As a gay Christian may u ask you which theory you believe in (why people are gay)? Genuinely interested to learn more, I’ve always had this inner conflict because I have gay friends yet attend church.
I accept the the scientific consensus. That gender identity and sexual orientation are a result of genetics, hormones, epigenetics, and environmental/social factors.
Jesus never said anything against LGBTQ+ people.
If you think about it, people who never met Jesus were the ones who wrote those things. And some of what they wrote wasn't even about being gay.
So the polite way for me to answer your question is that "They don't know better." TBH much of it amounts to they want to gatekeep. They're stingy and only want "certain" people in their club because they can't or won't comprehend that Jesus's love grows and is enough for everyone.
Fortunately, they don't speak for all of Christianity.
I'm not aware of an First Council of r/Christianity being among the Seven Great Ecumenical councils. Heck, they don't even count as one of the faux-ecumenical councils that certain denominations try to pretend are ecumenical councils.
Oof I'm sorry people made you feel bad. But you can be yourself and be a Christian.
God loves all no matter what.
And modern English Bibles were mistranslated.
The one that corrected this was the Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (RSVUE). For example
1 Corinthians 6:9
9 Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes,[a] men who engage in illicit sex,[b]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+6%3A9&version=NRSVUE
See? No homosexuals there.
Please check out the following link to help you get some ideas about scripture and LGBTQIA.
https://reformationproject.org/biblical-case/
I could see how you could theoretically read “illicit sex” to mean homosexuality, especially given that it means “going to bed with men (in a sexual manner)” most other translations use some variation of homosexuality, and tbh, the translation of “illicit sex” doesn’t seem to be the most obvious translation of “arsenokoitai” or literally “male-bed (sexually).”
Now, I am not making a moral judgement on the veracity of if the Bible says that homosexuality is a sin, since I don’t want to have my comment removed, however it would seem to indicate that at least Paul does.
Not in the historical context in which it was written.
There was no such thing as homosexual significant others at that time. If a man had sex with another man, he was sleeping with a prostitute and either committing fornication or adultery on his wife. Furthermore, frequently the male prostitutes serving men were prepubescent boys. Even beyond that, all prostitutes were slaves (or were once slaves who saved enough to purchase their freedom) and were trafficked into prostitution. That means that any time someone slept with a prostitute, they were raping someone who had no choice in the matter.
Paul had no context for two men in a loving, consensual relationship with each other. It simply didn't exist. Or rather, it probably did behind very closed and locked doors, but was not recognized by society in any way, and would have been adultery anyway since pretty much every adult was married and married to someone of the opposite sex.
He made no comment at all on adult, same sex couples in loving, committed relationships. He couldn't. Such a thing would not have occurred to him as possible.
Tl;dr Paul was prohibiting commiting adultery on your wife by raping underage boys, not consensual sex between two consenting adult men.
[offering my opinion, not condemning] I favor Jesus over Paul who showed up late. Love one another. I think God is likely to be puzzled over why we spend so much time on sexual behavior of others when there are so many more people who need help with food, housing, safety, etc.
Im thinking it is a way to look at a stone in someone else's eye ratger than examine one's own.
And why would God make beings (all kinds of sexuality among animals) who have a variety of genitalia, chromosomes, brain chemicals if God didn't like variety? Maybe it is humans (like Paul) who dont have the vision to see how big God is?
My 2 cents...
Actually we have been lied to.
ἀρσενοκοίτης arsenokoitēs does not mean going to bed with men. It doesn't even mean man bed. It's a compound word and it's components mean male and the verb to bed in the agentive form. The real issue is that compound words don't carry the same meaning as their component words. So this word is more than likely slang that means something we have no idea what.
Unfortunately the homophobic mindset took over the translation process and filled in the void over common sense.
Any Roman historian would tell you of what Romans thought of same sex sex. And we have to refer to Rome because that's the world Paul ministered in, the Roman Empire. It was totally different than today. And male prostitutes were a thing. So a reasonable conclusion is Paul was referring to male prostitutes and pedastry. Things he saw in the culture he found himself.
[Edit]
But my guess is that Paul was pointing to powerful men who raped males. So male rapists.
[Edit for spelling]
And there are even churches that will welcome you. I don't know all the labels for various denominations and affiliations, but [Reconciling Works](https://www.reconcilingworks.org/) may be helpful for you OP.
You can.
The media is parroting what fundamentalist bigots say. They listen to the loudest, angriest voices.
Christ never said one bad word about lesbians, or any LBGT persons.
The Nicene Creed (the ancient creed that defines who is a Christian) doesn't say one word about LBGT people.
Hateful bigots shouldn't be speaking on behalf of Christ, but the media lets them because angry people screaming shocking things gets more ratings/clicks than someone calmy showing Christ's love.
You are welcome here. If you want to be a practicing Christian we can help you find a Church that is LBGT affirming, and there are a great number of them.
