The Word Made Queer

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Is God Anti-Gay?

Casey Aldridge

Reviewed by: Anonymous

Bibliographic Information: Allberry, Sam. Is God Anti-Gay?: And Other Questions about Homosexuality, the Bible and Same-Sex Attraction. Epsom, UK: The Good Book Company, 2013. 88 pages. $6.79. ISBN: 9781908762313

Sam Allberry’s 2013 book, Is God Anti-Gay?, addresses the topic of homosexuality—or as Allberry prefers, “same-sex attraction”—in the Christian context. The work’s publication in 2013 is not surprising, as discussion surrounding same-sex marriage, ordination of queer clergy, and LGBTQ+ rights intensified in both broader Christianity and in western societies. Preceding Allberry’s work, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), The Episcopal Church, and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) formally permitted the ordination of queer clergy in 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2013, respectively (*1).

Allberry is perhaps an authority on what he calls “same-sex attraction,” as a celibate clergyperson in the Church of England with a self-described “struggle” in this area (despite having a complicated history, it is notable that the Church of England does not explicitly bar ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy or celebration of marriages) (*2). Allberry is a frequent contributor with The Gospel Coalition, Desiring God, and a speaker for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, in addition to being a self-described Christian apologist. Is God Anti-Gay? is fitting for Allberry’s pedigree: it is an explicit argument for the uncompromising abstinence of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals while simultaneously decrying any and all practice of embodied queerness. 

Allberry structures Is God Anti-Gay? in a practical, digestible manner. The book is laid out in five main chapters that relate LGBTQ+ issues to components of Christianity. After a preliminary chapter discussing marriage and sex within the Biblical text, Allberry devotes a chapter each to homosexuality and the Bible, homosexuality and the Christian, homosexuality and the Church, and homosexuality and the society. Despite his conclusions, Allberry seeks to refute “anti-gay” notions about Christianity and its conservative adherents in particular; he states an answer to the title’s question, “Is God anti-gay?” with an explicit “no” throughout. It is a curious title given Allberry’s main comparison, self-crucifixion. The book appears to be geared towards those who wrestle with understanding the conservative (often described as “Biblical”) case for exclusively complementarian, heterosexual marriage and sexual practice. Chapter One, “Getting Started: The Bible, Marriage, and Sex” establishes what is perhaps the core theological premise: Genesis 1 and 2 are “not just about [Adam & Eve’s] union but every marriage union.” This belief—and Mark 8:34’s command to “let them deny themselves,” and carry one’s cross—is impossible to excise from Allberry’s argument. 

Allberry’s Argument

Because Allberry must reconcile the sum of the Biblical texts—not to mention articulate a consistent, linear argument from the diverse ideology within the texts—his argument’s main points are difficult to pinpoint. The chapters of Is God Anti-Gay? are vignettes that each speak to different groups in his audience: Christians broadly (“Getting Started”); Christians desiring to read the Biblical texts as compatible with LGBTQ+ expression (“The Bible and Homosexuality”); Gay Christians, or in Allberry’s words, “those experiencing Same-Sex Attraction” (“Homosexuality and the Christian”); Christians and church leaders who hold non-affirming practices and views of gay Christians (“Homosexuality and the Church”); and Christians who seek to evangelize or share non-affirming Christianity with LGBTQ+ individuals (“Homosexuality and the World”). 

What does Allberry actually mean?

Despite Allberry’s own interest in the question, “Is God anti-gay?”, the text appears to portray LGBTQ+ individuals as deeply flawed and in especially great need of “redemption” (or for Allberry, carrying one’s cross in an act of self-crucifixion). Firstly, Allberry claims that queer expression is a byproduct of humanity’s depravity and sinfulness while simultaneously positioning the affirmation of queer persons as an issue that is more paramount to Christianity than even baptism. Allberry describes affirming Christians as “sending people to hell” (17–18). From Chapter 4: 

“A church leader who teaches that even certain kinds of homosexual activity are OK is actually sending people to destruction. It is not the same order of disagreement as Christians have over, say, baptism, or the practice of certain spiritual gifts. In the case of homosexual practice, the gospel is very much at stake.” 

Regardless of Allberry’s commitment to a pastoral tone throughout his book, he consistently describes the expression and existence of queer persons and “those who struggle with same-sex attraction,” as flaws resulting from the sin of humankind. He says, “There is sickness. There is disorder…It is not un-Christian to experience same-sex attraction any more than it is un-Christian to get sick” (22). While Allberry argues the individual may not be irredeemable after complete sexual rejection, he also states that the “same-sex attracted” individual’s sexual, relational, and connectional orientations are fundamentally irredeemable.

