From @ericcervini's Instagram
I know what many of you may be thinking: who cares what’s in the Bible? Why should we even discuss it? Well, this lesson is for those who do care about what’s in the Bible, and for those with family members or neighbors who use it as a weapon against their identity or sense of belonging. I hope this lesson proves that such a weapon is deeply flawed––its anti-queerness is an imaginary, modern invention––and I hope that this knowledge empowers queer folks with the ability to combat religious-based bigotry when they witness it firsthand.
For more on queerness in the bible, see:
Robert K. Gnuse, “Seven Gay Texts: Biblical Passages Used to Condemn Homosexuality,” Biblical Theology Bulletin, 2015.
Lisa McClain, “A thousand years ago, the Catholic Church paid little attention to homosexuality,” The Conversation, April 10, 2019.
Idan Dershowitz, “The Secret History of Leviticus,” The New York Times, July 21, 2018.
John Boswell, Same-Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe, Villard Books, 1994.
John Boswell, Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century, University of Chicago Press, 1980.
Deryn Guest, Mona West, Robert E. Goss, Thomas Bohache, The Queer Bible Commentary, United Kingdom, SCM, 2006.
S. D. Powell, Do not press me to leave you: Narrative desire and the book of ruth, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, 2015.
John C. Stephens, “The dreams of Perpetua: An historical application of the continuity hypothesis,” Stephens International Journal of Dream Research Volume 6, No. 2, 2013.
Philo Alexandrinus, Francis Henry Golson, George Herbert Whitaker, Ralph Marcus, Philo - Volume 6, Heinemann, 1929.
St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, “The Passion of SS. Perpetua and Felicity, MM: A New Edition and Translation of the Latin Text,” United Kingdom, Sheed and Ward, 1931.