Rainbow Books: June 2022

This book presents personal narratives and collective ethnography of the emergence and development of Asian and Asian American women's scholarship in theology and religious studies. It demonstrates how the authors' religious scholarship is based on an embodied epistemology influenced by their social locations. Contributors reflect on their understanding of their identity and how this changed over time, the contribution of Asian and Asian American women to the scholarship work that they do, and their hopes for the future of their fields of study. The volume is multireligious and intergenerational, and is divided into four parts: identities and intellectual journeys, expanding knowledge, integrating knowledge and practice, and dialogue across generations.

Brownson argues that Christians should reconsider whether or not the biblical strictures against same-sex relations as defined in the ancient world should apply to contemporary, committed same-sex relationships. He carefully analyzes each of the seven main texts that appear to address intimate same-sex relations, and in the process explores key concepts that inform our understanding of the texts, including patriarchy, complementarity, purity and impurity, honor and shame.

This is a collection of 16 essays that examines the productive intersection of the fields of black and queer studies.

No Tea, No Shade brings together nineteen essays from the next generation of black queer studies scholars, activists, and community leaders who build on the foundational work of black queer studies, pushing the field in new and exciting directions.

Our Lives Matter uses the tenor of the 2014 national protests that emerged as a response to excessive police force against Black people to frame the book as following the discursive tradition of liberation theologies broadly speaking and womanist theology specifically. Using a womanist methodological approach, Pamela R. Lightsey helps readers explore the impact of oppression against Black LBTQ women while introducing them to the emergent intellectual movement known as queer theology. The author privileges their narratives and experiences as she reviews several doctrines and dogma of the Christ.

Mihee Kim-Kort is a wife, a mom, and a Presbyterian minister. And she's queer. But instead of pushing her away from God, her queerness has brought her closer to Jesus and taught her how to love better. Outside the Lines shows us how God, in Jesus, loves us in a queer and radical way. Whenever we love ourselves and our neighbors with the boundary-breaking love of God, we live out queer spirituality in the world. With a captivating mix of personal story and biblical analysis, Outside the lines shows us how each of our bodies fits into the body of Christ, outside the lines and without exceptions.

Designed for both church and academic audiences • Ecumenical appeal Residing at the intersection of constructive theology and critical social theory, this book provides a resource for both students and clergy to reinterpret Christian theology and re-imagine Christian faith in the twenty-first century. The author seeks “to encourage and equip Christian faith communities to move beyond the decades-long stalemate over human sexuality and gender identity” because “Queer gifts emerge in Christian communities when lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people no longer feel compelled to justify their presence in those communities.” Useful in both seminary classrooms and in congregational settings, the book is a contribution to the still-emerging field of queer theology, translating the rigors of scholarly research into transforming proposals for faith communities.

"Brings together the work of several scholars and pastors known for their interest in the areas of gender, sexuality and Biblical studies ... The focus is both how reading from lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender perspectives affect the reading and interpretation of biblical texts and how biblical texts have and do affect lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender communities"-- Provided by publisher

What do Christianity and queerness have to do with each other? Can Christianity be queered? Queer Theology offers a readable introduction to a difficult debate. Summarizing the various apologetic arguments for the inclusion of queer people in Christianity, Tonstad moves beyond inclusion to argue for a queer theology that builds on the interconnection of theology with sex and money. Thoroughly grounded in queer theory as well as in Christian theology, Queer Theology grapples with the fundamental challenges of the body, sex, and death, as these are where queerness and Christianity find (and, maybe, lose) each other.

Contextual theologies have developed from a number of perspectives -- including feminist theology, black theology, womanist theology, Latin American liberation theology, and Asian American theology -- and a wide variety of academic and general introductions exist to examine each one. However, Radical Love is the first introductory textbook on the subject of queer theology. In this lucid and compelling introduction, Cheng provides a historical survey of how queer theology has developed from the 1950s to today and then explicates the themes of queer theology using the ecumenical creeds as a general framework. Topics include revelation, God, Trinity, creation, Jesus Christ, atonement, sin, grace, Holy Spirit, church, sacraments, and last things, as seen through the lenses of LGBT theologians. - Publisher

This book reflects upon the theological significance of the intersections of race and queer sexuality across multiple ethnic and cultural groups.

Sexual Disorientations brings some of the most recent and significant works of queer theory into conversation with the overlapping fields of biblical, theological and religious studies to explore the deep theological resonances of questions about the social and cultural construction of time, memory, and futurity. Apocalyptic, eschatological and apophatic languages, frameworks, and orientations pervade both queer theorizing and theologizing about time, affect, history and desire. The volume fosters a more explicit engagement between theories of queer temporality and affectivity and religious texts and discourses.

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.