In response to the question if monogamous same-sex relationships are acceptable, he compares the issue to gang-members who are loyal to each other and to an issue cited in Corinthians, where a man married his father’s wife. Allberry interprets the Torah to condemn even victims of aggravated sexual violence and assault, citing it as proof that all forms of queer expression and existence are impermissible (short of his own obedience to narrow and corrosive ideology). There is simply no room in Allberry’s interpretation and ideology for the existence of positive or healthy queer expression, let alone physical “oneness” in marriage. 

While Allberry’s pastoral tone is limited by the violence of his interpretations, it is perhaps most remarkable to examine his intellectual approach to the issue. In an ironic twist of fate, Allberry builds his claims of truth on a bedrock of nuance and nitty-gritty minutiae, much like his caricature of affirming theology. Many quotes of the Scriptures are cited in both the English Standard Version (ESV) and New International Version (NIV), the latter being cited to prove something that is never precisely articulated. The ESV was first released in 2001, and the NIV was originally released in 1978. Allberry clearly prefers the ESV translation, which includes narrow translations of the Greek where the NIV differs substantially. In almost every case, the NIV and ESV render the key words and phrases of Allberry’s quotes in substantively different ways. It is a vivid and visible inclusion which foils much of his argument that the Scriptures speak in unison on the prohibitions against queer persons; at the very least, it counters this argument and demonstrates that there is not consensus, let alone scholarship that supports Allberry’s position.  

Regarding issues of scholarship, Allberry buttresses his claims on the back of pseudo-science that maintains a footing almost exclusively in the circles of the Religious Right and conservative Christians. He floats evidence of God’s blessing for heterosexual intercourse with the “sticky-note metaphor,” a metaphor that compares human sexuality to a sticky-note that loses its adhesion as it is used. Allberry references gender as something that “twas ever thus” (9), and is unchanged from the creation accounts in Genesis, which is flatly false sociologically and anthropologically. Allberry blatantly ignores public health epidemics among LGBTQ+ individuals globally, describing serious mental health concerns for queer Christians within the Church as, “struggles” that are easily remedied with reliance on God and greater involvement with a church community (28). Allberry’s biblical understanding is in direct opposition to the breadth of scholarship and instead caricatures the context of the Pauline epistles as communities of ex-gays similar to his own 21st-century experience as a celibate, Protestant Christian. Allberry maligns the Word of God as a book created in his image and for his own masochistic prohibitions that have been projected on the lives of others who see no need for such a violence. 

Wrap-up

Is God Anti-Gay? is a book that has and will continue to be given to gay Christians. Unfortunately, it is worth questioning whether queer persons struggle with Allberry’s notion of “same-sex attraction,” or struggle with those leaders who commodify Allberry’s very identity as a mascot for anemic bastardizations of the Word of God. It is worth questioning whether Allberry has glossed over Christ Jesus’ own words, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly,” (John 10:10) and instead projected, “Let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me,” (Mark 8:34) on those like him. Allberry’s book serves those who have decided in their hearts there is no reconciliation, rather than accomplishing his goal of converting others to his position. I myself read Allberry’s book while I sat in conversion therapy and with conservative Christians.

It did not change my mind, but rather added to my confusion and suffering. In the entirety of the book, I highlighted only one passage, the passage which claims a man “experienced virtually no homosexual feelings since [marrying a woman]. He hadn’t been actively seeking change, but it came anyway” (25). This denial of queer desire is no surprise: for many queer Christians, the most difficult cross to carry is the cross that which leads away from our families. The cross that leads from our churches, our parents, our siblings, our belonging, and sometimes our livelihood or fundamental way of life is agonizing and tortuous. In Allberry’s writings, I sought someone to help carry the burden of my cross but was instead asked to carry Allberry’s own cross to Golgotha. It is telling that Allberry does not have queer Christians who champion his cause, but it is even more telling that his greatest allies are members of the Religious Right who have much to gain and little to lose. It is my hope that Allberry asks himself those difficult questions that affirming Christians ask, and in turn asks the publishers, websites, and pastors who parade him, “Where is your cross? And why do I carry it for you?” 

Notes:

  1. “LGBTQ in the Church: History.” Accessed September 15, 2019. https://episcopalchurch.org/lgbtq/history. 
    Youngs, Sharon. “Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Approves Change in Ordination Standard,” May 5, 2019. https://pcusa.org/news/2011/5/10/presbyterian-church-us-approves-change-ordination/. 

    “GA-1327: Becoming a People Of Grace and Welcome To All.” Accessed September 15, 2019. http://disciples.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/GA1327-BecomingAPeopleOfGraceAndWelcomeToAll-Final.pdf. 

  2. Walker, Peter. “Church of England Rules Gay Men in Civil Partnerships Can Become Bishops.” The Guardian, January 4, 2013. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/04/church-of-england-gay-bishops.