Queer Theology

There is so much work that goes into reading the Bible from a queer lens, but why do we do it? We find value in sharing the good news as it is meant to be – for all. We are called to do this work especially now that we are in the midst of a very troubling time.  Today we answer a listener question about feeling separated from Christianity while feeling confident in their sexuality. “I’m settled in my bisexuality and polyamory, but I am still a closeted Christian in a lot of areas in my life. Does anyone have experience or relate to that?” We also queer a text from John 20:19-31, the story about doubting Thomas. We talk about how beautiful this story is and how this has become a transformational tool for both Fr. Shay and Brian. So stay tuned to episode 325. In this episode, we talk about: Life updates [0:39] Shout out to Nate FitzGerald who has been a supporter since this fall [5:12] A reader question that was posted inside of our Sanctuary Collective. We have a channel where we discuss the week’s podcast [5:37 ] Brian leaving Christianity at 19 years old [6:29] “I worry sometimes about  what people’s assumption of my Christianity is…” [9:36] Invitation to Sanctuary Collective [13:24] We queer a text from John 20:19-3 [13:55] Jesus’s Scars & Transgender Bodies [16:09] Fr. Shay’s personal experience with this passage [18:51] This work that we do – queering the Scripture, is valuable [23:44] Remember registration for Queering The Bible is now open. Learn more about the course to decide if it’s right for you at queertheology.com/queerbible If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology If you’d like to be featured in future episodes, email your question or Bible passage suggestion to connect@queertheology.com    Link(s) mentioned in this episode: Jesus’s Scars & Transgender Bodies Jesus Comes Out   John 20:19-31 It was still the first day of the week. That evening, while the disciples were behind closed doors because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities, Jesus came and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you don’t forgive them, they aren’t forgiven.” Thomas, the one called Didymus, one of the Twelve, wasn’t with the disciples when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger in the wounds left by the nails, and put my hand into his side, I won’t believe.” After eight days his disciples were again in a house and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus entered and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here. Look at my hands. Put your hand into my side. No more disbelief. Believe!” Thomas responded to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus replied, “Do you believe because you see me? Happy are those who don’t see and yet believe.” Then Jesus did many other miraculous signs in his disciples’ presence, signs that aren’t recorded in this scroll. But these things are written so that you will believe that Jesus is the Christ, God’s Son, and that believing, you will have life in his name. Photo by Hannah Busing The post The Transformational Power of Queering Scripture – John 20:19-31 appeared first on Queer Theology.

Happy Easter, everyone. And while we are celebrating Easter very differently this year, we have hope that we can still see the power in Jesus’ resurrection — and have our own resurrection in the midst of this pandemic. Today we answer a listener question from Jeremy. He wants to clear the confusion he has in his heart regarding Paul — he thinks that Paul condemns homosexuality. Maybe you’ve heard that too? Then, we queer a text from Matthew 28:1-10. It talks about Jesus’ resurrection and how the angel delivered the news to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary at the tomb. We talk about how women were perfectly placed in the center of this scripture and that it’s so beautiful. We also discussed how queerness shows up in the Bible and throughout the scripture. So stay tuned and enjoy the show. Have a blessed Easter. In this episode, we talk about: Easter life updates from Brian and Fr. Shay [0:35] Shout out to Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser who has been joined us over five months ago [5:13] A listener question from Jeremy [5:43] The words gay, queer and transgender didn’t exist during Paul’s time [6:18] The scripture in question is about religious power dynamics and not about queer [7:57] Don’t conclude on what the Bible says right away; check the context [8:58] Invitation to Sanctuary Collective [10:53] We queer a text from Matthew 28:1-10 [11:25] The genealogy of Jesus [12:59] Women at the central place of this story [14:00] Queerness shows up all throughout the Bible [16:43] If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology If you’d like to be featured in future episodes, email your question or Bible passage suggestion to connect@queertheology.com  Link(s) mentioned in this episode: QueerTheology.com/IsItOk QueerTheology.com/DiveDeeper QueerTheology.com/community Queer the Bible Waitlist: queertheology.com/queerbible 7-day IG challenge: QueerTheology.com/challenge Matthew 28:1-10 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the tomb. Look, there was a great earthquake, for an angel from the Lord came down from heaven. Coming to the stone, he rolled it away and sat on it. Now his face was like lightning and his clothes as white as snow. The guards were so terrified of him that they shook with fear and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Don’t be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He isn’t here, because he’s been raised from the dead, just as he said. Come, see the place where they laid him. Now hurry, go and tell his disciples, ‘He’s been raised from the dead. He’s going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.’ I’ve given the message to you.” With great fear and excitement, they hurried away from the tomb and ran to tell his disciples. But Jesus met them and greeted them. They came and grabbed his feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go and tell my brothers that I am going into Galilee. They will see me there.” Photo by Bruno van der Kraan The post Women Take Center Stage – Matthew 28:1-10 appeared first on Queer Theology.

There are times when we are faced with scriptures that don’t really make sense. It’s difficult to put two and two together. But that doesn’t mean that we’ve already failed in understanding it. We have to remember that not being able to discern certain scriptures is perfectly fine. After all, the Bible isn’t always clear.  In today’s episode, we queer a Bible scripture that a listener requested. This is a text from Mark 11:12-14 which briefly talks about Jesus getting angry at a fig tree for bearing no fruits. Mind you that during that time, the fig tree wasn’t in the season to bear fruit. So listen on to hear what we think about this passage and of Jesus’ anger.  In this episode, we talk about: Fr. Shay’s life updates [0:40] Brian’s love for Palm Sunday [2:45] Shout out to Madison Neel [5:48] Holy week update – get excited, we have tons of stuff lined up for you [6:20] A listener passage audio request from Daniel [7:40] We queer a text from Mark 11:12-14 [8:22] A possible cultural context that’s missing? [9:57] Sometimes the Bible is just weird; this might be a case of that [10:24] It’s okay if you don’t understand a scripture [12:11] What is it with us and sanitizing Jesus [13:41] Reminder: 7-day IG challenge [15:05] If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology If you’d like to be featured in future episodes, email your question or Bible passage suggestion to connect@queertheology.com  Link(s) mentioned in this episode: Palm Sunday: What happened and what does it MEAN Queer the Bible Waitlist: queertheology.com/queerbible 7-day IG challenge: QueerTheology.com/challenge Mark 11:12-14 The next day, after leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. From far away, he noticed a fig tree in leaf, so he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing except leaves, since it wasn’t the season for figs. So he said to it, “No one will ever again eat your fruit!” His disciples heard this. Photo by Steve Knutson The post Jesus Gets Hangry – Mark 11:12-14 appeared first on Queer Theology.

