LGBTQ Topics
Affirming God's Image: Addressing the Transgender Question with Science and Scripture
What is a knowledgeable, faithfully biblical response to transgenderism? In Affirming God's Image, J. Alan Branch takes a fair, respectful, and factual tone in addressing this complex issue through a biblical lens. You'll learn: Scientific research around the transgender experience, an overview of the history of transgenderism, important terminology surrounding gender issues, why people pursue gender reassignment surgery, and what happens after, and how to navigate conversations around this topic.
The book ends with two practical chapters for families and churches, giving you guiding principles for how to address this issue in a loving, Christ-honoring way. The first step to responding well to any situation is understanding it. Affirming God's Image equips you with the biblical, scientific, and practical knowledge you need for a wise response.
Born This Way?
What are Christians to make of relentless assertions that homosexuality is an innate characteristic? Some pastors and church members are suggesting that scientific research demands a change to the historic stance of Christian sexual ethics.
Alan Branch is the author of Born This Way? He wants Christians not to be intimidated and confused by these assertions. Branch succeeds by carefully walking the reader through the research (but not painstakingly so) to show that homosexuality is not an innate quality, and how some findings are twisted to arrive at pre-conceived notions. He concludes that, “while there are some genetic or biological factors that correlate with a higher incidence of same-sex attraction and homosexual behavior, as of yet there is no proof of genetic or biological causation for homosexuality.” This distinction is vital, and it comes as good news to those who want to be faithful to both science and the Bible.
Homosexuality and the bible
A summary of several Biblical passages related to the issue of homosexuality that are informative for Christian convictions while also addressing claims by pro-homosexual groups that the Bible has been misunderstood on the subject. This document contains some technical language regarding the original languages of Scripture.
Perhaps you have been introduced to arguments from people such as Matthew Vines which you find convincing about revising the Church’s stance on LGBTQ issues. This document argues these revisionist arguments are not a faithful understanding of the text.
Scientific Research and Moral Argumentation regarding homosexuality
In this document, I hope to offer some answers to the questions associated with the relationship between scientific research and the moral status of homosexuality
In this document, I try to give some simple advice to pastors about how to interact with a congregant who says, “Pastor, I think I’m gay.”