Rainbow in the Word: LGBTQ Christians’ Biblical Memoirs
By Viki Matson
()
About this ebook
Related to Rainbow in the Word
Related ebooks
Unnatural: Spiritual Resiliency in Queer Christian Women Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWelcoming and Affirming: A Guide to Supporting and Working with LGBTQ+ Christian Youth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPeculiar Faith: Queer Theology for Christian Witness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUncircumcised: Welcoming LGBTQ people into the Family of God Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHeavy Burdens: Seven Ways LGBTQ Christians Experience Harm in the Church Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Walking the Bridgeless Canyon: Repairing the Breach Between the Church and the LGBT Community Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bible and the Transgender Experience: How Scripture Supports Gender Variance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhy Churches Need to Talk about Sexuality: Lessons Learned from Hard Conversations about Sex, Gender, Identity, and the Bible Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOpenly Gay, Openly Christian: How the Bible Really Is Gay Friendly Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5UnClobber: Rethinking Our Misuse of the Bible on Homosexuality Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All But Invisible: Exploring Identity Questions at the Intersection of Faith, Gender, and Sexuality Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Christian Faith and Gender Identity: An OtherWise Reflection Guide Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Scripture, Ethics, and the Possibility of Same-Sex Relationships Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Identity Confusion And The Church: A Mother's Faith Journey with Her Transgendered Child Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Queering Wesley, Queering the Church Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Gospel of Inclusion, Revised Edition: A Christian Case for LGBT+ Inclusion in the Church Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Queer Prophets: The Bible’s Surprise Ending to the Story of Sexuality and Gender Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gay Gospels: Good News for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Understanding Transgender Identities: Four Views Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Being Called, Being Gay: Discernment for Ministry in the Episcopal Church Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBecoming Community: Meeting in the Intersection of Truth and Love Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJilted: Homosexuality the Bible and the Church Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnClobber: Expanded Edition with Study Guide: Rethinking Our Misuse of the Bible on Homosexuality Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Called Out: 100 Devotions for LGBTQ Christians Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOutside the Lines: How Embracing Queerness Will Transform Your Faith Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Modern Kinship: A Queer Guide to Christian Marriage Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGod’s Beloved Queer: Identity, Spirituality, and Practice Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeyond a Binary God: A Theology for Trans* Allies Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
LGBTQIA+ Studies For You
The Joy of Gay Sex: Fully revised and expanded third edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLust Unearthed: Vintage Gay Graphics From the DuBek Collection Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Marble Faun of Grey Gardens: A Memoir of the Beales, the Maysles Brothers, and Jacqueline Kennedy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Whole Lesbian Sex Book: A Passionate Guide for All of Us Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lesbianism Made Easy Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Multiamory: Essential Tools for Modern Relationships Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBaba Yaga's Book of Witchcraft: Slavic Magic from the Witch of the Woods Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You and Your Gender Identity: A Guide to Discovery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lesbian Sex Stories: The Ultimate Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTomboy Survival Guide Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Single at Heart: The Power, Freedom, and Heart-Filling Joy of Single Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Queer Magic: LGBT+ Spirituality and Culture from Around the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gay Like Me: A Father Writes to His Son Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bad Gays: A Homosexual History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Men With the Pink Triangle: The True, Life-and-Death Story of Homosexuals in the Nazi Death Camps Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Women Who Kill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gay Agenda: A Modern Queer History & Handbook Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Conduct Unbecoming: Gays & Lesbians in the U.S. Military Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Letter to a Bigot: Dead But Not Forgotten Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Manifesto: On Never Giving Up Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Queer City: Gay London from the Romans to the Present Day Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes: Revised and Complete Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Rainbow in the Word
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Rainbow in the Word - Viki Matson
Rainbow in the Word
LGBTQ Christians’ Biblical Memoirs
Edited by Ellin Sterne Jimmerson
Foreword by Viki Matson
8754.pngRainbow in the Word
LGBTQ Christians’ Biblical Memoirs
Copyright © 2017 Ellin Sterne Jimmerson. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.
Wipf & Stock
An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers
199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3
Eugene, OR 97401
www.wipfandstock.com
paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-3208-2
hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-3210-5
ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-3209-9
Manufactured in the U.S.A. September 11, 2017
Scripture quotations are directly quoted or adapted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I: Rainbow in the Old Testament
Chapter 1: Queering the Fall
Chapter 2: The Outskirts of Sodom
Chapter 3: Crossroads
Chapter 4: For Such a Time as This
Chapter 5: Falling for Ebed Melech
Part II: Memories
Chapter 6: Three Poems
Chapter 7: A Remembrance in Two Parts
Part III: Rainbow in the New Testament
Chapter 8: Our Father
Chapter 9: Good Fruit
Chapter 10: The Non-Normative Jesus
Chapter 11: And God Said: My Bad
Chapter 12: Magnificat: Seriously, God?
