February 9th, 2011
10:31 AM ET
My Take: The Bible's surprisingly mixed messages on sexuality
Editor's Note: Jennifer Wright Knust is author of Unprotected Texts: The Bible's Surprising Contradictions about Sex and Desire.
By Jennifer Wright Knust, Special to CNN
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/09/my-take-the-bible%E2%80%99s-surprisingly-mixed-messages-on-sexuality/comment-page-1/?iref=obnetwork (http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/09/my-take-the-bible%E2%80%99s-surprisingly-mixed-messages-on-sexuality/comment-page-1/?iref=obnetwork)
We often hears that Christians have no choice but to regard homosexuality as a sin - that Scripture simply demands it.
As a Bible scholar and pastor myself, I say that Scripture does no such thing.
"I love gay people, but the Bible forces me to condemn them" is a poor excuse that attempts to avoid accountability by wrapping a very particular and narrow interpretation of a few biblical passages in a cloak of divinely inspired respectability.