In today’s episode, we answer a reader question regarding justifying your romantic or sexual desires through the scripture. Is having a sexual relationship a possibility for someone who wants to live a wholly Christ-centered life? “Doesn’t romance introduce the danger of worshiping your partner instead or as well as God?” We also queer a text from John 11:1-45 that shows us how Jesus is human. That he weeps for the death of a friend. He grieved. But then also shows us the grace of the Lord by waking Lazarus from the dead. It’s also a great reminder for the people around us that they also have the responsibility to make life easier for us – for all of us.  In this episode, we talk about: shout out to Tammy Garner [7:18] a reader question from Ace about justifying romantic pursuits when living a wholly christ-centered life [7:44] the Bible’s role in justifying sex and romance [9:20] worshiping God is communal [12:53] we queer a text from John 11:1-45 [16:55] understanding looking back vs. being in the middle of the midst of suffering  [17:42] gospel of John as Fr. Shay’s least favorite [19:20] Jesus shows His humanity [21:20] If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology If you’d like to be featured in future episodes, email your question or Bible passage suggestion to connect@queertheology.com Link(s) mentioned in this episode: I Found the Garden of Eden: QueerTheology.com/garden-of-eden Self-Care for LGBTQ Christians:QueerTheology.com/selfcare Queer the Bible Waitlist: queertheology.com/queerbible 7-day IG challenge: QueerTheology.com/challenge John 11:1-45 A certain man, Lazarus, was ill. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This was the Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped his feet with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was ill.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, saying, “Lord, the one whom you love is ill.” When he heard this, Jesus said, “This illness isn’t fatal. It’s for the glory of God so that God’s Son can be glorified through it.” Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. When he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed where he was. After two days, he said to his disciples, “Let’s return to Judea again.” The disciples replied, “Rabbi, the Jewish opposition wants to stone you, but you want to go back?” Jesus answered, “Aren’t there twelve hours in the day? Whoever walks in the day doesn’t stumble because they see the light of the world. But whoever walks in the night does stumble because the light isn’t in them.” He continued, “Our friend Lazarus is sleeping, but I am going in order to wake him up.” The disciples said, “Lord, if he’s sleeping, he will get well.” They thought Jesus meant that Lazarus was in a deep sleep, but Jesus had spoken about Lazarus’ death. Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. For your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there so that you can believe. Let’s go to him.” Then Thomas (the one called Didymus) said to the other disciples, “Let us go too so that we may die with Jesus.” When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was a little less than two miles from Jerusalem. Many Jews had come to comfort Martha and Mary after their brother’s death. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, while Mary remained in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. Even now I know that whatever you ask God, God will give you.” Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha replied, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She replied, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, God’s Son, the one who is coming into the world.” After she said this, she went and spoke privately to her sister Mary, “The teacher is here and he’s calling for you.” When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to Jesus. He hadn’t entered the village but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were comforting Mary in the house saw her get up quickly and leave, they followed her. They assumed she was going to mourn at the tomb. When Mary arrived where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.” When Jesus saw her crying and the Jews who had come with her crying also, he was deeply disturbed and troubled. He asked, “Where have you laid him?” They replied, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to cry. The Jews said, “See how much he loved him!” But some of them said, “He healed the eyes of the man born blind. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?” Jesus was deeply disturbed again when he came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone covered the entrance. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said, “Lord, the smell will be awful! He’s been dead four days.” Jesus replied, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you will see God’s glory?” So they removed the stone. Jesus looked up and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. I know you always hear me. I say this for the benefit of the crowd standing here so that they will believe that you sent me.” Having said this, Jesus shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his feet bound and his hands tied, and his face covered with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.” Therefore, many of the Jews who came with Mary and saw what Jesus did believed in him. Photo by Neal E. Johnson The post The Humanity of Jesus – John 11:1-45 appeared first on Queer Theology.

Have you ever wondered how Queer Theology started? In today’s episode, we walk down memory lane as we answer a question from Brandon. We take you on a journey on how it all began, what was the main objective when we created Queer Theology. We queer Psalm 23 which is a bonus text. It’s also very meaningful for us because this is the first text that we covered as the first episode of Queer Theology podcast. Moreover, this text is a listener’s request from Morgan, and also a lectionary text for the week. Stay tuned and enjoy today’s podcast. In this episode, we talk about: shout out to Amy who joined 2 months ago [5:10] a listener question from Brandon about how Fr. Shay and Brian started Queer Theology [5:35] how the name Queer Theology and its work started out [7:00] our goals and how they came to be [8:50] “Queer Theology is good news for straight cisgender folks as well.” [11:35] we queer a bonus text — a listener requested text [14:00] US feels like a dark valley [16:33] A caution against reading this text as “we’re saved, but screw everyone else” [18:40] food for thought: this passage is not for everyone all the time [20:00] grace and forgiveness [21:34] If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology If you’d like to be featured in future episodes, email your question or Bible passage suggestion to connect@queertheology.com  Link(s) mentioned in this episode: Introducing Queer Theology’s Weekly Bible Podcast – Psalm 23 Queer the Bible Waitlist: queertheology.com/queerbible Can Straight Peole Queer Theology? QueerTheology.com/community Psalm 23 A psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd.     I lack nothing. He lets me rest in grassy meadows;     he leads me to restful waters;     he keeps me alive. He guides me in proper paths     for the sake of his good name.   Even when I walk through the darkest valley,     I fear no danger because you are with me. Your rod and your staff—     they protect me.   You set a table for me     right in front of my enemies. You bathe my head in oil;     my cup is so full it spills over! Yes, goodness and faithful love     will pursue me all the days of my life,     and I will live in the Lord’s house     as long as I live. Photo by Michael Mouritz The post Walking Through the Dark Valley – Psalm 23 appeared first on Queer Theology.

In today’s episode, we answer a question from Forest on how to handle and cope with Christian friends who are not accepting of your queerness. Forest also asks: “How do I refute their claims that homosexuality is a sin?” We also queered a text from Exodus 17:1-7 where we hear a relatable story of people being afraid to face changes, of people being scared of facing growth and the pain that comes along with it. Listen on and we hope you’ll enjoy today’s show. Episode TranscriptBrian: Welcome to the Queer Theology podcast! Fr. Shay: Where each episode, we take a queer look at the week’s lectionary readings. We’re the co-founders of QueerTheology.com and the hosts for this podcast. I’m Father Shay Kearns B: And I’m Brian G. Murphy. FS: Hello, hello. Welcome back to the Queer Theology podcast. This is the podcast for Sunday, March 15th, 2020 and we are super excited to be back with you again. So Brian, what is new in your world? B: I am serving botched carpenter realness these days. So my good friend who I used to be boyfriends with, who I no longer boyfriends with, and we don’t have a good word for it because we still love each other dearly, Matt. He is an amazing metal worker. He makes artisanal, brass lighting and also, home textures like knobs, hooks, and apron holders. They’re beautiful. He’s got his own study and he sells some staff on Etsy: mattalfordstudios.com. He made my cross and triangle necklace for me. But so he is making me some lamps to go next to my bed that are wood, metal, and rope. That just looks really cool. So yesterday we went to Home Depot to pick out the wood that we’re gonna make the stuff out of. Then cut it up and sand it. I wanna help him but he’s not letting me help him much because he’s afraid I’m gonna mess things up. So I’m providing moral support while he is making this beautiful lamp. So I’m just really excited about it and it feels cool to have — to me it’s gonna be functional, and look pretty, and also be meaningful to me. So that’s sort of been my crafty Nick Offerman weekend. What about you Shay? FS: Yeah, it’s a big submission season for playwriting. I just ended up opening two shows for Uprising Theatre Company. Well, one show for Uprising – a beautiful new piece called “Doctor Voynich and Her Children” by Leanna Keyes and then opened up a show that I was assistant director on at Mix Blood Theatre. It was a trans and queer pop-rock musical, super fun. So now that both of those shows are open and running, I can focus a little bit on my own writing again which feels really good. And it’s submission season which means putting your work out there to a million different places, so you can get told “no” a million different times. So that hopefully, you can get one or two “yeses” in the mix. So I’m doing a lot of that. I also just finished reading a trilogy of books that I wanna shoutout. It’s called The Truly Devious series it’s by Maureen Johnson. It’s a young adult trilogy of novels. And it’s a great, fun, mystery story. But what I love about the series is the most casually inclusive series I think I’ve ever read of different body types, different abilities, and a non-binary character, and queerness, and the main character has panic attacks. It’s all presented so matter-of-factly and doesn’t feel like inclusion for inclusion’s sake. It very much feels like, yeah! This is the world we live in. Some people use canes to walk, and some people use they, them pronouns. It’s not a thing. It’s just presented in the book. So I love this series. The whole series is out now which is great because I did not realize it was a series when I started reading it. And book 1 ends on a cliffhanger and I was like, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” I had to wait a year for the next book and it sucked! Anyway, the whole series is out now, Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson. Get it. Love it. It’s super fun. B: That sounds so awesome. And also Maureen Johnson makes me think of rent.  Before we dive in, this is just a friendly reminder that this podcast is made possible by over 125 supporters on Patreon. FS: Our patrons not only help to keep this show on the air but also support all of the free resources we create over at QueerTheology.com. Articles, videos, PDF guides, courses, and all sorts of stuff. So thank you to all of our Patreon supporters. B: And in keeping with our tradition, we have another Patreon supporter shout out this week. This week our shout out goes out to Emily England who has been a supporter for a couple of months and is also a close friend of Shay’s! Thank you so much, Emily! It’s great to see our name on there. You rock! FS: If you enjoy this show and want to support it, you can that for as little as $2 per month at patreon.com/queertheology. You can learn more about why we need your support and check out the perks, at patreon.com/queertheology. Okay, on to the show! B: Our question today comes from Forest who asked: “How do you cope with your Christian friends not accepting who you are? And how can I refute their claims that homosexuality is a sin?”  