ROGERS, J: Jesus, the Bible and Homosexuality

Westminster John Knox Press, 2009

208 pages

Christian, Gay and lesbian, Scripture

In this revised and expanded best seller, Rogers argues for equal rights in both the church and society for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered people. He describes how he moved away from opposition to that support, charts the churchżs history of using biblical passages to oppress marginalized groups, argues for a Christ-centered reading of Scripture, debunks stereotypes about gays and lesbians, and explores texts used most frequently against homosexuals and gay ordination.In this newly revised edition, he maps the recent progress of major U.S. denominations toward full equality for LGBT persons, adds a new chapter that examines how Scripture is best interpreted by Jesus’ redemptive life and ministry, and updates his own efforts and experiences. The book also includes a guide for group study or personal reflection.

BOSWELL: Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality

Boswell, John

Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality

Gay People in Western Europe from the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century
(University of Chicago Press, 1980)

Christian, History, Theology, Scripture, Lesbian and Gay

Strongly recommended

Absolutely the most important book in any LGBT faith library, this can be thought of as the text that started it all: gay church history, queer theology, scriptural analysis of LGBT sexuality: all trace either their beginning or fundamental early shaping to this book. Highly academic and bristling with footnotes, Greek & Latin quotations, and copious appendices, it is intimidating to a non-academic, but well worth the effort. Even if you do not think of yourself as a scholarly type, read it (then re-read it later.)

COMSTOCK: Gay Theology Without Apology

Comstock, Gary

Gay Theology Without Apology

Pilgrim Press 1993

183 pages

Theology, Lesbian & Gay Theology, Scripture

Presenting a theology forged out of personal experience, informed and guided by Scripture and tradition, Comstock holds up the contradictions in the Bible and examines the various facets of Jesus--not to condemn inconsistencies, but to draw from them the strengths and beauty they may hold for everyone who claims Christianity as his or her faith
On-line review

COLLINS: Sexual Ethics and the New Testament

Crossroad, 2000

200 pages

"From the internationally acclaimed Catholic biblical scholar, this is a meticulous reading of biblical teaching on sexuality, giving insight into how a disciple of Jesus is called to live out his or her existence as a sexual being."

GOSS (ed): Take Back The Word

Goss, Robert (ed)

Take Back the Word

2000

239 pages

Christian, Scripture, LGBT

"Perhaps the most revolutionary contribution of this volume is in its presentation of new and resistant practices of reading the Bible that challenge some of the prevailing "authorized" patterns of reading that allow the Bible to "clobber" oppressed people...If lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender, and seeking people are to take back this word for themselves, they must take it back in a new way"

Contents:

Foreword

Introduction

Part 1: QUEER STRATEGIES FOR READING

1. Reading the Bible from Low and Outside: Lesbitransgay People as God's Tricksters

- Virginia Ramey Mollenkott

2. Camping Around the Canon: Humour as a Hermeneutical Tool in Queer Readings of Biblical Texts

- Elisabeth Stuart

3. Love Your Mother: A Lesbian Womanist rEading of Scripture

- Irene S. Travis

4. Eating the Crumbs That Fall from the Table: Trusting the Abundance of God

- Justin Tanis

Part 2: TAKING BACK THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES

5. The Garden of Eden and the Heterosexual Contract

- Ken Stone

6. Outsiders, Aliens and Boundary Crossers: A Queer Reading of the Hebrew Exodus

- Mona West

7. When and Where I Enter, Then the Whole Race Enters with Me: Que(e)rying Exodus

- Irene Monroe

8. The Book of Ruth: On Boundaries, Love, and Truth.

- Celena M. Duncan

9. Throwing a Party: Patriarchy, Gender, and the Death of Jezbel

- Victoria S. Kolakowski

10. Nehemiah as a Queer Model for Servant Leadership

- Michael S. Piazza

11. A Modern Psalm in the Midst of Breast Cancer

- Irene S Travis

12. A Love as Fierce as Death: Reclaiming the Song of Songs for Queer Love

- Chrisopher King

13. Insider Out: Unmasking the Abusing God

- Dawn Robinson Rose

14. Ezekial understands ADIS: AIDS Understands Ezekiel. or Reading the Bible with HIV

- Jim Mitulski

15. A Queer Reading of the Book of Jonah

- Sharon Bezner

16. Do Justice, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly: Reflections on Micah and Gay Ethics

- Rebecca T. Alpert

Part 3. TAKING BACK THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES

17. Matthew and Mary of Magdala: Good News for Sex Workers

- Thomas Hanks

18. Coming Out, Lazarus's and Ours: queer Reflections of a Psycospiritual, Political Journey

- Benjamin Perkins

19. The Belove Disciple: A Queer Bereavement Narrative ina Time of AIDS

- Robert E. Goss

20. "And Then He Kissed Me": An Easter Love Story

- James Martin

21. "To Cut or Not to Cut": Is Compulsory Heterosexuality a Prerquisite for Christianity?

- Thomas Bohache

GLASER, C: The Word is Out.

Daily Reflections on the Bible for Lesbians and Gay Men

Westminster John Knox, 1999

384 pages

Christian, Lesbian and gay, Scripture, ,

Glaser defines "The Word" as an intimate, loving encounter with God. Through reflection on the Bible in the light of the particular experience of lesbians and gay men, that Word may emerge and embrace a community that the church has often rejected. Each entry of this year-long daily devotional begins with a scripture verse and concludes with a prayer or affirmation.