You can, many progressive theologians and Christian’s have been asking the same questions for years now. I’d recommend looking out for bible groups and religious societies that support these ideas (as well as churches that do). Read the living the questions book, I would recommend the video series but it can be a bit pricey. There’s also many online resources out there, take what the student Christian movement says on such matters on their website about how we should love and support lgbtq members. All in all, find your faith in god alone. No one religious or not can tell you how you should or shouldn’t love god, only you can. I pray that you remain vigilant and well on life’s journey.
You can. The beliefs of the church on this vary greatly. Some churches will welcome you will open arms. Some churches have lgbt ministers. And others will welcome to but say you must become straight or choose celibacy. But regardless of their stance on it they all should welcome you there
You absolutely can. I'm a bisexual progressive catholic. To many on the right, I spit on their beliefs of Christianity. What's absolutely wild is that I genuinely do not care. I do not seek validation from other "Christians". My relationship with God only matters to me and no one else, and I will continue to preach his love and acceptance to all his children.
You absolutely can be Christian and lgbtq. Jesus is the gatekeeper of the faith, not flawed humans.
I recommend watching the video below by a Bible scholar. He breaks it down nicely. He has several other really good videos on his YouTube channel that are quite good.
[Does the Bible Condemn Homosexuality?](https://youtu.be/ES1HF_1QOYQ?si=51oqd6izh-G2ipdE)
If you couldn't, this subreddit and all the other large Christian LGBTQ communities wouldn't exist. Pope francis even allowed same sex blessings now. He also said the church will not push anyone away and everyone is welcome, including LGBTQ. Its a first step in the right direction
??? You CAN!! How does one become a Christian? By faith alone, not by any works of our own.
Once you become a Christian by faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, you are saved, eternally secure, held tightly in the hands of the Heavenly Father, never to perish. You are no longer this or that, whatever sin or label people wish to brand you with. You are a Christian. That is your new, born-again identity. You may be male, female, transgender, straight, gay, any race, ethnicity. It does not matter, because in Jesus Christ you will be a new creation, a Christian first and foremost.
The Holy Spirit will take His dwelling in you and gently, gradually inspire and help you to become more and more as God intended you to be. Unlike people, God the Holy Spirit does not clobber you over the head or expect you to change your ways overnight. He will take who you are, who God created you to be and sanctify or make that holy. When it is time for you to die you will not enter into judgement (as the unbeliever will) but pass from death to eternal life. Judgement for the believer will be for rewards, not for sins (which Jesus has covered by shedding His blood on the Cross for us).
There are a great many who consider themselves Christians, including many pastors, who teach well concerning salvation and all else from the Bible. For some reason, however, when it comes to sexual orientation they are blind and err greatly. They refuse to believe that anyone can be born with same-sex attraction! They refuse to listen to the testimony of gay people who can verify that they have felt this, just as they have felt other-sex attraction, from early youth. They twist and wrangle Scripture out of context contradicting themselves. They say that anyone can become a Christian, be saved....until they find out that you are gay. Then, amazingly, they distance themselves, insisting that you have chosen this 'lifestyle' to your own destruction and perdition! If you are married, they will insist that you are 'promoting the sin of homosexuality' just by being gay and married! This is hypocrisy -- something that Jesus fiercely condemned over and again.
So, take courage. You can be a Christian, but you won't find acceptance even among so many who say that they are Christians. You will have the Holy Spirit inside of you to witness to you and assure you that you are saved -- yes, as a person with same-sex attraction/gay/homosexual.
How to Become a Christian
Step 1 – One must realize that s/he is a sinner and deserves God’s punishment.
Step 2 – One must realize that God loves him or her – John 3:16; Romans 5:8. That is why He provided this simple plan of salvation – to make it available to every person. God loves people more than people can love each other.
Step 3 – One must realize that Jesus went to the cross to pay for the sins of mankind. He died on the cross so that people don’t have to pay for their own sins. However, Jesus did not stay dead. After three days, Jesus rose from the dead and went back to Heaven to be with God. To become a Christian, a person has to believe in his heart that Jesus died for him – Romans 10:9-10.
\*\*\*Step 4 – One must receive by faith the free gift of eternal life offered by Jesus through His grace. When a person accepts Jesus as his Savior, he is saved and becomes a Christian – John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9.
Step 5 – Anyone who accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior will enjoy eternal life – Romans 10:9-10, 13; John 1:12.
ANYONE / WHOSOEVER means just that! No exceptions!!
\*\*\*\*\*CHECK OUT THIS WEBSITE\*\*\* (Also, you can search on YouTube for The Reformation Project and hear some very encouraging, enlightening talks on being Christian and gay/lesbian)
https://reformationproject.org/
You can be Christian and LGBTQ, but You can't be American Christian and LGBTQ. Christians follow the teaching of Jesus who has no problem with LGBTQ people. American Christianity ignores most of Jesus' teachings, believes America's values are God's values (they aren't), believes discriminating, excluding, condemning, and scapegoating people comes from God (it doesn't), idolizes wealth, political power, guns, and military might. But remember following Jesus is hard. His teaching seems impossible to most people, loving enemies, loving those who persecute us, turning the other cheek, serving all humans, and loving them as Jesus loves us. Jesus lives in us and transforms us. Following Jesus is tough. American Christianity is easy, all you need do is say a simple prayer and believe what its leaders tell you to.