Shay, what do you say to that? FS: This is a really tough question because I think there are two different things happening here, right? There’s this question about how can I convince my Christian friends that their views about homosexuality are wrong? So I’m gonna tackle that one first and say, honestly you can’t. If your Christian friends are not in a space where they’re willing to be challenged on their theological beliefs, having that conversation over and over again is actually not gonna be helpful to them or to you. I’ve talked about this before on this podcast about going into the Rob Bell communication workshop. One of the things that people had asked Rob was “How do you convince people who think you’re wrong?” And he’s like, “You don’t. I don’t spend or waste time on them.” I think that’s an important thing to remember. That it’s not our job to convince people, it’s not our responsibility. That work can also really be toxic for us to be stuck in. So my first answer is unhook from that work and stop trying to do that work.  But the coping piece is different. These are people that you care about and that you presumably want to stay in some kind of relationship with. I think that you need to figure out for yourself where your boundaries are around that thing. How close can you actually be with these people if they don’t accept all of who you are? Can you maybe go out to dinner with them and talk about things you all agree with. But if you’re gonna talk about relationships that’s off the table, right? Figuring out for yourself what some of your boundaries are to protect your own heart and soul, I think, is really important when interacting with people who don’t accept all of who you are. Brian, what about you? B: I was gonna say something similar and that the answer to one is, I don’t know. It’s gonna be really hard to cope if you’re constantly trying to convince them that it’s okay to be LGBTQ. Everything that Shay just said about sometimes you have to walk away when you can’t convince people, it’s not our job. We’ve talked about that twice on the podcast: Jesus in two different places or two different gospels in Mark 6 and in Luke 10. Instructing his disciples to go and spread the gospel but then if the people there aren’t willing to hear the news and are closed down to it, then they’re just gonna leave and shake the dust off your sandals as you leave. Figuring that out is so important that some people wanna engage, wanna learn, and wanna grow, and we should absolutely be investing our time and energy in those relationships. And some people are closed down, they don’t care, or they’re asking questions but it’s not in good faith. It’s to trick you or to wear you down. It’s our job to suss out that difference. All the time that we spend running in circles with people who have no interest in actually learning or hearing, is time that we can’t be spending either with people who do genuinely want to learn and grow, or with people who nourish, and feed us, and support us. So that we can grow. So that we can be better equipped to move out into the world. We’ll put links to both of those in the show notes for this episode at QueerTheology.com/320, but figuring out those boundaries is the work. We also have a little mini-series on self-care and figuring out boundaries around people who are unaffirming. So we will put a link to that in the show notes of this episode, again QueerTheology.com/320 or you can pop right to that series at QueerTheology.com/selfcare.  FS: Just a reminder that if you’ve got a question for the podcast, we would love to tackle it. You can send it to connect@queertheology.com. You can either send it as just an email with the question in there. Or if you want to record your question on an audio recorder, you can do it on your phone, you can send us your audio clip and we will put into future podcasts. If you need or want to remain anonymous with your question, just let us know that when you send the email. B: Okay! Let’s open up our Bibles and queer this text. Today we’re taking a look at Exodus 17:1-7. I will read it to you now from the Common English Bible. The whole Israelite community broke camp and set out from the Sin desert to continue their journey, as the Lord commanded. They set up their camp at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people argued with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why are you arguing with me? Why are you testing the Lord?” But the people were very thirsty for water there, and they complained to Moses, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with this people? They are getting ready to stone me.” The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of Israel’s elders with you. Take in your hand the shepherd’s rod that you used to strike the Nile River, and go. I’ll be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Hit the rock. Water will come out of it, and the people will be able to drink.” Moses did so while Israel’s elders watched. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites argued with and tested the Lord, asking, “Is the Lord really with us or not?” Okay, Shay. There’s some stuff in here that I think is really interesting. What do you make of this text and how does queerness inform it? FS: I love this text! I mean I love how snarky and crabby Moses is, pretty much all the time. I especially love this text because here we have, the people of Israel have just spent generations in slavery. Legit slavery. They have been freed and in their very first bits of freedom they are pissy and cranky because it’s hard. From the outside, I’m “What the hell? How can you not understand that you are free now! This is better than what you had just left.” And also, I see some of myself and the queer community in this text as well. We talked a lot in the Faithful Sexuality Course of: it can be really difficult to change, and grow, and confront stuff about yourself that you don’t like. But also grow into a new way of being – that can be a painful process. It can feel the stuckness that you were in is better than the pain of the growth that you are experiencing. So that strikes me about this passage: that this is part of the human condition, is that we would rather stay stuck and miserable, and be familiar with our stuckness and miserableness than we would go through the work and pain of actually growing and getting to the promised land. So that’s the first thing that comes up for me in this text, and sitting with that in myself, and also making that observation about community as well. What about you? B: So I studied Religion in college and in one of the first classes that I took, we looked at the Exodus. My professor was a Rabbi and he said to us something very in passing – about how the Exodus didn’t historically happen. And there was no archaeological evidence to support it, and there was no other corroborating census or historical records. It just – never say never, but almost certainly didn’t historically happen. And I had my mind blown! I was like, “What are you talking about? That’s not true!” His point was it might not be historically true, but there is still truth to this text. I remember being, “You’re a rabbi, you’re supposed to believe this even more. What do you mean?” It blew my mind – stick with me for a second, that I think that I come back to that often and I think it’s important to remember here that there’s one way to read this text: which I think you can get some value out of. By reading it as if it happened or as if you’re a character in the story. To say, “What might I learn from this text as it happened?” Then there’s another way that you can approach it to try and get some more information out of it. To say, “If this is a story, why does this story matter? Why did this community tell this story, and how did this story end up in the Bible? And what then does that tell us about ourselves? And about God?” And sometimes, the answer is the exact same thing, as if it was historically accurate. Sometimes it just sheds new light on this. One of the things that sticks out to me that there is this – when I’m approaching from that second angle, there is this unmistakable truth that God cares about our physical well-being. That God cares about the here and now. And earlier in Exodus, God led Israel out of slavery. And here God is like, you need water… we’re gonna get you some water. The here and the now matters and God is in the business of taking care of our needs. There is something there about Moses’ snarky about this, and they decided to call it this place, but there is something of asking, “Is the Lord really with us or not?” In this text, the Lord’s answer to that question was: “Here’s water. Yes, I am.” So I think that later in a Christian scripture, Jesus talks about – and I always say this, judging the tree by its fruit. That the proof is in the pudding. So as we’re in various communities, it also relates to folks who are in conservative Christian or un-affirming communities. And our question from earlier today, it’s worth asking, “Is the Lord really with us?” What do we see that testifies to sort of the work of God in our communities? Yeah, so I kinda dig that. FS: As we’re getting ready to do a course on queering a Bible, we’ve got a fun five-day challenge coming up. It’s gonna be a really cool interactive photo challenge on Instagram. All of the details are gonna be at QueerTheology.com/challenge. So you can head on over there, find out more about what it is and how to participate. But basically, you’re gonna take a photo each day for five days as part of this challenge. We’re gonna join together as a big community to do this. So it’s gonna be a whole lot of fun. So go to QueerTheology.com/challenge and sign up for that, and get more details in your inbox. B: Looking forward to going through that, and hanging with you on Instagram, and we will see you next week. [outro music plays] B: The Queer Theology podcast is just one of many things that we do at QueerTheology.com which provides resources, community, and inspiration for LGBTQ Christians and straight cisgender supporters.  FS: To dive into more of the action, visit us at QueerTheology.com. You can also connect with us online: on Facebook, Tumbler, Twitter, and Instagram. B: We’ll see you next week. Download the transcript (PDF) In this episode, we talk about: Brian’s handmade lamp made by a special friend [0:41] Fr. Shay’s theater shows and that submission season is coming up [2:17] Truly Devious Series by Maureen Johnson – book recommendation [3:02] shout out to Emily England who is a friend of Fr. Shay and has been a supporter for months now [4:57] a listener question from Forest on handling non-accepting, Christian friends [5:34] you can’t convince people who think you are wrong – stop trying to do that work [6:05] figure out your boundaries when you are around these people [7:14] invest your time and energy in the right relationships [8:45] how being stuck is more favorable than accepting the pains of growth [13:17] God cares about us – even our physical well being [16:13] Instagram photo challenge [17:42] If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology If you’d like to be featured in future episodes, email your question or Bible passage suggestion to connect@queertheology.com  Link(s) mentioned in this episode: Shake It Off – Luke 10:1-11 Shake It Off, Shake It Off – Mark 6:1-13 QueerTheology.com/selfcare Queering the Bible waitlist: queertheology.com/queerbible QueerTheology.com/challenge Exodus 17:1-7 The whole Israelite community broke camp and set out from the Sin desert to continue their journey, as the Lord commanded. They set up their camp at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people argued with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink. Moses said to them, “Why are you arguing with me? Why are you testing the Lord?” But the people were very thirsty for water there, and they complained to Moses, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with this people? They are getting ready to stone me.” The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of Israel’s elders with you. Take in your hand the shepherd’s rod that you used to strike the Nile River, and go. I’ll be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Hit the rock. Water will come out of it, and the people will be able to drink.” Moses did so while Israel’s elders watched. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites argued with and tested the Lord, asking, “Is the Lord really with us or not?” Photo by John Salvino The post Safe in Stuckness – Exodus 17:1-7 appeared first on Queer Theology.

