Dr. Richard Hays is a very influential New Testament scholar. In 1996 he wrote a book called the Moral Vision of the New Testament, in which he argued that a faithful reading of scripture naturally leads to the conclusion that the Bible not only prohibited same-sex relationships for the early church, but still does for Christians today.
I just finished a book co-authored by he and his son, Dr. Christopher Hays, an Old Testament scholar at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. In the book, The Widening of God’s Mercy, they state that the entire narrative of scripture has pointed to a reality that is now upon us, and the new conviction for Christians needs to be “…that sexual minorities who seek to follow Jesus should be welcomed gladly in the church and offered full access to the means of grace available to all God’s people: baptism, the Lord’s Supper, ordination, and the blessings of covenanted unions, with the same expectations as for heterosexuals.” (217, Kindle Edition) In other words, all sincere Christians should be fully affirming and fully inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community in our churches.
They are certainly not the first ones to land here. The thing that makes them more significant is that they have not changed their view of the scriptures on homosexuality, but have simply changed their minds. Why? Because they claim we serve a God who regularly changes his mind. In fact, they suggest the picture of God in scripture is one of a person “learning on the job.” (56, Kindle Edition)
It is wild to claim God has changed His mind about a moral issue that seems so clear in scripture, but are they correct? I believe they are not, but instead have exposed for us another example of dangerous progressive theology we need to pay attention to.
I’d like to explain why I believe that, but first I want to take a moment and commend them…
