Why I've Updated God and the Gay Christian
2014 was a long time ago—and the time was ripe for a new edition.
God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships was first published on April 22, 2014. A lot has happened since then, and today, I'm thrilled to share that the revised and expanded edition of God and the Gay Christian is now available!
When I started working on the updates to the book in early 2023, I naively thought it would only take me a few months to finish them. It ended up taking the better part of two years—and nearly as much time as the book took to write in the first place! But I’m very pleased with how it turned out.
The main updates include:
A new introduction
Two brand-new chapters toward the end of the book (replacing the original chapters 9 and 10)
Two new appendices about ancient understandings of same-sex attraction/relationships (which I’m particularly excited about)
Revisions and responses to critiques woven throughout the book
To be clear, the thesis of the book remains the same: that Christians can affirm monogamous, covenantal same-sex relationships while continuing to affirm the authority of the Bible and orthodox Christian faith. I’ve changed my mind on a few issues—see an upcoming post for details—but they are fairly technical and so will likely be of greater interest to specialists than to the average reader. (But if you’re reading this, you’re more likely to be in the interested camp!)
For those who like numbers: The original edition of the book was 60,000 words—50,000 in the main body and 10,000 in the endnotes. The updated edition is around 85,000 words—55,000 in the main body, 10,000 in the appendices, and now 20,000 total in the endnotes. My goal was to maintain as much accessibility as possible for a general audience, which is why the main body isn’t too much longer than it was before. But I also care deeply about nuance and precision, and I want to make sure the book holds up to a strict standard of scrutiny.
So I designed the updated edition almost as a choose-your-own-adventure: If you aren’t academically inclined and don’t want to get bogged down in the weeds, reading the main text alone should give you a comprehensive understanding of my argument without feeling like you’ve lost the thread at any point. And if you want to go deeper, the appendices and endnotes are essentially another half-book within the book. They might be my favorite part of the book, because I do love nerding out over biblical scholarship and Greco-Roman literature. But I know that isn’t everyone’s cup of tea—hence, the bifurcated approach.
In the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing more about what’s in the updated edition of God and the Gay Christian—as well as posting a new hour-long talk I gave recently about some of the new material in it.
Overall, I’m looking forward to re-entering the public dialogue in a more sustained way with the new edition of the book because I believe that its message remains a vital one. And with polarization on the rise in society and the church—particularly when it comes to gender and sexuality—I think it’s especially important now to model a mainstream, affirming theological approach that is deeply committed to Scripture, that upholds needed moral boundaries, and that engages those who disagree with the respect and charity we’re called to embody as Christians.
Thank you so much to everyone whose support has made the success of the original edition of God and the Gay Christian possible. I can't wait for you to be able to read the revised and expanded edition, and I look forward to sharing more about it soon!
In 2015 I started participating in a church community. SO unlike the one I grew up in, and unlike any I’d brushed up against in my meanderings. Hadn’t “been to” church for 45 years save the occasional wedding or funeral. In my first months there, someone offered a book study on God & the Gay Christian. Here’s how my life changed:
Sitting around a table with that group, I heard some life stories of people whose faith had helped carry them through awful challenges. Perhaps we could say they always knew god was with them. In them. They were part of god. Their faith was true for them. This was illuminating for me.
Of course there were stories of being rejected and driven from church by intolerance and human judgment. Since the book group took place at a church, you’d be right to assume these stories involve some process of reconciliation. Mainly that a person met one christian or one church community that demonstrated they actually loved their neighbor, and the person chose to engage in the risk of faith that this could really be true. The faith & hope of those people buoys me still today.
And I, never a bible reader, got closer to the text & context - both through Matthew’s informative book and the group leader’s additional readings & explanations. That big old book became of interest. To ME. Still is.
All this to say: thank you, Matthew. Somewhere in these years I began naming myself as a follower of Jesus. Many ways I always had been… incognito or under cover, perhaps. There were numerous experiences & learnings that drew me into my current understanding, and your book, that first study group, were valued markers on my way. So my spiritual evolution is connected to your spirit as expressed through your book. Through the spirit that connects all.
Looking forward to reading your new edition! Blessings - jim
Congrats, Matthew 🙌🏾