Today, we talk about a question from a listener who wished to remain anonymous. We answer the question about being a closeted person while being part of a conservative denomination, and wanting to speak the truth without endangering himself, and without accidentally outing himself. We also take a look at Matthew 17:1-9 which we’ve already covered some years ago. Our stand about this passage is still the same: we still believe that this was Jesus’ coming out. In this text, Jesus has shown us his human side which is very relatable especially for queer folks. So take a listen and see how we queered this text! In this episode, we talk about: Fr. Shay’s fire experience and survivor’s guilt [0:40] Brian’s support for Peter who is running the LA marathon [1:40] a shout out to Akeem J. Brown who is relatively a new member of Queer Theology [4:42] a listener question about speaking to a conservative denomination without outing himself (closeted member) [5:12] prioritize your safety — especially if you are a minor or a kid [6:33] the downfall of being in a conservative community [7:53] “What is keeping me in this community?” [9:25] we queered this text from Matthew 17:1-9 [12:46] a queer lens can help us see a text in a new light [14:47] how this text is Jesus’ coming out [16:01] Jesus’ human moment [17:25] If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology If you’d like to be featured in future episodes, email your question or Bible passage suggestion to connect@queertheology.com  Link(s) mentioned in this episode: Queer Theology Podcast #317 – https://www.queertheology.com/317 Queer Theology Podcast #311 – https://www.queertheology.com/311 Queer Theology’s Youtube Channel: queertheology.com/youtube Queering the Bible waitlist: queertheology.com/queerbible Matthew 17:1-9 Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them to the top of a very high mountain. He was transformed in front of them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus. Peter reacted to all of this by saying to Jesus, “Lord, it’s good that we’re here. If you want, I’ll make three shrines: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, look, a bright cloud overshadowed them. A voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son whom I dearly love. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!” Hearing this, the disciples fell on their faces, filled with awe. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.”  When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Don’t tell anybody about the vision until the Human One is raised from the dead.” Photo by Andres F. Uran The post When Jesus Came Out – Matthew 17:1-9 appeared first on Queer Theology.

In today’s episode, we answer a question from Jesse who asked us what kind of historical context do we need to look into in order for us to appreciate the message that the Bible authors are trying to communicate? We also queered Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 which is basically about the original sin: God’s warning, the snake’s temptation, and the woman giving in to the temptation. But in queering this text, we are reminded that there is nothing shameful about our bodies. The man and woman clothing themselves have nothing to do with shame, but it was because of their newfound knowledge and understanding of the world. Episode TranscriptBrian: Welcome to the Queer Theology podcast! Fr. Shay: Where each episode, we take a queer look at the week’s lectionary readings. We’re the co-founders of QueerTheology.com and the hosts for this podcast. I’m Father Shay Kearns B: And I’m Brian G. Murphy. FS: Hello, hello, hello. Welcome back to the Queer Theology podcast. This is the podcast for Sunday, March 1st and we are super excited to be back with you again. But before we dive in Brian, I would love to hear what’s going on in your world. B: Oh! It is the “thick of winter” and I don’t mean to brag, I know you hate this, but it is so nice here in Los Angeles, but more specifically, I’ve been reflecting on my own mental health journey. Some of you may recall I get really bad seasonal affective disorder in the winter, or at least I used to in New York City. I’ve noticed this winter, a few times where I’ve been what I would describe as depressed, and I’m… Oh, being in warm weather doesn’t magically solve my depression, but I can feel like… Oh, this is what used to happen in New York and then this would set me into a spiral that would knock me on my ass for a month, or two. And now, it knocks me on my ass for a day or two. So that has been like nice to know that this thing that I was able to do — move, which not everyone can do has been helpful for my mental health. Also, a reminder that there’s not any one magic solution that – just moving is not going to fix, I’m still prone to depression and I still need to talk about my feelings, and do other types of self-care practices, and I have on my list to try and find a specialist that I can afford with my crappy health insurance. Because I know even though it’s better than it was before, I know that it could still be better. It’s always a process which sometimes I just wanna have arrived, and be “fixed” and it’ll all just be easy, but it’s nice to be easier. I’m also looking into a psychiatrist to get back on some medication that I used to be on that I had a store of that I’m now on and so yeah.  The health insurance industry in America is just bananas. I posted about this on our Instagram stories about medication both as a sacrament, and also LGBTQ healthcare as a Christian issue. The world is a mess and I wish healthcare was easier, but I am thankful for the ways in which I’ve been able to improve over the past year. So that’s what I’m doing on these days. What about you? FS: Yeah, so I have just started assistant directing a musical, of all things here in Minneapolis, which is wild! It’s very much not my typical wheel house, I don’t really do musicals. But this is a really interesting and fascinating piece about what it means to be trans, what it means to be an Asian-American person, what it means to be finding your identity. So it’s a really beautiful piece. I’m excited to be a part of it. It’s opening in March here. So it’s gonna be fun. It’s nice to be in a different role in a theater production. Usually, I’m either a writer or just producing work. So this gets me to be in the mix with the actors a little bit. So it’s been a fun adventure so far. I’m glad that I get the opportunity to do that. It’s at a theater that I’ve been working with in Minneapolis as their trans-advisory council liaison. Which is just a fancy word for getting a bunch of trans people together to help them think through the ways that they are welcoming trans artists and trans patrons into their space? And really taking a look at, what is your paperwork look like? What is your building look like? Are you actually extending the welcome that you say you are extending? Which feels very much like the work we do at Queer Theology at churches, right? Saying where are your bathrooms? Are they accessible to trans people? And do you ever have trans people speak at your church? And if so, when? Do you only bring them out on Trans Day of Remembrance? Right? All of those different things. It’s been fun to do that in a different context. In a context that I also love: I love the church, I love the theater, and I want both of those communities to be better about actually living out what they say they feel about trans folks.  B: Before we dive in, just a friendly reminder that this podcast is brought to you by our supporters over on Patreon which are now just over 140. So thank you to everyone over there. FS: Our patrons not only help to keep this show on the air but also support all of the many, many free resources we create over at QueerTheology.com. Stuff like: articles, videos, PDF guides, and all sorts of things that we keep rolling out more of. So thank you to all of our Patreon supporters. B: This week, we want to give a shout out to Jessica Luna. Jessica, thank you so so much for your support. Every single dollar counts and it means the world to have you part of this little family with us. FS: If you enjoy this show and want to support it, you can that for as little as $2 per month at patreon.com/queertheology. You can learn more about why we need your support and check out all of the perks, at patreon.com/queertheology. B: Okay, let’s get on to the show! FS: So this week we’ve got a listener question, oh it’s a good one, so here we go. What kind of historical context would be required to truly appreciate what the writers of the Bible were trying to communicate? And this question comes from Jesse. B: That is a great question, Jesse and I think it’s so important that you’re asking it. So many people gloss right over context, or if they’re asking about context: think that that means a few sentences before and a few sentences after whatever verse you’re looking at. I think that the answer is: all of the contexts, and would also that there’s one amount of context that will give you all of the answers that you have to arrive to. It’s not black or white, on or off. It’s like, the more that you know, the deeper you can understand it, and the more nuance you can bring to the text. It’s like peeling back an onion: there’s layers, and layers, and layers. And also, just at a top-level context about the way that the Bible is written that oftentimes scripture is intended to mean multiple different things to the same person, or different things to different audiences, or different things to different times and places. Even if you know all of the possible historical context and all of the exact translations — it happened 2000 to 5000 to 10000 years ago it’s not possible to know all of it. But even if it were possible, it’s not like you would arrive at the one definitive meaning of the text. The multiplicity of meanings is often baked into the text. Also, historical context is an important key component to it. There’s also literary context and religious context as well, all factor into understanding the Bible. I studied Religion in undergrad and I’m still, 15 years later, learning more. Shay, what would you add to this, Mr. Seminarian graduate and ordained priest? FS: Yeah. All of what you said Brian is absolutely true. For me, I think it sometimes can be helpful to figure out what section of the Bible are you most jazzed about diving into? Because I think, like you said Brian, this idea of historical context right? Even just the events of the Bible spanned like years, and years, and years, and years. So like we’re talking about a lot of different historical contexts. So there’s a part of me that’s, okay let’s just narrow it down. Which section do you want to look at? I have found that one of the things that were super helpful for me in starting with historical context is really just starting with Rome. Rome and the Gospels, and figuring out how to place the Gospels in a Roman context. That wet my whistle for the whole thing and got me really jazzed about it. So then it inspired me to keep on doing that study. So that’s always a great place to start and feels like a helpful place to start. I also think that overarching in all of Scripture, there’s two really main pieces: that’s exile and empire. If you can start to dive in about what Scripture text were written in the midst of exile and what might that mean. And which text were written in the midst of empire and what might that mean. That’s also a great place to start.  