God and the Gay Christian Quotes

“But as I became more aware of same-sex relationships, I couldn’t understand why they were supposed to be sinful, or why the Bible apparently condemned them. With most sins, it wasn’t hard to pinpoint the damage they cause. Adultery violates a commitment to your spouse. Lust objectifies others. Gossip degrades people. But committed same-sex relationships didn’t fit this pattern. Not only were they not harmful to anyone, they were characterized by positive motives and traits instead, like faithfulness, commitment, mutual love, and self-sacrifice.”
― Matthew Vines, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships

“Christians throughout history have affirmed that lifelong celibacy is a spiritual gift and calling, not a path that should be forced upon someone.”
― Matthew Vines, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships

“The failure of reorientation therapy is why the "ex-gay" ministry Exodus International shut down in 2013. It places gay Christians who adhere to the traditional biblical interpretation in an agonizing, irresolvable tension. In order to truly flee from sin as well as the temptation to sin, they must constantly attempt what has proven impossible: to reconstitute themselves so they are no longer sexual beings at all.”
― Matthew Vines, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships

“In marriage, we're called to reflect God's love for us through our self-giving love for our spouse. God's love for us isn't dependent on our day-to-day feelings toward him, on how hard we work to please him, or even on how faithful we are to him. It's grounded in his nature and his covenant.”
― Matthew Vines, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships

“The law was good, Paul wrote, and its purpose vital. But its purpose was also temporary. Once Christ fulfilled the law, his followers would have trivialized his sacrifice by living as though they were still subject to the law's constraints.”
― Matthew Vines, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships

“Neither Peter in his work to include Gentiles in the church nor the abolitionists in their campaign against slavery argued that their experience should take precedence over Scripture. But they both made the case that their experience should cause Christians to reconsider long-held interpretations of Scripture. Today, we are still responsible for testing our beliefs in light of their outcomes—a duty in line with Jesus's teaching about trees and their fruit.”
― Matthew Vines, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships

“While its six references to same-sex behavior are negative, the concept of same-sex behavior in the Bible is sexual excess, not sexual orientation.”
― Matthew Vines, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships

“In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that if someone makes you go one mile, go with him two miles (see Matthew 5:41). Whoever you are, and whatever experiences or doubts you bring to this discussion, will you walk with me as I share the evidence that changed my dad’s mind? I ask as a brother in Christ—one who has sometimes been hurt by others’ unwillingness to listen, and who continues to see fresh wounds open up in the body of Christ. Perhaps you are convinced your views will not change. Perhaps you hope they will. Either way, I invite you to join me for the journey.”
― Matthew Vines, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships

“From a theological perspective, marriage primarily involves a covenant-keeping relationship of mutual self-giving that reflects God’s love for us.”
― Matthew Vines, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships

“Homosexuality, to the limited extent it was discussed in our church, was little more than a political football, a quick test of orthodoxy.”
― Matthew Vines, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships

“Christians did not change their minds about the solar system because they lost respect for their Christian forebears or for the authority of Scripture. They changed their minds because they were confronted with evidence their predecessors had never considered. The traditional interpretation of Psalm 93:1; Joshua 10:12–14; and other passages made sense when it was first formulated. But the invention of the telescope offered a new lens to use in interpreting those verses, opening the door to a more accurate interpretation.6”
― Matthew Vines, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships

“But the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus ushered in a host of transformative changes, and one of those changes is vital to our conversation here: Biological procreation no longer determines membership in God’s kingdom. Spiritual rebirth through faith in Christ does.”
― Matthew Vines, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships

“Neither Peter in his work to include Gentiles in the church nor the abolitionists in their campaign against slavery argued that their experience should take precedence over Scripture. But they both made the case that their experience should cause Christians to reconsider long-held interpretations of Scripture. Today, we are still responsible for testing our beliefs in light of their outcomes—a duty in line with Jesus’s teaching about trees and their fruit.”
― Matthew Vines, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships

“This is the book I dearly needed when I admitted to myself that I was gay. And it is, I pray, an instrument God will use to help bring healing, reconciliation, and hope to many who need them most.”
― Matthew Vines, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships

“By branding same-sex orientation broken, we are wrongly rejecting a good part of God’s creation. And with awful consequences, we are tarnishing the image of God”
― Matthew Vines, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships

“Rob and Linda’s world was shattered. As Linda wrote, “We had unintentionally taught Ryan to hate his sexuality. And since sexuality cannot be separated from the self, we had taught Ryan to hate himself.… What we had wished for, prayed for, hoped for—that we would not have a gay son—came true. But not at all in the way we had envisioned.”
― Matthew Vines, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
― Matthew Vines, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships

“The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”
― Matthew Vines, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships

“The question is not whether gay Christians exist. It's simply 'How will the church respond to them?”
― Matthew Vines, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships