Category Archives: Holy Love

In my book ‘Holy Love’ I offer an affirmative theology for LGBTQ+ people, and an advocacy for their full inclusion in the church. [1] In the book, I wrote a bit about eunuchs, but since then I have found the … Continue reading →

​I hope your reading of ‘Holy Love’ and these related posts has been helpful.  In the book, I include two additional writings: a word to LGBTQ+ people (“You  Are Loved”) and a word to those who disagree with me (”A … Continue reading →

In the final chapter of ‘Holy Love’ I hope to turn theory into practice, beliefs into behaviors—what John Wesley called “practical divinity.”  He believed that faith had to be practiced, not just professed.  He called it “living faith”—in the spirit … Continue reading →

Romans 1:18-32 There’s no doubt that this passage is the focal text for interpreting human sexuality in general and LGBTQ+ sexuality in particular.  Romans links in spirit and substance with Leviticus.  Just as Israel was entering a new land, so … Continue reading →

​1 Corinthians 16:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:10 Paul’s missionary journeys had taken him to Corinth and Cyprus before he made it to Rome.  So, I decided to treat these two passages before Romans 1.  What he experienced with respect to … Continue reading →

​When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we say “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  The previous facets  of the hermeneutic of love have helped us see love “on earth.” When we turn … Continue reading →

Expanding on the hermeneutic of love in the Church beyond what I write in the book means enlarging the idea of the Church as the Body of Christ.  I write some about it this in the book, but today I … Continue reading →

​The fourth vantage point for seeing the hermeneutic of holy love is Christ, the one who reveals the creator (“whoever has seen me has seen the Father,” John 14:9), the one who made the creation (“ everything came into being … Continue reading →

The third vantage point for seeing the hermeneutic of holy love is the Covenant.  When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we say “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  This is the creator/creation … Continue reading →

Creation is the second vantage point for seeing the hermeneutic of holy love. We live in a God-made world (Genesis 1:1).  It is reasonable to assume that there would be congruence between who God is and what God has made.  … Continue reading →

​The first vantage point for developing a hermeneutic of holy love is the Creator.  In the previous post we began our look at God through the core attribute of love.  There are multiple words for love in Hebrew and Greek, … Continue reading →

​The Bible is simultaneously sixty-six books written over a period of approximately 1600 years, and one Book that communicates a unified revelation.  With respect to a theology of human sexuality, we must begin by discerning the overarching view before looking … Continue reading →

​Chapter two of the book opens the door to many things which call for our attention.  I will devote multiple posts to this chapter.  This one deals with hermeneutics—that is, the necessity and means for interpreting Scripture. Everyone reads the … Continue reading →

​When I was asked to write ‘Holy Love,’ it included the hope that I would not only write from the Christian tradition but also from within the Wesleyan tradition.  To do this meant including the hermeneutic of experience.  I accepted … Continue reading →

Today, we move from the larger context of the new pentecost (or whatever else it is called) to the topic of human sexuality—one particular place where the fresh wind of the Spirit is blowing.  Upcoming posts will follow the development … Continue reading →

​The new pentecost is more of a movement than it is an institution.  Jesus said that new wine must be poured into new wineskins (Matthew 9 17)), and that is what is happening today.  The fresh wind of the Spirit … Continue reading →

​As far as I know, no one who reads my posts is a monk.  And I am guessing those who do would not hesitate to say, I am not a monk.”  But the fact is, surprising as it is, we … Continue reading →

​In order to embrace the significance of LGBTQ+ inclusion, we must understand that it is part of something larger that God is bringing to pass on the earth today—a new pentecost.  A fresh wind of the Spirit is blowing, and … Continue reading →

This past May my book, ‘Holy Love: A Biblical Theology for Human Sexuality,’ was published by Abingdon Press.  As with its predecessor, ‘For the Sake of the Bride’ (Abingdon Press, 2014), the book describes my journey into becoming an ally … Continue reading →