We have an entire course on this that we did last fall. It was called How to Read the Bible and basically looked at all of the different kinds of context. And we are gonna do that course again, so if you are interested in finding out when we’re gonna do that course again, and getting on the waitlist. You can go to QueerTheology.com/courses and find out more about that. I would suggest checking out — a great place to start is one of the books by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan, they have a book on The First Christmas, The Last Week — so that’s like The Passion, and also The First Paul. Those are really great accessible books for folks who wanna know a little bit more about where to start reading context. B: And we will put the exact names, and titles, and spellings, and links to where you can find them to the show notes of this episode which you can find at QueerTheology.com/318.  FS: Throughout the week we’re diving deeper into questions like these and more, everything from coming out, families, dating, reading the Bible, creativity, all sorts of this stuff inside of Sanctuary Collective. We would love to have you be a part of an international community of LGBTQ Christians and straight, cisgender supporters. You can find out more about that community and join at QueerTheology.com/community. B: Ok, let’s open up our Bibles and queer this text! FS: This week we are taking a look at Genesis 2:15-17 and 3:1-7, it’s one of those wonky split passages again. I’m gonna go ahead and read it for us as we get started. This is from the Common English Bible. The Lord God took the human and settled him in the garden of Eden to farm it and to take care of it. The Lord God commanded the human, “Eat your fill from all of the garden’s trees; but don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because on the day you eat from it, you will die!” The snake was the most intelligent of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say that you shouldn’t eat from any tree in the garden?” The woman said to the snake, “We may eat the fruit of the garden’s trees but not the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden. God said, ‘Don’t eat from it, and don’t touch it, or you will die.’” The snake said to the woman, “You won’t die! God knows that on the day you eat from it, you will see clearly and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The woman saw that the tree was beautiful with delicious food and that the tree would provide wisdom, so she took some of its fruit and ate it, and also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then they both saw clearly and knew that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made garments for themselves. B: I am so excited. We just talked about this text! It’s been a minute. So this text is a foundational text of the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Bible, of religious studies. Everyone — if you studied religion in any sort of way: casually, at church, in seminary, for a degree. You’re gonna talk about this. So there’s a few things going on here and this pairs so well with the question we got this week about context. There are just so many different contexts that you can look at this from to illuminate new meaning. That just feels especially important because the creation story in Christianity we call this part of it “The Fall” is so well known that people have ideas about this story that are based on what they’ve been told about this story, and not necessarily what’s actually in the story itself. And so I think going back to it and reading it with fresh eyes is super important. And super illuminating.  A few things that pop out to me is that nowhere in the text does it actually say that the snake is the devil, it just calls it the snake. The snake was not wrong. God was not necessarily right in this text: God said, “Don’t eat from it or don’t touch it or you will die.” And they ate, and they did not in fact die. People said that well, they died later. Also, like nowhere in the text does it say that before they ate they were immortal. And that because of this they were gonna die a whole lifetime later, right? There’s just not actually present. So I think if you didn’t have all of this baggage or preconceived notion about what this text says before you approached it, I think I will read this and be like: “Oh well, they didn’t die. And in fact, they learned something about themselves that they didn’t know before: that they were naked.” And so the snake was not necessarily wrong. And that is a progression in the Hebrew Bible. That the way that humans understood God shifted overtime.    And also, that because of literary criticism which we mentioned earlier. Different communities were writing about God in different ways. Like Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 were actually most certainly, different sources that were combined. Over the course of history, God goes from this anthropomorphized type person who says things that are not always don’t immediately happen that sometimes at one point doesn’t know where someone is, walks around to eventually becoming this sort of more out there, in the sky type person. More of a spirit. We began to use different languages and different metaphors for how we understand God and how we relate to God. So that’s just something to note and to pull at that and say, well what is this version of God have to teach us? What did that God mean to this community? What might we learn from that text? How do we, when we pair this story with other stories of God, that are also in the Bible? What is that evolving or multi-faceted view of God has to teach us? I think that’s my initial thought. What about you Shay? FS: Yeah. I think that this passage is so intriguing. Because it feels almost impossible to read it without the baggage. I think that’s one of the things I struggle even now. I was reading this and I’m remembering right being taught that Adam and Eve, which they’re not even named in this passage either, so we’re making the assumption that that’s who we’re talking about. That one of the things that came along with their nakedness was them being ashamed. But I’m reading this again and it doesn’t say that. It just says that they knew that they were naked and so they then made garments for themselves. We can maybe extrapolate that it was because of that noticing that they felt uncomfortable or shame or whatever that’s why they wanted clothing. But again, we’re kinda bringing that to the text and I think that all of the angst around human bodies and human sexuality that the evangelical church, in particular, has placed upon scripture is like part of what I’m reading into this text because of my own history and baggage. I think that you’re take on it of like they learned something new about themselves actually feels much more healthy and holistic of like, this isn’t necessarily a moment of shame or “sin”. But it is a message and a moment of self-agency, where the humans are making decisions for themselves, and they’re noticing new things about themselves, and they’re taking care of themselves in a different way. We can think of maybe the shift of babies who will run around naked at any given moment, to being able to take care of themselves, and dress themselves, right? So could this be instead of a text about the fall of humanity, instead be a text about humanity coming into its own? Like learning more about what it means to be human and how they’re gonna interact with the diety that has placed them in this space. B: Yeah, and one of the things that we talked about when I was studying this text in school was looking at it from — we looked at this story of Adam and Eve, and the garden creation from the Hebrew Bible, from the Christian Bible perspective, and the Quran’s perspective. To see what are the similarities and how are they different. In the Christian scriptures, they also talk about this story and the Christian scriptures talk about this same story in a different way than the Hebrew Bible talks about it. I think that noticing that is important and it doesn’t necessarily mean that the Christian version is the right way and that they’re correcting the Hebrew Bible. It also doesn’t mean that because the Christian Bible is different than this one, that the Hebrew Bible is the right one. It’s just like these are how different communities, at different times were making sense of this story. To your point of how you were shifting the way you think about this in the Christian scripture, it’s definitely framed as a fall. But what we talked about in school is that this is — in the Hebrew scripture it’s a lateral move. They move out, sideways from the garden, not down. That’s a value-neutral journey that they’re taking out. They certainly do leave the garden and can’t re-enter the garden as a result of this action, but that’s not necessarily, here at least, a bad thing. It is perhaps, like you were saying, a place for growth, and transformation, and a new way of relating to ourselves and to God. It’s telling the story of what’s happening.  