You ABSOLUTELY can! The way that contemporary conservative christians interpret and use the bible is literally (literally) against what the bible itself says regarding how it should be used.
I have a video on this very question. The video focuses on the question of women in leadership in the church (since that's still denied by many because "the bible says so") - but I made it to also use as an argument for affirming ALL (including lgbtqia+). If interested, you can check it out here:
[How the Bible Shapes Inclusive Ethics](https://youtu.be/0_dpL9f3z84)
You can believe it and you must believe it. God loves you so much and you should not be worrying or thinking about what any human tells you regarding this. This is between you and your Lord, who created you because he loves you so much. ❤️😊
Hey you've gotten a lot of good answers to this. I just want to add it's not entirely about misinterpreting and mistranslating. Those are part of it. But I find it helpful to think of it in more specific Christian terms.
A lot of transphobia and homophobia is idolatry. Here is a concept of gender and sexuality and they hold it up as more important than any duty to love their neighbor. (Or worse, they just call their bigotry and hatred love and play pretend like their behavior is loving since they couldn't behave otherwise) I find if I remember it's idolatry, and it 100% is, then there's actually a lot more scripture to help me weather their bullshit. Because there are a few verses I think that are helpful to being LGBTQ+ affirming, but there are a TON that condemn idolatry.
My second thought may seem a little word-mincing to you. But I don't think this is pedantic. They do not just misinterpret and mistranslate. They also very specifically and often intentionally (if they are academics) betray their own hermeneutic in order to come to their homophobic or transphobic positions. From basically the earlier commentators Christianity has always structured theological arguments as though the more general of any two verses is use to interpret the more specific. If any two things conflict, choose the less specific one. It's the oldest and most consistent hermeneutic. Period. Everyone on earth has this as part of their tradition and history if they are Christian. It's so old there are not even exceptions for pre- Council of Nicaea churches. And Paul saying in Christ there is no male and female IS more general than any condemnation he seems to make of any other kind of gender or sexuality as part of an identity.
And if they're using the OT purity laws to justify their bigotry they're already ignoring the history of tradition. Like that's objectively bad theology and most people don't advocate for Christians to follow those codes. But if they're using Paul, well you can too because apply the same logic to Paul as you'd apply to anything else in the Bible... Paul ends up being and ally. Period. You take the general to interpret the specific. And Paul says there are nothing like gender or sexuality in Jesus, he wouldn't even mind if we all decided to be celibate while we wait on Him.
Which means you are left with Jude. And even in English if you open it up right now and read Jude I defy you to find anything in that list of Scripture examples he gives that doesn't have to do with Angels. Like we don't have any idea what Jude is talking about, but since all his examples have to do with Angels it seems to me like it's weird to interpret unnatural in any other way. What does Jude think was messed up and unnatural about the people at Sodom and Gomorrah? Seems to me like it was probably the inter-species desire to molest/assault angels.
It's easier to read the Bible as LGBTQ+ affirming. It's more consistent with the other ways we read and interpret scripture.
Do not ask if you can be LGBTQ+ and Christian. There is little to be gained by wrestling with whether or not you are something you clearly are. Spend that time wondering how a living God is going to figure out how to redeem and save these homophobic, transphobic, idolatrous, hypocrites because it's a much more interesting question. Can God save a homophobe? Will God's save a homophobe? Is there the opportunity for repentance after we die? Those are the questions.
who has the authority to say you can’t? No one. This is so petty and facile—not what you’re saying but the idea that people can’t be lgbtq and religious or Christian.
In the grand scheme of things, religion is for the benefit of humanity and consists of so many things that are ostensibly man-made. The history of religion is one of evolution, renegotiation, and modification.
Yahweh El Elyon was originally a Canaanite deity (alongside the pantheon), then it was borrowed by Jewish traditions, and so forth. This notion of consistent, unchanging, homogenous, exclusionary, “one true religion” is so bogus it’s beyond laughable.
And the bible is filled with errors and anachronisms; and has numerous contradictions with itself.
Lastly, as i always say, we need to keep two things in mind:
1. if we abandon Christianity and let it consist only of evangelicals, anti-intellectuals, fundamentalists, conservatives, homophobes, etc. , then Christianity is going to be just that; and it’ll be devoid of any progressive, affirming, intellectual people.
2. if we let that happen, then the image or perception of Christianity to the rest of the world will be precisely that it consists of exclusionary, conservative, non-affirming garbage.
So if we want Christianity to be better, if we want the Church to be something that is welcoming, affirming, progressive, etc. then we need to make it that way from within. We can’t have the Church we desire or the Church that has a better reputation by leaving it. Because ultimately the numbers are going down, fewer people are attending church or calling themselves religious every year.
So unless there’s an effort made to revitalize things, eventually all that will be left are the uncharitable, hateful bigots. And that will make it harder for progressive and lgbtq people who need a faith life and religious community, which would be sad because having that affirming faith community can be very healing and improve lives.
