Formally Traditional Theologian Renounces Views, Embraces Liberal Sexual Ethics

In 1996, the prominent Protestant theologian Richard Hays published A Moral Vision of the New Testament, which asserted that the Bible teaches that sexual relations should occur exclusively within a marriage between a man and a woman. The book’s scholarship was considered to have significantly shaped Protestant thought by reinforcing the view that homosexual practices are morally unacceptable. The work was frequently cited given the prominence of the author — Hays was formerly dean of Duke University’s Divinity School — as well as his centrism on other topics, which made his perspective appear to be based on biblical scholarship. A Moral Vision of the New Testament made Christianity Today’s list of the 100 most influential religious books of the 20th century.

Hays is now seeking to undo his impact. Yale University Press has announced that Hays will be publishing a book in September, The Widening of God’s Mercy: Sexuality Within the Biblical Story, in which he will reverse his opinion on homosexuality. The book’s description suggests that Hays, alongside his coauthor and son, Christopher Hays, will make this argument on the basis that God has changed his mind on homosexuality. Hays and Hays, the description says, “remind us of a dynamic and gracious God who is willing to change his mind, consistently broadening his grace to include more and more people.”

The description explains that the book will present “a theological framework for the full inclusion of LGBTQ people in Christian communities” and notes that the book’s epilogue will contain a reflection from Richard Hays “on his own change of heart and mind.”

The announcement of The Widening of God’s Mercy has inspired consternation among conservative Protestants who once looked to Hays’ example.

“God hasn’t changed his mind,” argued Robert A.J. Gagnon, theology professor at Houston Christian University. “Hays and son have changed their minds. They are now swimming in the sea of heresy, rejecting the clear and overwhelming witness of Scripture (including Jesus) for its antithesis in today’s misguided world, and in the process encouraging the embrace of behavior that leads to exclusion from the Kingdom of God.”

Pieter Valk, who describes himself as a gay Christian who follows Christianity’s teachings against homosexuality, said that the announcement of Hays’ book “plunged” him into feeling “fear,” “disappointment,” and “betrayal.” He explained: “Over the past decade, various credible Protestant theologians have revealed that they’ve adopted a revisionist sexual ethic that God fully blesses same-sex marriages. Each time, gay Christians like me who are stewarding our sexualities according to historic sexual ethics are thrown for a loop.”

Conversely, progressive Protestants have celebrated Hays’ change of mind and expressed hope that it will lead to a broader change in attitudes among Christians in the United States.

For example, Jonathan Merritt wrote for Religion News Service that conservative Christians had “just lost their scholarly trump card on same-sex relationships.” Merritt wrote that the loss of this trump card “couldn’t come at a worse time for” conservative Christians. “The shifting winds sweeping the halls of academia lately are also blowing through the corridors of the church,” he said. “An ever-expanding list of pastors, lay people and Christian social media influencers have also embraced LGBTQ inclusion in recent years.” He further stated that Hays’ arguments had been “weaponized against [him] in debates more times than [he] cares to recall.”

Hays, however, may not be embraced by progressive Christians as much as he would like to be.

Anna Sieges, writing in Baptist News Global, said: “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.”

She echoed the impact of Hays’ previous work, stating that Hays’ discussion of sexuality in A Moral Vision of the New Testament had been “a hefty cudgel in the non-affirming arsenal for years.” This impact was made all the more influential, Sieges argued, because of the fact that Hays’ other work was read in progressively minded seminaries.

Other progressives have been even more derisive in response to The Widening of God’s Mercy. Emmaus Way pastor Rebecca Hewittt-Newsom asked: “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.”

The first indication as to whether The Widening of God’s Mercy will have a major impact will be how Fuller Theological Seminary responds to the publication of the book. Fuller is where Christopher Hays, Richard Hays’ son and coauthor, works as a professor. The seminary has upheld the traditional Christian teaching that homosexuality is immoral, as it refused tenure to a professor, Daniel Kirk, on the basis of that issue back in 2015. Some, however, believe that the nondenominational evangelical seminary could be moving away from its previous stance. One of the seminary’s associate professors, for instance, studies “the intersection of the LGBTQIA+ community and religion.”

The movement in evangelical Protestant seminaries toward acceptance of same-sex marriage has arguably been slower than in evangelical churches. The Pew Research Center found in 2017 that, among white millennial and Gen X evangelical Protestants, 47 percent support same-sex marriage.

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