FS: We dive into text like this a lot at QueerTheology.com and we’re about to get ready to launch a course on Queering a Bible. This text in particular or the text from Genesis are often wielded against queer and trans folks. The whole one-man-one-woman, Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve, all of those things. So we think it can be helpful to continue to dive deep into these texts. We are diving into more work around queering the Bible all the time over at QueerTheology.com. And we’ve got lots of new articles that are gonna be coming out soon. So if you’re not on our mailing list, make sure you go over to QueerTheology.com and jump on the mailing list so that you can get all of those resources as they come out. We think it’s really important to continue to do this work, especially when texts like this one or the ones from early in Genesis are so often used against queer folks. You know, all of those Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve, one-man-one-woman text. So diving into that and doing that work of what does it mean to queer scripture, I think is really important, and life-giving, and healthy for queer and trans-Christians to do. So again, go over to QueerTheology.com, jump on our mailing list, I will be sending out some new resources soon and we would love to have you get those. [outro music plays] B: The Queer Theology podcast is just one of many things that we do at QueerTheology.com which provides resources, community, and inspiration for LGBTQ Christians and straight cisgender supporters.  FS: To dive into more of the action, visit us at QueerTheology.com. You can also connect with us online: on Facebook, Tumbler, Twitter, and Instagram. B: We’ll see you next week. Download the transcript (PDF) Today, we talk about: Brian’s mental health journey reflection [0:54] Fr. Shay’s new role as an assistant director for a musical [3:17] a quick shout out to one of our Patreon supporter Jessica Luna [5:45] a listener question about the kind of historical context is needed to fully understand the message of the Bible [6:17] invitation to join a beautiful online community [11:12] our queer take on Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 [11:50] some clarifications about this particular story of the creation and the fall [13:31] looking at the text in a fresh lens: there is no shame in their nakedness [17:40] similarities and differences in different Bible versions [19:40] If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology If you’d like to be featured in future episodes, email your question or Bible passage suggestion to connect@queertheology.com  Link(s) mentioned in this episode: The First Christmas by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan The Last Week by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan The First Paul by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 The Lord God took the human and settled him in the garden of Eden to farm it and to take care of it. The Lord God commanded the human, “Eat your fill from all of the garden’s trees; but don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because on the day you eat from it, you will die!” The snake was the most intelligent of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say that you shouldn’t eat from any tree in the garden?” The woman said to the snake, “We may eat the fruit of the garden’s trees but not the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden. God said, ‘Don’t eat from it, and don’t touch it, or you will die.’” The snake said to the woman, “You won’t die! God knows that on the day you eat from it, you will see clearly and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The woman saw that the tree was beautiful with delicious food and that the tree would provide wisdom, so she took some of its fruit and ate it, and also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then they both saw clearly and knew that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made garments for themselves. Photo by Gage Walker The post Knowledge Not Shame – Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 appeared first on Queer Theology.

In today’s episode, we answer a question from our listener – Charlie, who asked how to live as a gay person and still be Christian? How do you live your life as a queer person without having to constantly rationalize your life against the Bible and what it says about gay folks? We also take a look at a Bible passage that we haven’t covered before. We’re very excited to queer this text from 2 Peter 1:16-21. We are reminded by this passage that we are ALL called to do this ministry. That while the physical form of Jesus is gone, the work and movement remain. And it is our responsibility to continue to do the work. Episode TranscriptBrian: Welcome to the Queer Theology podcast! Fr. Shay: Where each episode, we take a queer look at the week’s lectionary readings. We’re the co-founders of QueerTheology.com and the hosts for this podcast. I’m Father Shay Kearns B: And I’m Brian G. Murphy. Hello, hello, hello and welcome back. Today is Sunday, February 23rd, 2020 the year just will not quit. Welcome back to the Queer Theology podcast we’re so glad to have you here. Shay, how are you doin? FS: I’m good! I’m really good. You know, truckin’ along with the winter and all of that kind of stuff, but… B: Familiar! FS: Yes! Something I’ve been, I’m obsessed with this new band called Bonny Light Horseman. It’s Anaïs Mitchell who is the writer of Hadestown, joined with a couple of other folk musicians to re envision really, really old traditional songs… B: Cool! FS: …re-invent and re-record them. I started listening to their album, it came out right before I made my trip to L.A. so I was listening to on the plane. And it is just gorgeous. In a couple places they mash-up a couple of traditional songs and it weaves around — I’m obsessed with it. If you like Anaïs Mitchell, you’ll love this album. If you’re just interested in folk music, it’s high quality. So I’m jazzed about having some new music. I find that that gets me through the winter. [laughter] Having new things to listen to and inspire me is really helpful, so that’s been something that’s been good in my life lately. What about you? B: Oh my goodness! I recently went to this thing called Beyoncé Mass which one of my friends from college developed with this seminary professor and some other students from one of their seminary classes. It’s a womanist worship service, how black women find their voice, represent the image of God, and create spaces for liberation. It was possibly the most profound experience I’ve ever had in my entire life. They used all music by Beyoncé or Destiny Child or soundtrack as worship music. And a lot of Beyoncé’s music is very spiritual and talks about the image of the IM and the spirit. It was incredible. So the combination of beautiful music, just phenomenally performed by this amazing band, and choir, and quintet of singers, and the visuals, and they served communion and the sermon about community, and dreams, and vision was phenomenal. It was just like so incredible, and jazzed, and I wept a number of times and my boyfriend, who grew up Christian but no longer goes to church turned to me afterward and was like, “If church was always like this, sign me back up!” It was just really, really cool and I am honored to have gotten to go and be a part of it. It was really cool to be able to meet some of the folks that started it, and had a vision for this, and called this forth to live out of an idea. It started at the church that my friend was an intern in San Francisco, but has since gone to churches and colleges around the country, and wants to live in Portugal. So I don’t know if they have any more scheduled anywhere else, but if you’re interested you can go to BeyoncéMass.com to see some pics and learn some more, but it’s just a really, really, really, really cool. I can’t stop thinking about it. FS: It makes me think that one of the gifts of queerness, and transness, and also coming out of the evangelical church has been finding spirit and spirituality in unexpected places, and in places that aren’t necessarily considered “religious”. Right? I found myself being really moved by listening to this Anaïs Mitchell album, and there are a couple like Biblical references in the album but it’s definitely not a religious album, right? And Beyoncé wouldn’t necessarily be considered a religious artist and yet, there are so many amazing spaces to find God and spirit in the work of art. And it’s really freeing to be able to find that outside of the spaces that we’re told that we can find it.  B: Yeah. And I think that being LGBTQ is not the same thing as being black or Latino, and being a gay man is not the same thing as being a woman. And also, I as a white male bisexual person can see the ways in which I find God in my queerness, and then I know in myself that straight cis-folks have something to learn about God from my queer experience. It’s then an invitation for me to say, well what, I can only see part of the picture of God from my vantage point. Not in a voyeuristic way, but in a true beloved community way. How can I go into places where I’m invited and through a genuine relationship with friends see God from other perspectives and learn from that? It’s not about — when I went to this Beyoncé Mass I was honored to have been invited and to be a part of this. It wasn’t about me saying, “Oh, this is the same thing as being queer.” but rather it was, “Oh, this is what this community is doing with their experience and their understanding of God and how cool is that.” Sometimes there are parallels and sometimes it’s totally different and I think the beauty of anything that breaks the mold of white cis-gender, heterosexual, American patriarchy is a way to question it all and for those of us who are men, or for those of us who are cis-gender, or for those of us who are white, or for those of us who are able-bodied. The ways in which we experience marginalization are an invitation to also reflect on the ways in which we are powerful and privileged. To then work in solidarity in other communities. I think that my queerness calls me to that in the same way that my Christianity does. I’m so thankful for that and I think that my understanding of my queerness is also enriched by the queerness of women, or of black folks, or immigrants. That we all need each other to illuminate God, our community, and even our selves.  