Books like Homosexuality and the Western Christian tradition by Derrick Sherwin Bailey

John Shelby Spong challenges traditional church teachings on marriage, sexuality, and gender roles, urging a scripture‑based, inclusive moral vision for contemporary Christianity.

Contributors to this volume, all members of the Princeton Theological Seminary faculty, address the various exegetical, interpretive, and practical issues pertaining to the issue of homosexuality in the church. These include the ordination of homosexuals and the blessing of homosexual unions, as well as broader issues dealing with liturgical and theological language about God and the role of the church in a pluralistic society. The contributors speak of these various issues as theological educators, ministers, and committed Christians. They ask, What do the scriptures say about homosexuality and related issues? How should the scriptures inform our theological reflection? and How do we live faithfully in regard to this matter? And like the Christian community at large, the contributors are not of one mind on any of these issues; many times they are in considerable disagreement. Homosexuality and Christian Community will help to guide churches and individuals engaged in theological reflection about the place of homosexuals in the church.

John Boswell’s comprehensive study traces how Western Christianity from antiquity to 1500 treated homosexual individuals, revealing how church attitudes and institutional practices shaped early societal norms.

This book argues that American butch-femme bar culture of the mid-20th century should be interpreted as a sacred space for its community. Before Stonewall when homosexuals were still deemed mentally ill, these bars were the only place where many could have any community at all. This book explores this community as a site of a lived corporeal theology and political space. It reveals that religious institutions such as the Metropolitan Community Church were founded in such bars, that traditional and non-traditional religious activities took place there, and that religious ceremonies such as marriage were often conducted within the bars by staff. It examines how these bars became not only ecclesiastical sites but also provided the fertile ground for the birth of the struggle for gay and lesbian civil rights before Stonewall.