HELMINIAK: What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality

Helminiak, Daniel

What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality

Helminiak, a Roman Catholic priest, has done careful reading in current biblical scholarship about homosexuality. While cautioning against viewing biblical teaching as "the last word on sexual ethics," he stresses the need for accurate understanding of what the biblical "facts" are and concludes that "the Bible supplies no real basis for the condemnation of homosexuality." Using the studies of Yale historian John Boswell (Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe, LJ 7/94), New Testament seminary professor L. William Countryman, and others, Helminiak examines the story of Sodom (where the sin was inhospitality), Jude's decrying sex with angels, and five texts-Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, Romans 1:27, I Corinthians 6:9, and I Timothy 1:10-all of which, he concludes, "are concerned with something other than homogenital activity itself." Highly recommended for all libraries.

JOHNSON, P: The Song of Songs

A Gay Love Poem

Fidelity Press

144 pages

JENNINGS: Plato or Paul?

The Origins of Western Homophobia

O'BRIEN, Glen: Praying From the Margins,

Gospel Reflections of a Gay Man

Columbia Press, 2001

95 pages.

Catholic, Scripture, Spirituality, Prayer, Gay Male

Strongly recommended by Urs Mattman("Coming In"), who lists it among the classics of gay/lesbian spiritual literature:

"A small book, yet large on wisdom"

From Google books:

"Glen O'Brien recounts some spiritual experiences of gay men, and then reflects on these experiences in the light of stories and events in the gospels. In the presence of Jesus to the "sinners and outcasts" of his time he sees a clear statement of God's love and compassion for all peoplee, ansd a context for dealing with the pain that many gay people suffer in their sense of exclusion from the Christian community.

These reflections will be read with joy by some, with concern by others. Hopefully they will make every reader stop and think."

STONE: Practicing Safer Texts

Stone, Ken

Practicing Safer Texts: Food, Sex and Bible in Queer Perspective

Continuum International Publishing

185 pages

"This book uses the ubiquitous comparison between food and sex as a framework for examining a number of texts from the Hebrew Bible, as well as later readings of those texts and interpretive issues raised by the texts. A range of biblical texts in which both food and sex appear are analyzed in an interdisciplinary fashion with the help of both traditional tools of biblical scholarship and less traditional tools such as Queer studies and cultural anthropology. By utilizing a reading lens that relates food and sex to one another intentionally, rather than treating them separately, this book will among other things question the tendency of readers of the Bible to overstress the gravity of sexual matters in relation to other matters of potential ethical, theological, exegetical and cultural concern, such as food. At the same time, as the title Practising Safer Texts indicates, the book also proposes a pragmatic approach to biblical interpretation that uses strategies of "safer sex" as a sort of loose model. Such,an approach assesses texts and readings of the Bible not in a universalizing fashion but rather in terms of their likely effects, for good or ill, on particular readers in particular contexts and situations (just as notions of "safer sex" ask us to assess sexual acts not in a moralizing fashion, but, rather, in terms of their likely effects on particular persons)."

SPONG: The Sins of Scripture

Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate to Reveal the God

"In the history of the Western World, the Bible has been a perpetual source of inspiration and guidance for countless Christians. However, this Bible has also left a trail of pain. It is undeniable that the Bible is not always used for good. Sometimes the Bible can seem overtly evil. Sometimes its texts are terrible. Bishop John Shelby Spong boldly approaches those texts that have been used through history to justify the denigration or persecution of others while carrying with them the implied and imposed authority of the claim that they were the "Word of God." As he exposes and challenges what he calls the "terrible texts of the Bible", laying bare the evil done by these texts in the name of God, he also seeks to redeem these texts, hoping to recover their ultimate depth and purpose. Spong looks specifically at texts used to justify homophobia, anti-Semitism, treating women as second-class humans, corporal punishment, and environmental degradation, but he also delivers a new picture of how Christians can use the Bible today. As Spong battles against the way the Bible has been used throughout history, he provides a new framework, introducing people to a proper way to engage this holy book of the Judeo-Christian tradition."

SCROGGS: The New Testament and Homosexuality

Scroggs, Robin

The New Testament & Homosexuality

Fortress Press, 1983

158 pages

"Just what is a proper use of the Bible, especially the New Testament, in Christian debates about acceptance of homosexuals? In addition to bringing clarity and honesty to issues of the relevance of the Bible, this work brings a little more light and a little less heat to the discussion, a little more acceptance of all persons on the "other side," and maybe even an awareness that in Christ there is really no "other side" at all."

Review:

"Anyone wishing to engage the ongoing debate of the place of the homosexual in the Chrisitian community cannot ignore this book - not because the author has overhelmed us with convincing proof of the right attitude toward the practice of homosexuality - but because he has carefully and meticulously researched the ancient literature from both the Graeco-Roman and Jewish cultures and may understand what problem or practice the scriptural text is addressing."

"By primary as well as secondary texts, Scroggs describes the Graeco-Roman world as male-dominated. Adult public life was highly segregated. Males conducted business, met in assemblies, social clubs, and lecture halls with other males. In this segregated society both beauty and eroticism centred on other males."

Summary of "The New Testament and Homosexuality":

by Robin Scroggs, professor of New Testament, Union Theological Seminary, a happily married heterosexual who has been acclaimed in many Christian publications for his serious research about what the New Testament really says about homosexuality.

Scroggs reason for his research was a discussion of homosexuality by ministers. "I sat amazed as I heard the Bible being invoked in ways that were wholly inappropriate to any canons of biblical scholarship. Perhaps something snapped in me...for better or worse I decided somebody needed to provide resources that would give both clarity and honesty." He says he has no personal interest but sees the tragic results of false biblical scholarship and the tragic rejections of homosexuals in the name of Christian righteousness or even love. It is about time someone spoke honestly about the issue, not just from emotional homophobic assumptions of what the New Testament really says."

Full Summary at "Liberated Christians":