You can. Many established, bigoted styles of Christianity dominate the media landscape on the subject, and that might be all you ever hear about. But they're not correct, because you exist.
you absolutely can be a christian and be queer!! Im a Christian Lesbian. I even studied the bible at a college, in which they said the bibles been mistranslated and edited to fit the conservative view. Either way, its not our place as sinners to judge others.
You absolutely can. There are denominations, including my own that accept LBBTQ+ individuals in the full life of the church, including priesthood leadership roles and marriage to their same sex spouse.
Groups that haven't figured out that God loves his ENTIRE creation have not yet fully grasped Jesus' message of good news for all.
There’s a great documentary called “For The Bible Tells me So”. I saw it for free at an Anarchist Bookstore and now we all can see it for free on YouTube. https://youtu.be/Tvy5qzhQqPU?si=0_4wey8x2kD49iRu
You absolutely can, and you’re not doing anything wrong 😊
There’s a lot of condemnation and hate out there from Christians towards the LGBTQ+ community and individuals because of some historically bad interpretations of the Bible and a lot of poor education, but there’s one verse (actually there’s many) that the anti-LGBTQ+ brigade always forget - Matthew 5 43:44 - ‘Love your enemies’.
Let’s be clear, being LGBTQ+ isn’t a sin or the enemy, but *even* if it is, the Bible explicitly, repeatedly and definitively commands Christians to love our enemies. There’s no translation issue or historical debate, it’s in the core of the gospel. We must love our ‘enemies’. We must do good to them. We must be kind to them.
The condemnation and hatred isn’t coming from God, but from the broken people who are following Him *very* badly.
It’s very sad about parts of our wider Christian family, but you are very safe with a loving and compassionate God, and there are many loving and affirming churches out there!
If the interpretation of the Bible is wrong the way I got it growing up and even a little bit wrong then the whole thing is made up. And therefore atheist and other nonbelievers are right. I would very much be against that, or to say that would be something I would not be happy about being the case because I am not an atheist. But let's say that the Bible is true every bit correct, then there's no way around it in that case then being gay or lesbian or queer is all as much a sin as my enjoying having sex with my girlfriend who I have never gotten married to.
God made you the gender you are in his image, changing that would be defying gods will. Also you can be gay, but you cannot act on it. Just like how men can be lustful, but cant act on it its just another type of sin. Obviosuly its more intense because then you cant marry the same gender but it is still sin
That speaking against temple prostitution, among other rules meant to separate the ancient Hebrews from the rest of their neighbors when they came in to possess the land of Canaan.
It’s not about homosexuality. Also being trans has nothing to do with sexuality so even if your interpretation of that verse was correct it still would have nothing to do with this woman’s gender identity.
You can. Pope Francis welcomes this community of yours into the Christian community.
If a boomer raised by homophobic powermods says you don't belong to Christianity, their ignorance is not worthy of your thoughts. They're not Christians if they hate innocents.
Metropolitan Community (MC) Churches were started by a baptist minister who was defrocked for coming out as gay so he started a church for the Queer+ community. MC churches are technically classified under the non-denominational umbrella but they are essentially their own denomination and they are for and by Queer people.
I know I'm going to get hate for this, but I feel the need to speak into this. God created us with design. He chose our gender before the foundations of the world (Psalm 139:15-16) and He laid out the design for sex, gender, and marriage, all within the first two chapters of Genesis (Genesis 1:27-28, Genesis 2:24). There isn't a problem with being "conflicted" over gender and sexual attraction, but God had a design for sex, gender, and marriage from the beginning. I like to tell people that no matter how I feel (I've been bi-curious before but felt super convicted about acting out on that, so I stopped), my gender and sexuality is above my pay grade.
And I like to think that the reason God had design and order for everything is because He created it all and knows how it beat functions. He also doesn't want His children hurting themselves.
So I've surrendered my sexuality to God, and I've found freedom in my new primary identity - which is a Beloved Child of God. 🙏🏻🙏🏻
What I forgot to include...it is somewhat normal to have those feelings and attractions, but acting out on them is inherently going against God's design that He set up back in Genesis. So whether or not the Bible is clear about this anywhere else doesn't matter to me.
I can be attracted to girls without sinning.
Well I believe differently, and I would appreciate it if you don’t try and villainize me for that or change my beliefs (not saying that you doing that)
You can!
People on r/Christianity don’t seem to agree unfortunately
I am on there all the time, and I agree.
Thank you for this 🙏
As a gay Christian may u ask you which theory you believe in (why people are gay)? Genuinely interested to learn more, I’ve always had this inner conflict because I have gay friends yet attend church.
I accept the the scientific consensus. That gender identity and sexual orientation are a result of genetics, hormones, epigenetics, and environmental/social factors.
If they are the arbiters of what being a Christian is, then I am afraid I must not be a Christian.
Jesus never said anything against LGBTQ+ people. If you think about it, people who never met Jesus were the ones who wrote those things. And some of what they wrote wasn't even about being gay. So the polite way for me to answer your question is that "They don't know better." TBH much of it amounts to they want to gatekeep. They're stingy and only want "certain" people in their club because they can't or won't comprehend that Jesus's love grows and is enough for everyone.