FS: Before we dive in, this podcast is brought to you by over 125 supporters on Patreon. B: Our patrons not only help to keep this show on the air but also support all the free resources we create over at QueerTheology.com. Articles, videos, PDF guides, and so much more. So thank you to all of our Patreon supporters. FS: This week, we want to give a shout out to Rev. Jonathan Vanderbeck  who has been a patron for about three months now! So thank you so much, Rev. Jonathan, we’re really grateful for you! B: Thank you. If you enjoy this show and want to support it, you can do that for as little as $2 per month at patreon.com/queertheology. You can learn more why we need your support and check out the perks, there’s a few different levels and fun little things at patreon.com/queertheology. FS: We also just want to give a shoutout, we are in the middle of our course on Faithful Sexuality, but we’ve got another course coming up on Queering the Bible. We’re super excited about that. I just want to let you know that you can jump on the waitlist for that if you are interested in doing the work, finding out how we do the workaround queering scripture and looking at it through a queer lens. We would love to have you, so can jump on the waitlist for that.  B: You can find that waitlist at queertheology.com/queerbible. FS: OK. On to the show! This week we’ve got a reader question from Charlie who is asking a question that I think a lot, a lot, a lot of people are asking. So I’m gonna go ahead and read this email from Charlie. How can one be gay and still be Christain? I know there is much literature out there in regards to another view/vision of what the bible says about being gay. It says what it says. How can one (me) live as a gay man and not feel like I am rationalizing away what the bible says? Just how do I reconcile this? Am I wrong? B: Oooh! I feel this in the depths of my soul. I both remember this question so vividly, and clearly, and emotionally, and it was one that I wrestled with for years, and years. I still struggled after I came out. I can really remember that, and also, sometimes now I’m so confident of the goodness of the LGBTQ live, loves and bodies that I’m like, “What do you mean?” It’s just so evident. But I think the starting point is that you can know that gay Christians exist because gay Christians exist! You already exist. Perhaps the question of what do you do with that? Is it right? Shameful? Sick? There’s perhaps a question to be had there but I think starting with the reality that you exist, and a child of God, and created by God is point one. That is a lot of work. Just you existing. And this question you asked about rationalizing away the teaching of the scripture or teachings about homosexuality or whatever, and I can also hear myself asking that I can hear pastors, and Sunday school teachers accusing me and other people of doing that. But I wanna flip that on its head and say, to deny the goodness of LGBTQ people is to rationalize away that which God has made. God made you. YOU ARE QUEER. No fire and brimstone sermon or twisted teaching on the clobber passages can rationalize away what God has made. If we start there with our existence and start there with being the image of God, that there’s something powerful that transcends any argument. Which there are many valid, solid, theological arguments to be made, but I think before you even start looking at those or trying to tackle those, remembering that you exist is an important place to start. What would you add Shay? FS: I mean that’s a great answer and is much better, and more articulate than what I was going to say. I think for me, I am really struck by a couple of things in this question. One of the things is when Charlie says, “I know that there are other visions of what the Bible says about being gay, but it says what it says.” And I think the reality is that it’s just not true. That this idea that the Bible is clear on, frankly just about anything, is just not accurate. I think figuring out your anxiety or anyone’s anxiety around what the Bible says has to start with starting to unravel what the Bible is. And how it’s read, and how it can be understood. We have just a ton of resources on the website about that. We tackle even just like, how do I know it’s okay to be gay? You can find all of that at QueerTheology.com there’s a button right on the homepage around that. But I think, and part of that is what helps you get out of this trap of feeling like you’re rationalizing because once you realize how many different ways there are to read scripture, and not just how many ways argumentative ways that there are to read scripture. But how many really faithful ways to read scripture? It allows you to unhook from this sense of I have to find the one right way to read this passage, and get out of this, I think Brian early on you called it the hamster wheel right?  B: Yeah. FS: To get off of that hamster wheel so that you don’t feel like you’re just running in circles and that you’re rationalizing away something that’s really important. And then again, I think back to Brian’s quote of like you exist, you are valid and worthy, and that alone is proof that gay and Christian can co-exist. I think too, it can be helpful and it was helpful for me when I was just coming out, to look at the lives of other queer Christians who have been out for a long time. Who were settled in both their sexuality and their spirituality, and watch how they navigated these things. That gave me a ton of comfort to see that there are ways to be absolutely faithful, and a faithful follower of Jesus and also hold the goodness of your sexuality and gender identity. Those two things don’t have to be opposed to one another. B: Yeah. It reminds me of in Matthew 7 Jesus tells us that we can sort of judge the truth of a gospel message by looking at the fruits of that message. I think that the fruits of these LGBTQ Christians who have been out and settling their faith testify to its rightness. We will put some links to the various articles, videos, and this 7-part email series on Is it OK to be LGBTQ in the show notes for this episode which you can find at queertheology.com/317. And if you are looking for even more support that is a great way to use Sanctuary Collective. There are folks in all points of the journey: folks that are wrestling with these same questions. Also the folks that Shay was referring to who have been out for a long time and are further along in their journey, and are no longer asking “Is it ok?” but are exploring the ways in which queerness and Christianity enrich one another. So you’ll find role models along the way. So you can tap into that at queertheology.com/community. FS: Ok, let’s open up our Bibles and queer this text! This week’s lectionary text is from 2 Peter which is one we haven’t done before.  B: We have not! FS: Which is super exciting. Been doing this for 300 and however many episodes, it’s like whoo… a brand new one. B: A brand new text! Whooo… FS: So this is from 2 Peter 1:16-21, I’m gonna go ahead and read it for us, it’s pretty short, this is from the Common English Bible. We didn’t repeat crafty myths when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Quite the contrary, we witnessed his majesty with our own eyes. He received honor and glory from God the Father when a voice came to him from the magnificent glory, saying, “This is my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. In addition, we have a most reliable prophetic word, and you would do well to pay attention to it, just as you would to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Most important, you must know that no prophecy of scripture represents the prophet’s own understanding of things, because no prophecy ever came by human will. Instead, men and women led by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. B: Okay, so bear with me for just a second. So a few years ago I was walking down the street in Queens in New York City with my boyfriend, Peter and he just started giggling and smiling. I turned to him and said, “What?” or asked what? He said, “I’m just thankful to be alive at the same time as memes.” [laughter] And he just loves internet memes. Specifically the GIF kinds or the text-on-pictures kind. And can just crack himself into a stupor. Sometimes looking at memes or just sometimes remembering a meme that he saw earlier, he’s just really obsessed with memes. But the memes are called memes because before they met this graphic on the internet, a meme is a cultural idea and so, I’m seeing in this text a Chrisitan meme if you will that, “This is my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.” is a meme that it appears in different gospels. In Matthew twice: once at Jesus’ baptism and again at Jesus’ transfiguration. And throughout the Bible, we find these nuggets of sayings that had been distilled down. Sometimes we here at Queer Theology will say, LBGTQ people have more to offer the world and the church than always defending ourselves against what we are not. Or that queer lives, loves, and bodies are holy. There are things that they can come down to that. Or short and digestible and meaning, and it’s not something that we invented in 2019 or 2020. People – humans have been doing this for a while. So I just wanted to note that that fun little nugget about memes and there’s something there about Jesus there.  