Bad theology nearly took Kevin's life. They believed that God could never love them because they were queer, leading to a deadly shame that nearly took Kevin's life. Kevin felt trapped by fear. Fear of losing their community, their family, and even their connection to God. That is until Kevin changed their mind, finally hearing the voice of the Spirit calling them to believe something better. Through personal experience, classical theological devices, and a fair bit of profanity, Kevin dives into some of the most common toxic belief patterns that are killing our communities, showing you how to undo them, and how to create new, better theology to lead you back to your spiritual authority. Bad Theology Kills is the first step on leaving behind a religion filled with fear and blossoming into a life and spirituality grounded in Love.

At most church weddings, the person presiding over the ritual is not a priest or a pastor, but the wedding planner, followed by the photographer, the florist, and the caterer. And in this day and age, more wedding theology is supplied by Modern Bride magazine or reality television than by any of the Christian treatises on holy matrimony. Indeed, church weddings have strayed long and far from distinctly Christian aspirations. The costumes and gestures might still be right, but the intentions are hardly religious. Why then, asks noted gay commentator Mark D. Jordan, are so many churches vehemently opposed to blessing same-sex unions? In this incisive work, Jordan shows how carefully selected ideals of Christian marriage have come to dominate recent debates over same-sex unions. Opponents of gay marriage, he reveals, too often confuse simplified ideals of matrimony with historical facts. They suppose, for instance, that there has been a stable Christian tradition of marriage across millennia, when in reality Christians have quarreled among themselves for centuries about even the most basic elements of marital theology, authorizing experiments like polygamy and divorce. Jordan also argues that no matter what the courts do, Christian churches will have to decide for themselves whether to bless same-sex unions. No civil compromise can settle the religious questions surrounding gay marriage. And queer Christians, he contends, will have to discover for themselves what they really want out of marriage. If they are not just after legal recognition as a couple or a place at the social table, do they really seek the blessing of God? Or just the garish melodrama of a white wedding? Posing trenchant questions such as these, Blessing Same-Sex Unions will be a must-read for both sides of the debate over gay marriage in America today.

The first multi-disciplinary look at the intersection of queer experience and religious spirituality.

Essays exploring and explaining how 'queer' reading makes a difference to biblical exegesis. As with feminism, theoretical questions arise such as whether such readings are characterized by certain questions or can only legitimately be done by gay or lesbian readers. The contributors are drawn from a range of backgrounds and a variety of interests--Jewish, Christian, agnostic, male, female, heterosexual, gay and lesbian--and mostly concentrate on individual passages and books. But the volume also contains some theoretical reflections, and it ends with three +critical responses' from scholars with interdisciplinary interests on the place of queer read-ing of the Bible in broader contexts. A book for anyone interested in contemporary issues of bible interpretation or in queer theory generally.

This ground-breaking and eye-opening book examines the intersections of religion and same-sex desire, from St. Augustine to Hinduism to contemporary LGBT and queer culture.

Sex and the Sacred examines the spiritual dimension of human sexuality in a way that is free of religious affiliation but still open to traditional religion and belief in God. Dr. Daniel Helminiak, author of the best-selling What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality, looks at the relationship between sexuality and spirituality, first, from a humanistic perspective and, then, a more familiar Christian point of view. In particular, he encourages LGBTI people to reclaim their spiritual heritage without apology. This unique book emphasizes spiritual commitment as an essential facet of LGBTI/queer consciousness and addresses such burning themes as coming out, the importance of self-acceptance, gay marriage, gay bashing, and the ethics of gay sex.

Probing into numerous questions about gender and sexuality, Dale Martin delves into the biblical texts anew and unearths surprising findings. Avoiding preconceptions about ancient sexuality, he explores the ethics of desire and marriage and pays careful attention to the original meanings of words, especially those used as evidence of Paul's opposition to homosexuality. For example, after a remarkably faithful reading of the scriptural texts, Martin concludes that our contemporary obsession with marriage--and the whole search for the "right" sexual relationships--is antithetical to the message of the gospel. In all of these essays, however, Martin argues for engaging Scripture in a way that goes beyond the standard historical-critical questions and the assumptions of textual agency in order to find a faith that has no foundations other than Jesus Christ.

Despite its lack of both historical and exegetical clarity, 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 has often been fundamental to understandings of gender and sexuality in many Christian traditions. In particular, a hierarchical model of gender and a heterosexual model of sexuality tend to dominate and are presented as "natural" and "God-ordained." With the materialist lesbian theory of Monique Wittig providing the theoretical basis for discussion, this book intersects various biblical, theological, and queer lines of inquiry across 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 in order to reveal and challenge these models of gender and sexuality that lie behind both the text itself and its various interpretations.

This book enters a new liminal space between the LGBTQ and denominational Christian communities. It simultaneously explores how those who identify as queer can find a home in church and how those leading welcoming, or indeed unwelcoming, congregations can better serve both communities. The primary argument is that queer inclusion must not merely mean an assimilation into existing heteronormative respectability and approval.

This revised edition by Ruth C. Duck provides theological foundations for worship and explores the ways Christians have adapted worship to various cultures to help them live faithfully and to communicate the gospel to others. It celebrates the many languages and cultural settings in which the gospel has been, and is, preached, sung, and prayed.