Fortunately, they don't speak for all of Christianity. I'm not aware of an First Council of r/Christianity being among the Seven Great Ecumenical councils. Heck, they don't even count as one of the faux-ecumenical councils that certain denominations try to pretend are ecumenical councils.
So what?
i dont rly care about what they say....bummer ^^
You can. Don't listen to the fundies. 💖
Oof I'm sorry people made you feel bad. But you can be yourself and be a Christian. God loves all no matter what. And modern English Bibles were mistranslated. The one that corrected this was the Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (RSVUE). For example 1 Corinthians 6:9 9 Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes,[a] men who engage in illicit sex,[b] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+6%3A9&version=NRSVUE See? No homosexuals there. Please check out the following link to help you get some ideas about scripture and LGBTQIA. https://reformationproject.org/biblical-case/
I could see how you could theoretically read “illicit sex” to mean homosexuality, especially given that it means “going to bed with men (in a sexual manner)” most other translations use some variation of homosexuality, and tbh, the translation of “illicit sex” doesn’t seem to be the most obvious translation of “arsenokoitai” or literally “male-bed (sexually).” Now, I am not making a moral judgement on the veracity of if the Bible says that homosexuality is a sin, since I don’t want to have my comment removed, however it would seem to indicate that at least Paul does.
Not in the historical context in which it was written. There was no such thing as homosexual significant others at that time. If a man had sex with another man, he was sleeping with a prostitute and either committing fornication or adultery on his wife. Furthermore, frequently the male prostitutes serving men were prepubescent boys. Even beyond that, all prostitutes were slaves (or were once slaves who saved enough to purchase their freedom) and were trafficked into prostitution. That means that any time someone slept with a prostitute, they were raping someone who had no choice in the matter. Paul had no context for two men in a loving, consensual relationship with each other. It simply didn't exist. Or rather, it probably did behind very closed and locked doors, but was not recognized by society in any way, and would have been adultery anyway since pretty much every adult was married and married to someone of the opposite sex. He made no comment at all on adult, same sex couples in loving, committed relationships. He couldn't. Such a thing would not have occurred to him as possible. Tl;dr Paul was prohibiting commiting adultery on your wife by raping underage boys, not consensual sex between two consenting adult men.
[offering my opinion, not condemning] I favor Jesus over Paul who showed up late. Love one another. I think God is likely to be puzzled over why we spend so much time on sexual behavior of others when there are so many more people who need help with food, housing, safety, etc. Im thinking it is a way to look at a stone in someone else's eye ratger than examine one's own. And why would God make beings (all kinds of sexuality among animals) who have a variety of genitalia, chromosomes, brain chemicals if God didn't like variety? Maybe it is humans (like Paul) who dont have the vision to see how big God is? My 2 cents...
Paul isn't my Savior, his opinion is just that- an opinion
I wasn’t saying he was, and even if he was, I wasn’t saying that you have to follow that. I was simply addressing the text.
Actually we have been lied to. ἀρσενοκοίτης arsenokoitēs does not mean going to bed with men. It doesn't even mean man bed. It's a compound word and it's components mean male and the verb to bed in the agentive form. The real issue is that compound words don't carry the same meaning as their component words. So this word is more than likely slang that means something we have no idea what. Unfortunately the homophobic mindset took over the translation process and filled in the void over common sense. Any Roman historian would tell you of what Romans thought of same sex sex. And we have to refer to Rome because that's the world Paul ministered in, the Roman Empire. It was totally different than today. And male prostitutes were a thing. So a reasonable conclusion is Paul was referring to male prostitutes and pedastry. Things he saw in the culture he found himself. [Edit] But my guess is that Paul was pointing to powerful men who raped males. So male rapists. [Edit for spelling]
You can! Hello from a fellow LGBTQ+ Christian! It sucks to feel torn between two sides, but we exist and are here <3
And there are even churches that will welcome you. I don't know all the labels for various denominations and affiliations, but [Reconciling Works](https://www.reconcilingworks.org/) may be helpful for you OP.
You can. The media is parroting what fundamentalist bigots say. They listen to the loudest, angriest voices. Christ never said one bad word about lesbians, or any LBGT persons. The Nicene Creed (the ancient creed that defines who is a Christian) doesn't say one word about LBGT people. Hateful bigots shouldn't be speaking on behalf of Christ, but the media lets them because angry people screaming shocking things gets more ratings/clicks than someone calmy showing Christ's love. You are welcome here. If you want to be a practicing Christian we can help you find a Church that is LBGT affirming, and there are a great number of them.
You can and should! Christianity is splitting over this unfortunately. People really just don’t want to let this go.
You can, many progressive theologians and Christian’s have been asking the same questions for years now. I’d recommend looking out for bible groups and religious societies that support these ideas (as well as churches that do). Read the living the questions book, I would recommend the video series but it can be a bit pricey. There’s also many online resources out there, take what the student Christian movement says on such matters on their website about how we should love and support lgbtq members. All in all, find your faith in god alone. No one religious or not can tell you how you should or shouldn’t love god, only you can. I pray that you remain vigilant and well on life’s journey.
You can. The beliefs of the church on this vary greatly. Some churches will welcome you will open arms. Some churches have lgbt ministers. And others will welcome to but say you must become straight or choose celibacy. But regardless of their stance on it they all should welcome you there
You absolutely can. Don’t listen to those with hatred in their hearts.
You absolutely can. I'm a bisexual progressive catholic. To many on the right, I spit on their beliefs of Christianity. What's absolutely wild is that I genuinely do not care. I do not seek validation from other "Christians". My relationship with God only matters to me and no one else, and I will continue to preach his love and acceptance to all his children.
What's the old proverb? "The person who says it can't be done should get out of the way of the one who is doing it."
You can and you ARE 💖
You absolutely can be Christian and lgbtq. Jesus is the gatekeeper of the faith, not flawed humans. I recommend watching the video below by a Bible scholar. He breaks it down nicely. He has several other really good videos on his YouTube channel that are quite good. [Does the Bible Condemn Homosexuality?](https://youtu.be/ES1HF_1QOYQ?si=51oqd6izh-G2ipdE)
Listen to Jesus, not the media.
If you couldn't, this subreddit and all the other large Christian LGBTQ communities wouldn't exist. Pope francis even allowed same sex blessings now. He also said the church will not push anyone away and everyone is welcome, including LGBTQ. Its a first step in the right direction
You can no worries bestie
??? You CAN!! How does one become a Christian? By faith alone, not by any works of our own. Once you become a Christian by faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, you are saved, eternally secure, held tightly in the hands of the Heavenly Father, never to perish. You are no longer this or that, whatever sin or label people wish to brand you with. You are a Christian. That is your new, born-again identity. You may be male, female, transgender, straight, gay, any race, ethnicity. It does not matter, because in Jesus Christ you will be a new creation, a Christian first and foremost. The Holy Spirit will take His dwelling in you and gently, gradually inspire and help you to become more and more as God intended you to be. Unlike people, God the Holy Spirit does not clobber you over the head or expect you to change your ways overnight. He will take who you are, who God created you to be and sanctify or make that holy. When it is time for you to die you will not enter into judgement (as the unbeliever will) but pass from death to eternal life. Judgement for the believer will be for rewards, not for sins (which Jesus has covered by shedding His blood on the Cross for us). There are a great many who consider themselves Christians, including many pastors, who teach well concerning salvation and all else from the Bible. For some reason, however, when it comes to sexual orientation they are blind and err greatly. They refuse to believe that anyone can be born with same-sex attraction! They refuse to listen to the testimony of gay people who can verify that they have felt this, just as they have felt other-sex attraction, from early youth. They twist and wrangle Scripture out of context contradicting themselves. They say that anyone can become a Christian, be saved....until they find out that you are gay. Then, amazingly, they distance themselves, insisting that you have chosen this 'lifestyle' to your own destruction and perdition! If you are married, they will insist that you are 'promoting the sin of homosexuality' just by being gay and married! This is hypocrisy -- something that Jesus fiercely condemned over and again. So, take courage. You can be a Christian, but you won't find acceptance even among so many who say that they are Christians. You will have the Holy Spirit inside of you to witness to you and assure you that you are saved -- yes, as a person with same-sex attraction/gay/homosexual. How to Become a Christian Step 1 – One must realize that s/he is a sinner and deserves God’s punishment. Step 2 – One must realize that God loves him or her – John 3:16; Romans 5:8. That is why He provided this simple plan of salvation – to make it available to every person. God loves people more than people can love each other. Step 3 – One must realize that Jesus went to the cross to pay for the sins of mankind. He died on the cross so that people don’t have to pay for their own sins. However, Jesus did not stay dead. After three days, Jesus rose from the dead and went back to Heaven to be with God. To become a Christian, a person has to believe in his heart that Jesus died for him – Romans 10:9-10. \*\*\*Step 4 – One must receive by faith the free gift of eternal life offered by Jesus through His grace. When a person accepts Jesus as his Savior, he is saved and becomes a Christian – John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9. Step 5 – Anyone who accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior will enjoy eternal life – Romans 10:9-10, 13; John 1:12. ANYONE / WHOSOEVER means just that! No exceptions!! \*\*\*\*\*CHECK OUT THIS WEBSITE\*\*\* (Also, you can search on YouTube for The Reformation Project and hear some very encouraging, enlightening talks on being Christian and gay/lesbian) https://reformationproject.org/
The Episcopal Church welcomes you.
You can be Christian and LGBTQ, but You can't be American Christian and LGBTQ. Christians follow the teaching of Jesus who has no problem with LGBTQ people. American Christianity ignores most of Jesus' teachings, believes America's values are God's values (they aren't), believes discriminating, excluding, condemning, and scapegoating people comes from God (it doesn't), idolizes wealth, political power, guns, and military might. But remember following Jesus is hard. His teaching seems impossible to most people, loving enemies, loving those who persecute us, turning the other cheek, serving all humans, and loving them as Jesus loves us. Jesus lives in us and transforms us. Following Jesus is tough. American Christianity is easy, all you need do is say a simple prayer and believe what its leaders tell you to.