And then, shifting – I just love the way that his passage starts, “We didn’t repeat crafty myths when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” the passage goes on that it’s not about making a theological case or having the right written arguments about Jesus or reflecting back earlier to this question about how you can know is it okay to be LGBT? About the rightness of LGBT. It goes on to say that, “Quite the contrary, we witnessed his majesty with our own eyes.” So how can you witness the power of the gospel and the power the queer lives in your own life? We’ve said before that if the gospels mean good news and if the gospel is not good news for queer, and trans, and other marginalized folks then it’s not good news. It’s not the gospel. It’s not from God. And that is a message that is repeated over and over again in scripture and has been foundational in the Christian church throughout the millennia. We talked about this earlier, in Matthew 7, judging a tree by its fruits, but there’s this idea that we see a lot that about witnessing the majesty, about seeing the fruits of the spirits, about putting faith into action, and it’s not about saying the right prayer or having the exact same debate team argument. Shay, what would you add to that? FS: There’s something in this passage that all of these pieces about prophecy and about witnessing the majesty of Jesus with their own eyes. There’s something in here that’s speaking to me about intuition. It feels really tangential which is why I’m hesitating saying it because there’s part of this passage right? That’s like, prophets aren’t speaking for themselves. There’s speaking lead by the spirit of God. So when I was at this Rob Bell workshop, he would call people out and be like, “Where are you stuck?” and talk them through what they were experiencing. And in 8 out of 10 of these encounters, two things would happen: one, it was very clear that the person already knew what was wrong, and how to fix it, but just needed to be given space and time to articulate that. Then the other piece is that so many of them had already taken steps to build whatever future that they had been dreaming about without having been able to articulate that future. So there was someone who already started giving away a bunch of their stuff, and in the moment realized, “Oh, I think I need to downsize into a smaller place so that I can pursue my calling.” And it was this moment of you knew and you’ve already been walking that path. So there’s something about that in here. Part of what it means to be a follower of Jesus and what it means to come to terms without queer and transness is to trust the voices inside of us, that are saying, “This is the right thing to do.” Part of that is we’ve witnessed the majesty, we know what it is. We just need to own it and do it. And we need to internalize this message of “This is my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.” Right? I think that that’s something that Jesus hears at his baptism, but I don’t think that it was specific to Jesus, right? It was a moment where God was saying: pay attention. You’re gonna do something great. I’ve got you. So just do this thing that you already made the choice to be baptized so now go and do the work. You know what the next right step is. So I think that there’s something in that for us to pay attention to and sometimes we get wrapped in a passage like this and it’s like: “Well, it’s about Jesus and it’s about the apostles. It’s not about us.” But it is. It’s about us, too and about those particular things. So there’s something cool in there for me.  B: Yeah I think this last sentence of this particular passage underlines that. That instead, men and women led by the Holy Spirit spoke from God that, the person of Jesus is now gone and in His place, that work and that movement continues through the leadings of the Holy Spirit, but lived out, and acted out, and embodied, and spread through us, and through you. Through you! You are part of this movement. And as you were saying Shay, that we got to learn to trust ourselves and our callings. FS: Again, we will put some links to some of the stuff that we’ve referenced, some of the articles and videos in the show notes. If you wanna do more of this diving into the Bible and finding queerness in it, queerness and transness because it is all through the Bible… B: All up in it! FS: We would love to have you in the Queering the Bible Course that’s gonna open in a couple of months. But you can join the waitlist now. You’ll be one of the first people to find out when registration and gets some teasers maybe, along the way. So queertheology.com/queerbible is the place to sign up for that waitlist. B: And we will see you next week. [outro music plays] B: The Queer Theology podcast is just one of many things that we do at QueerTheology.com which provides resources, community, and inspiration for LGBTQ Christians and straight cisgender supporters.  FS: To dive into more of the action, visit us at QueerTheology.com. You can also connect with us online: on Facebook, Tumbler, Twitter, and Instagram. B: We’ll see you next week.   Download the transcript (PDF) In this episode we talk about: the new band that Fr. Shay is obsessed with [00:50] Brian’s experience at Beyoncé Mass [1:50] how finding Spirit and Spirituality in random places is a gift for queer folks [4:00] Faithful Sexuality course update AND Queering the Bible waitlist [8:00] a listener question about how to be gay and Christian at the same time [8:40] “To deny the goodness of LGBTQ people is to ‘rationalize away’ that which God has made…” [10:55] the inaccuracy of the idea that the Bible is clear about anything [12:10] our queer take on 2 Peter 1:16-21 [15:50] how this text looks like a Christian meme [18:00] unpacking how this passage screams “intuition” [21:00] though Jesus is gone – the work that needs to be done remains [23:47] If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology If you’d like to be featured in future episodes, email your question or Bible passage suggestion to connect@queertheology.com  Link(s) mentioned in this episode: Is it OK to be LGBTQ & Christian? QueerTheology.com/community queertheology.com/queerbible 2 Peter 1:16-21 We didn’t repeat crafty myths when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Quite the contrary, we witnessed his majesty with our own eyes. He received honor and glory from God the Father when a voice came to him from the magnificent glory, saying, “This is my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. In addition, we have a most reliable prophetic word, and you would do well to pay attention to it, just as you would to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Most important, you must know that no prophecy of scripture represents the prophet’s own understanding of things, because no prophecy ever came by human will. Instead, men and women led by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. Photo by Chetan Menaria The post Crafty Myths and Inner Wisdom – 2 Peter 1:16-21 appeared first on Queer Theology.

In this episode of the podcast, we respond to a listener question from Fee in Berlin who asked how LGBTQ Christians who have come to the faith later in life can be sensitive to the trauma that LGBTQ folks who grew up within Christianity carry.  We also take a look at Matthew 5:21-37 — a passage about murder, adultery, what happens in our heart, who is responsible, and how to respond. It might be 2,000 years old but it is particularly relevant to our present time and place. Here’s how… In this episode we cover: updates on the Faithful Sexuality course, our new website, and Shay’s recent Rob Bell workshop [00:50] listener question from Fee on LGBTQ Christian trauma [05:15]   our queer take on Matthew 5:21-37 [11:52] “There is so much in here it could be at least 3 podcast episodes … and a doctoral dissertation” [13:55] ways this passage is often misunderstood [15:14] how Jesus turns the table on the dominant patriarchy of the day [16:29] what this passage has to say about modern purity culture, rape culture, and the male gaze [16:55] how this passage was used against LGBTQ people [17:50] what “hell” means in this context [18:20] defining lust: what it is and what it isn’t  [19:00] a reminder that it’s ok to be attracted to someone, to have sexual desires, and to have a fantasy life (and one important thing to remember there) [20:00] If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology If you’d like to be featured in future episodes, email your question or Bible passage suggestion to connect@queertheology.com  Matthew 5:21-37 “You have heard that it was said to those who lived long ago, Don’t commit murder, and all who commit murder will be in danger of judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with their brother or sister will be in danger of judgment. If they say to their brother or sister, ‘You idiot,’ they will be in danger of being condemned by the governing council. And if they say, ‘You fool,’ they will be in danger of fiery hell. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift at the altar and go. First make things right with your brother or sister and then come back and offer your gift. Be sure to make friends quickly with your opponents while you are with them on the way to court. Otherwise, they will haul you before the judge, the judge will turn you over to the officer of the court, and you will be thrown into prison. I say to you in all seriousness that you won’t get out of there until you’ve paid the very last penny. “You have heard that it was said, Don’t commit adultery. But I say to you that every man who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery in his heart. And if your right eye causes you to fall into sin, tear it out and throw it away. It’s better that you lose a part of your body than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to fall into sin, chop it off and throw it away. It’s better that you lose a part of your body than that your whole body go into hell. “It was said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a divorce certificate.’ But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife except for sexual unfaithfulness forces her to commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. “Again you have heard that it was said to those who lived long ago: Don’t make a false solemn pledge, but you should follow through on what you have pledged to the Lord. But I say to you that you must not pledge at all. You must not pledge by heaven, because it’s God’s throne. You must not pledge by the earth, because it’s God’s footstool. You must not pledge by Jerusalem, because it’s the city of the great king. And you must not pledge by your head, because you can’t turn one hair white or black. Let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no. Anything more than this comes from the evil one. Photo by Lucas Ludwig The post Jesus & the Male Gaze – Matthew 5:21-37 appeared first on Queer Theology.