Chapter 13: My Great Hunger
Chapter 14: Prince Charming
Chapter 15: Love Letter
Chapter 16: Falling in Love
Conclusion
Glossary
Contributors
To my mother, Elinor Crawford Sterne,
and to the memory of my father, Edwin Leggett Sterne,
who taught me that Jesus is about freedom.
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
—2 Cor 5:17
Foreword
In my city of Nashville there is a downtown intersection about which most people don’t give another thought. Down by the river, Church Street intersects Gay Street with Church
pointing one way and Gay
pointing the other. This has become, for me, a metaphor of the struggle that queer folk often have with all things religious.
As LGBTQ folks come of age, there are many authorities, institutions, and moral codes to be navigated. It requires a formidable kind of soul-searching and wrestling. Essential to this process are honesty with oneself and others, an intellectual curiosity and willingness to rethink long-held assumptions, deep respect for the mystery of God, and courage to claim one’s own life. It is no wonder then that among the wisest, most integrated, and genuine people I know are a fair number of LGBTQ folk. The furnace of struggle has been a refining one.
Rainbow in the Word: LGBTQ Christians’ Biblical Memoirs includes the marks and memories of this struggle, particularly as the struggle involves the Bible. Some writers reflect on a particular text, wondering if there are ways to understand it that reveal a liberating rather than a punishing God. Others identify with a particular character in the Bible, diving deeply into their story to unearth what might be hidden or neglected. Some speak of the ways they have been wounded by Scripture, while others speak of being freed by it. Additionally, within these pages you will find genres as disparate as those contained within the Bible itself: narrative, confession, poetry, biography, and calls to action.
Each of us is a theologian to the extent that we find ourselves pondering big questions that affect our lives. What is the nature of God? What might it mean to be created in God’s image? Is my difference (queerness) a mistake or a blessing? How are we to think of sin? How are we to regard the gift of sexuality? What makes the Bible authoritative for people of faith?
These questions take on particular importance for queer folk because so often the tenets of the faith have been used to hurt, shame, or destroy individual souls. Freeing oneself from the effects of this harm can take a lifetime because it has to do with rethinking foundational beliefs we were taught since we were children. It is soul-defining work, and we would do well to find others to go this hard way with us.
At its core, the Bible is a book about liberation. It chronicles a whole people as they traverse out of slavery in the land of Egypt and into the Promised Land where they are free. It contains the writings and speeches of prophets who railed against the status quo, calling at every turn for more fairness and justice—God’s justice. And in the New Testament, of course, we encounter the person of Jesus who reached out to those on the margins, who challenged the false piety of the religious leaders, and who, with every word he spoke, envisioned a different kind of world marked by love, hospitality, and humility.
Religious leaders would be wise to reflect on the writings of this book. Perhaps then, one fine day, the signs of church
and gay
need not point in opposite directions. May it be so.
Viki Matson
Vanderbilt University Divinity School
Nashville, Tennessee
Preface
Rainbow in the Word: LGBTQ Christians’ Biblical Memoirs began when one of the contributors, Kenny Pierce, posted a question on Facebook which had theological, anthropological, and biblical implications. Referencing both the book of Esther and his own experience as a gay Christian, he wondered whether God had put lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people on earth to bring healing to our broken world. I was so taken by his question and his post that I found myself absorbed by questions of my own which arose out of them. How have other LGBTQ Christians processed their experiences using the Bible as a filter? Do LGBTQ Christians have anything special to offer biblical interpretation? What do LGBTQ Christians bring to the table for other LGBTQ Christians struggling with issues of their own sexuality, particularly as they run into stumbling blocks, whether real or perceived, of the Bible, the church, and Christian cultures? What do LGBTQ Christians bring to the table for those of us, like me, who are straight Christians?
Acting somewhat impulsively, I sent out a call for submissions for an anthology, wondering whether there were enough LGBTQ Christians who think critically about the Bible, who have interesting personal stories they bounce off the Bible, and who write well. As this volume shows, the answer to my question is a resounding yes!
Without any doubt there are far more LGBTQ Christians out there who have their own stories to tell, their own biblical interpretations to offer, their own words of counsel and comfort. There surely will be more volumes like this for which we all will be the richer.
Ellin Sterne Jimmerson
Acknowledgments
Few people can do anything of