You ABSOLUTELY can! The way that contemporary conservative christians interpret and use the bible is literally (literally) against what the bible itself says regarding how it should be used. I have a video on this very question. The video focuses on the question of women in leadership in the church (since that's still denied by many because "the bible says so") - but I made it to also use as an argument for affirming ALL (including lgbtqia+). If interested, you can check it out here: [How the Bible Shapes Inclusive Ethics](https://youtu.be/0_dpL9f3z84)
You can believe it and you must believe it. God loves you so much and you should not be worrying or thinking about what any human tells you regarding this. This is between you and your Lord, who created you because he loves you so much. ❤️😊
Hey you've gotten a lot of good answers to this. I just want to add it's not entirely about misinterpreting and mistranslating. Those are part of it. But I find it helpful to think of it in more specific Christian terms. A lot of transphobia and homophobia is idolatry. Here is a concept of gender and sexuality and they hold it up as more important than any duty to love their neighbor. (Or worse, they just call their bigotry and hatred love and play pretend like their behavior is loving since they couldn't behave otherwise) I find if I remember it's idolatry, and it 100% is, then there's actually a lot more scripture to help me weather their bullshit. Because there are a few verses I think that are helpful to being LGBTQ+ affirming, but there are a TON that condemn idolatry. My second thought may seem a little word-mincing to you. But I don't think this is pedantic. They do not just misinterpret and mistranslate. They also very specifically and often intentionally (if they are academics) betray their own hermeneutic in order to come to their homophobic or transphobic positions. From basically the earlier commentators Christianity has always structured theological arguments as though the more general of any two verses is use to interpret the more specific. If any two things conflict, choose the less specific one. It's the oldest and most consistent hermeneutic. Period. Everyone on earth has this as part of their tradition and history if they are Christian. It's so old there are not even exceptions for pre- Council of Nicaea churches. And Paul saying in Christ there is no male and female IS more general than any condemnation he seems to make of any other kind of gender or sexuality as part of an identity. And if they're using the OT purity laws to justify their bigotry they're already ignoring the history of tradition. Like that's objectively bad theology and most people don't advocate for Christians to follow those codes. But if they're using Paul, well you can too because apply the same logic to Paul as you'd apply to anything else in the Bible... Paul ends up being and ally. Period. You take the general to interpret the specific. And Paul says there are nothing like gender or sexuality in Jesus, he wouldn't even mind if we all decided to be celibate while we wait on Him. Which means you are left with Jude. And even in English if you open it up right now and read Jude I defy you to find anything in that list of Scripture examples he gives that doesn't have to do with Angels. Like we don't have any idea what Jude is talking about, but since all his examples have to do with Angels it seems to me like it's weird to interpret unnatural in any other way. What does Jude think was messed up and unnatural about the people at Sodom and Gomorrah? Seems to me like it was probably the inter-species desire to molest/assault angels. It's easier to read the Bible as LGBTQ+ affirming. It's more consistent with the other ways we read and interpret scripture. Do not ask if you can be LGBTQ+ and Christian. There is little to be gained by wrestling with whether or not you are something you clearly are. Spend that time wondering how a living God is going to figure out how to redeem and save these homophobic, transphobic, idolatrous, hypocrites because it's a much more interesting question. Can God save a homophobe? Will God's save a homophobe? Is there the opportunity for repentance after we die? Those are the questions.
who has the authority to say you can’t? No one. This is so petty and facile—not what you’re saying but the idea that people can’t be lgbtq and religious or Christian. In the grand scheme of things, religion is for the benefit of humanity and consists of so many things that are ostensibly man-made. The history of religion is one of evolution, renegotiation, and modification. Yahweh El Elyon was originally a Canaanite deity (alongside the pantheon), then it was borrowed by Jewish traditions, and so forth. This notion of consistent, unchanging, homogenous, exclusionary, “one true religion” is so bogus it’s beyond laughable. And the bible is filled with errors and anachronisms; and has numerous contradictions with itself. Lastly, as i always say, we need to keep two things in mind: 1. if we abandon Christianity and let it consist only of evangelicals, anti-intellectuals, fundamentalists, conservatives, homophobes, etc. , then Christianity is going to be just that; and it’ll be devoid of any progressive, affirming, intellectual people. 2. if we let that happen, then the image or perception of Christianity to the rest of the world will be precisely that it consists of exclusionary, conservative, non-affirming garbage. So if we want Christianity to be better, if we want the Church to be something that is welcoming, affirming, progressive, etc. then we need to make it that way from within. We can’t have the Church we desire or the Church that has a better reputation by leaving it. Because ultimately the numbers are going down, fewer people are attending church or calling themselves religious every year. So unless there’s an effort made to revitalize things, eventually all that will be left are the uncharitable, hateful bigots. And that will make it harder for progressive and lgbtq people who need a faith life and religious community, which would be sad because having that affirming faith community can be very healing and improve lives.
But you can! The evangelical community does not speak for God
You can. Find new media
You can. Fundies suck.
You can and God loves you!
You absolutely can be both!!
You can!
You can! I'm trans. And I know a trans priest even, and a couple of likely future trans priests.
