WELCOME to this website about the book:

THE GAY GOSPELS:GOOD NEWS FOR LGBT PEOPLE
ISBN 978-184694-548-9
by Keith Sharpe

The Book launch took place at Waterstones Brighton on Thursday 22nd September 2011, and was followed by a three week American book tour.

Click on the link below to hear the author speaking at the Harold Washington Memorial Library in Chicago on Monday 3rd October:

www.wbez.org/story/dr-keith-sharpe-92989



BEN BRADSHAW MP writes:
'As a Minister in the Government which introduced civil partnerships in the United Kingdom, and as a committed Christian in the Anglican Communion, I believe it is important that Christians have the evidence and arguments to rebut the anti-gay approach of Biblical fundamentalists. Everybody involved in the debate over the place of gay people in the Church and in society generally should read this book. It is a faith- and life-affirming book for the LGBT community, it is a terrific read and I recommend it wholeheartedly.'

THE VERY REV'D JOHN PACKER, BISHOP OF RIPON AND LEEDS, UK says:
'The Gay Gospels is a welcome challenge to heterosexist attitudes wherever they may be found in the Christian church'

THE CHURCH TIMES review of 17 Feb 2012 declared:
The author has read widely, and the presentation of his conclusions is timely, accurate, and very accessible.....Readers are introduced to an impressive body of evidence that the Hebrew Bible, overall, is far from asserting heterosexual norms. Serious conservative responses are awaited. The book should bring a sigh of relief to LGBT people struggling on in an uncomprehending Church, and provide a useful introduction to the conclusions of particular biblical scholars.

AVAILABLE NOW ON AMAZON!



The Gay Gospels: Good News for LGBT People - CONTENTS

Introduction

The Defensive Testament
(LGBT Self-defence summaries follow each chapter)

1. The story of Sodom (Genesis 18,19)

2. Leviticus and the ‘abominations’ (Leviticus 18,20)

3. The so-called ‘creation ordinances’ (Genesis 1,2)

4. St Paul and living ‘beyond nature’ (Romans 1)

5. St Paul and pederasty (1 Corinthians 6)

6. Being possessed (Mark 10)

7. Textual abuse


The Affirmative Testament
(LGBT Self-affirmation summaries follow each chapter)

1. Jesus and the beloved disciple

2. Jesus’ sexual orientation

3. Jesus meets a gay couple

4. The Hebrew God as a man’s man

5. David, Jonathan and Saul

6. Joseph the transvestite

7. Ruth and Naomi

8. Born that way

9. Jesus was no family man

10. The pure LGBT heart

11. The transgendering Christ

12. Conclusion and final affirmation



WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT
THE GAY GOSPELS
As Director of an evangelical outreach ministry to lesbian and gay
people, I am constantly reminded of the way that church teachings on
homosexuality have caused immense damage to human lives and
relationships. With superb clarity of style and presentation, Dr Sharpe
successfully demonstrates in The Gay Gospels that these harsh
teachings have no basis either in the Bible or in the mission of our Lord
and Saviour, Jesus Christ. This book will be of enormous value to all
involved in the debate over homosexuality and Christianity currently
raging in the church and wider society.
Jeremy Marks, Director of Courage UK

Do you think that the Bible condemns LGBT people for wanting loving
and intimate relationships with people of their own sex? At the London
Lighthouse AIDS hospice it was evident that such homophobic
distortion can and does blight lives. This humane and scholarly book
helps us to a truer understanding of God’s love for all human beings,
and how those insights developed in the history of the Christian faith,
chronicled in the Bible.
Andrew Henderson, Founding Co-chair of London Lighthouse

This is a must-read for all LGBT people, and is definitely Good News. I
couldn’t put it down. Through exhaustive research, Dr Sharpe exposes
the hypocrisy and cant of the anti-gay elements within the Christian
church past and present by placing the Biblical evidence in its proper
context of an ancient society obsessed by procreation, and a Jesus who
was certainly pro-gay and perhaps even gay himself. It is full of
Revelations and, armed with its evidence, the LGBT community can
now move confidently forward towards its own Resurrection within the
Christian church.
Robert Orledge, Emeritus Professor, University of Liverpool

In recent years the LGBT community has come under sustained attack
from Christian leaders. This book will equip gay people to defend
themselves against what Dr Sharpe shows convincingly is totally unjustified condemnation. In particular, the chapters on Jesus’ lifestyle offer a vision of Christianity full of hope for LGBT people.
James Ledward, Editor of Gscene magazine

What the Bible really says about homosexuality gets another treatment by retired education professor and gay activist Sharpe. The first half repeats the typical discussion, contextualizing and thus disarming the verses and stories most frequently used to condemn homosexuality. The much less common approach of the second half is to uncover or reread stories that affirm same-sex relationships, such as Naomi and Ruth, David and Jonathan, and the Beloved Disciple. The latter half also challenges the concept of Christian "family values," arguing that it is nonbiblical and that current anti-LGBT positions mirror early Christianity's hesitancy to reach out to gentiles. This dual method provides LGBT Christians and their allies plenty of fodder for countering homophobic rhetoric. Although Sharpe oversells many of the more speculative arguments and leaves others incomplete, his writing is persuasive and engaging. Each chapter ends with a summary of key points, which greatly aids self-study. This work is a valuable introduction for LGBT individuals, supporters, and even detractors willing to consider the possibility of blending Christian belief and nonheterosexual desires and lives.
Publishers Weekly

In this polemical work Dr Sharpe presents a provocative and illuminating
view of the radical and transfiguring character of Christ's
mission, and analyses its implications in the context of the current
debate in the Church about human sexuality. The book is written in
coherent, assured and accessible prose, and the arguments are refreshing,invigorating and persuasive.
Father William Davage

With its unique combination of defensive and affirmative arguments this
important book lays bare the impoverished ideology which is the real
foundation of Christian homophobia. It makes an extremely valuable
contribution to the collapsing taboo against homosexuality.
Colin Coward, Director, Changing Attitude England

THE CHURCH TIMES review of 17 Feb 2012 declared:
The author has read widely, and the presentation of his conclusions is timely, accurate, and very accessible.....Readers are introduced to an impressive body of evidence that the Hebrew Bible, overall, is far from asserting heterosexual norms. Serious conservative responses are awaited. The book should bring a sigh of relief to LGBT people struggling on in an uncomprehending Church, and provide a useful introduction to the conclusions of particular biblical scholars.

This book gives a succinct account of the results of modern scholarship on the scriptural and traditional basis for the condemnation of homosexual behaviour. Certainly if this book prevents the suicide of any child poisoned by a false interpretation of the Gospel, then it will have succeeded. I believe it has, with flying colours. The author is to be congratulated on a simple and positive presentation.
Simon Bryden-Brook, Editor of Renew

By virtue of the two testament approach THE GAY GOSPELS offers both an unassailable defence and a powerful affirmation of the humanity of gay people in the face of increasingly virulent Christian homophobia.

In the Defensive Testament the so called 'Biblical texts of terror'in Genesis, Leviticus and the letters of Paul, often used to demonise gay people, are analysed and found wanting.

The Affirmative Testament identifies passages in the Bible which clearly validate homoerotic relationships and suggest Jesus himself felt strong empathy for gay people.

Taken together these two testaments forcefully champion the equality of LGBT people in the Kingdom of God and represent a formidable challenge to ecclesiastical homophobia.