed undying love and commitment to her dear Naomi, and the words were so powerful that at heterosexual weddings ever since, people repeat the same vows at the altar. These issues and more are explored by Rev. Samual Kader, a pastor in the flow of the gay Christian movement since 1975. Scriptural and anecdotal evidence is given to show that “gay and Christian” is a powerful move of God on earth. Rev. Kader’s pastoral and personal insights make this pioneering book a must read for all people.
Gay Religious Books: Church History
Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century
- John Boswell’s National Book Award-winning study of the history of attitudes toward homosexuality in the early Christian West was a groundbreaking work that challenged preconceptions about the Church’s past relationship to its gay members—among them priests, bishops, and even saints—when it was first published twenty-five years ago. The historical breadth of Boswell’s research (from the Greeks to Aquinas) and the variety of sources consulted make this one of the most extensive treatments of any single aspect of Western social history. Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality, still fiercely relevant today, helped form the disciplines of gay and gender studies, and it continues to illuminate the origins and operations of intolerance as a social force.
Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe
- Both highly praised and intensely controversial, this brilliant book produces dramatic evidence that at one time the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches not only sanctioned unions between partners of the same sex, but sanctified them–in ceremonies strikingly similar to heterosexual marriage ceremonies.
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