Welcome
“We advocate full inclusion of believers with differing sexual orientations not because we reject the authority of the Bible. Far from it: We have come to advocate their inclusion precisely because we affirm the force and authority of the Bible's ongoing story of God's mercy.”
Christopher B. Hays and Richard B. Hays,
‘The Widening of God's Mercy’
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If you’re looking for somewhere to explore what the Bible really tells us about same-sex relationships you’ve come to the right place - whether you want to dive deeply into the whole case for (or against) same-sex sex and marriage or just explore one particular topic. My own journey exploring this issue has taken me 40 years. I've followed some wrong paths, and been down a few cul-de-sacs. But ultimately I've picked up and followed the trail of evidence that has led me to the place I am now, the place I believe God is – a place of affirmation and celebration of same-sex marriage.
Welcome to my website!
If you want to learn more about my own personal journey then I will add my fuller story here.
If you want to follow the whole journey of this website or just parachute straight in to a particular part you’ll see the route map is divided into these 14 sections:
1. Who am I and why did I start this site?
2. “Marriage” – what do I mean by this?
3. Changing Views - a brief summary of why and how my views have changed
4. Made Gay? The science behind what makes us gay, straight or bisexual
5. The New Testament “clobber” texts
6. The Old Testament “clobber” texts
7. Sex and Marriage - the evolving key principles scripture teaches us
8. “Silent” Scripture – how and why scripture is silent about same-sex marriage
9. Pointers – what, if any, pointers to same-sex marriage does scripture give?
10. God’s Guidance – how do we find guidance through the Holy Spirit when scripture is “silent”?
11. Tests – how do we test what the Holy Spirit is saying on this issue? Leading to Jesus’ ultimate test of love – what does good or harm?
12. Questions –the questions we should ask to decide if supporting or opposing same-sex marriage meets that ultimate test
13. Answers – examining the evidence to answer those questions and reach our verdict – does supporting or opposing same-sex marriage do good or harm?
14. Further resources
The website contains a lot of material! But if you just want quick snapshots of my views and the reasons for them go straight to the summaries of my views in the Changing Views section (in short, medium and long versions!).
And for the real “geeks” like me, who want to dive even deeper, you’ll see I have a Further Resources section at the end, pointing you to some excellent other materials, many of which helped guide me in my own journey.
I’ll give links to my own research essays which underlie the website content. I'll be also be adding contributions from others sharing their own experiences of God embracing their sexuality and relationships.
Thank you so much to my wonderful friend Michelle and my amazing, long-suffering wife, Hannah, without whose help the website wouldn’t be here.
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And after all the changes I made to this site I'm sure they'd give you a rather different definition of revisionist!
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Thank you also to my two fantastic children, Sam and Josie, whose challenges to my thinking have been such great compasses on my journey. Thank you too to my fellow affirming evangelicals for their permission to use their images and content on this site, including Christopher Hays, Pastors Simon and Keely Bateson, Jeremy Marks, Dr Roy Clements, Rev. John Peters, Pastor Danny Brierley, Ben & Jason McMahon-Riley, and Pastor Paul Bailey.
Whilst I’m very confident the overall position I’ve reached is our Lord’s position, I’m a fallible, sinful (though forgiven) human being. So I will have got something wrong here! My apologies for any errors - which are entirely my own, not Michelle’s or Hannah’s! Also, there’s plenty of images on these pages. We’ve tried as hard as we can to use only images that are copyright free or for which we’ve been given permission. But if we’ve inadvertently used any protected image please let us know and we’ll remove it.
