…In 1996, Hays released Moral Vision of the New Testament and it quickly became a standard text for biblical scholars, theologians and ethicists alike. In the 16th chapter, Hays carefully works through the few relevant New Testament passages and concludes the witness of the New Testament is against homosexuality. His careful argumentation and generous posture toward LGBTQ individuals (by 1996 standards, at least) made the chapter a fan favorite among those who wanted to respectfully and biblically exclude LGBTQ people from public spaces (religious or political) for what they deemed sexual immorality.
More than 30 years later, that chapter of Moral Vision is apparently not Hays’ final word on LGBTQ inclusion. In The Widening of God’s Mercy: Sexuality Within the Biblical Story, out in September with Yale University Press, it seems Hays has finally changed his mind. And pardon me for misquoting Lizzo because of the sensibilities of my dear Baptist readers, but “It’s about darn time!”
https://baptistnews.com/article/an-oft- ... he-church/I cannot congratulate Richard Hays for finally getting to where we needed him to be long ago. Moral Vision’s homosexuality chapter has done untold harm these past 30 years, and such harm calls for the most explicit and contrite repentance one can muster. Maybe The Widening of God’s Mercy will provide such repentance. At the very least, I am glad, in September, we might have the tool we need to stop the damage chapter 16 of Moral Vision has done.
Rebecca Hewitt-Newson, pastor of Emmaus Way Church in Durham, N.C., mused on social media, “Why do you get to write the book about this? How about instead you just promote the work of queer theologians and biblical scholars who’ve been there for a long time.”