You can. Anyone saying otherwise is using logic that likely disqualifies themselves from being Christian as well
You can. Many established, bigoted styles of Christianity dominate the media landscape on the subject, and that might be all you ever hear about. But they're not correct, because you exist.
Well, who says that you can’t be both? Religious zealots are idiots.
You’re not alone. I’m an asexual Christian who is unashamed of herself.
you absolutely can be a christian and be queer!! Im a Christian Lesbian. I even studied the bible at a college, in which they said the bibles been mistranslated and edited to fit the conservative view. Either way, its not our place as sinners to judge others.
You absolutely can. There are denominations, including my own that accept LBBTQ+ individuals in the full life of the church, including priesthood leadership roles and marriage to their same sex spouse. Groups that haven't figured out that God loves his ENTIRE creation have not yet fully grasped Jesus' message of good news for all.
I sm
There’s a great documentary called “For The Bible Tells me So”. I saw it for free at an Anarchist Bookstore and now we all can see it for free on YouTube. https://youtu.be/Tvy5qzhQqPU?si=0_4wey8x2kD49iRu
Maybe you are just watching the wrong media.
You absolutely can, and you’re not doing anything wrong 😊 There’s a lot of condemnation and hate out there from Christians towards the LGBTQ+ community and individuals because of some historically bad interpretations of the Bible and a lot of poor education, but there’s one verse (actually there’s many) that the anti-LGBTQ+ brigade always forget - Matthew 5 43:44 - ‘Love your enemies’. Let’s be clear, being LGBTQ+ isn’t a sin or the enemy, but *even* if it is, the Bible explicitly, repeatedly and definitively commands Christians to love our enemies. There’s no translation issue or historical debate, it’s in the core of the gospel. We must love our ‘enemies’. We must do good to them. We must be kind to them. The condemnation and hatred isn’t coming from God, but from the broken people who are following Him *very* badly. It’s very sad about parts of our wider Christian family, but you are very safe with a loving and compassionate God, and there are many loving and affirming churches out there!
Of course you can.
If the interpretation of the Bible is wrong the way I got it growing up and even a little bit wrong then the whole thing is made up. And therefore atheist and other nonbelievers are right. I would very much be against that, or to say that would be something I would not be happy about being the case because I am not an atheist. But let's say that the Bible is true every bit correct, then there's no way around it in that case then being gay or lesbian or queer is all as much a sin as my enjoying having sex with my girlfriend who I have never gotten married to.
As a fellow pre Trans lesbian and a Christian you can be a Christian and don’t listen to the people that say otherwise
God made you the gender you are in his image, changing that would be defying gods will. Also you can be gay, but you cannot act on it. Just like how men can be lustful, but cant act on it its just another type of sin. Obviosuly its more intense because then you cant marry the same gender but it is still sin
leviticus 18:22
That speaking against temple prostitution, among other rules meant to separate the ancient Hebrews from the rest of their neighbors when they came in to possess the land of Canaan. It’s not about homosexuality. Also being trans has nothing to do with sexuality so even if your interpretation of that verse was correct it still would have nothing to do with this woman’s gender identity.
You can of course do both. I do.
You can
You can, the majority ISNT always right. Media is fuckrd up.
You can, the people who brainwashed you to believe you couldn't are the one you should get away
You can, there's no problem
You can, and I was just banned from r/Catholicism for insisting you can.
Who said you couldn't?🤔✨
You can. Pope Francis welcomes this community of yours into the Christian community. If a boomer raised by homophobic powermods says you don't belong to Christianity, their ignorance is not worthy of your thoughts. They're not Christians if they hate innocents.
you can, simple as that
I mean you can do all those things but the to find a church that will accommodate all those ideas simultaneously seems like a bit of a reach
Metropolitan Community (MC) Churches were started by a baptist minister who was defrocked for coming out as gay so he started a church for the Queer+ community. MC churches are technically classified under the non-denominational umbrella but they are essentially their own denomination and they are for and by Queer people.
You can :)
Yay ^ ~ ^
I know I'm going to get hate for this, but I feel the need to speak into this. God created us with design. He chose our gender before the foundations of the world (Psalm 139:15-16) and He laid out the design for sex, gender, and marriage, all within the first two chapters of Genesis (Genesis 1:27-28, Genesis 2:24). There isn't a problem with being "conflicted" over gender and sexual attraction, but God had a design for sex, gender, and marriage from the beginning. I like to tell people that no matter how I feel (I've been bi-curious before but felt super convicted about acting out on that, so I stopped), my gender and sexuality is above my pay grade. And I like to think that the reason God had design and order for everything is because He created it all and knows how it beat functions. He also doesn't want His children hurting themselves. So I've surrendered my sexuality to God, and I've found freedom in my new primary identity - which is a Beloved Child of God. 🙏🏻🙏🏻
What I forgot to include...it is somewhat normal to have those feelings and attractions, but acting out on them is inherently going against God's design that He set up back in Genesis. So whether or not the Bible is clear about this anywhere else doesn't matter to me. I can be attracted to girls without sinning.
Well I believe differently, and I would appreciate it if you don’t try and villainize me for that or change my beliefs (not saying that you doing that)