Greetings, earthlings and residents of other galaxies.
It’s been a while since I asked readers to submit questions for me to answer, so I thought I would, once again, open the call lines and ask readers to submit their questions, along with $66.66 donations to help me reach Evangelicals throughout the universe. Reason — praise be to Reason! — has called me to evangelize Evangelicals, and your donations will help me take the gospel of critical thinking and skepticism to infinity and beyond. Just kidding. While donations are always appreciated, what I really want are questions; your pithy, short, erudite questions. Please try to ask questions that you think I haven’t answered before.
If you have a question you would like me to answer, please ask it in the comment section of this post. I will answer questions in the order they are received; that is unless you are a bigly donor. Readers who shower me with cash, checks, gold bullion (ouch), Bitcoins, and restaurant gift cards just might be moved to the front of the line or be sent a 13×19 glossy photo of me pole dancing at the Big Bear Strip Club — “might” being the operative word. (Long-time readers who know and understand my humor, sarcasm, and snark know whether I am speaking factually. Everyone else? Keep on dreaming of Bruce Almighty swinging on a brass pole wearing only his shorts, suspenders, and wingtips.)
You can also email your questions to me via the contact form.
Please do not answer the questions. In the past, well-intentioned commenters have answered the questions, making my responses moot. Once I answer the questions, feel free to give your own answer.
Let the fun begin.
Bruce Gerencser, 64, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 43 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
I have gastroparesis, fibromyalgia, and osteoarthritis (I’ve typed these words so many times, autocorrect remembers them). In addition, over the past four months, I’ve had excruciating pain in the middle of my back, left side, and under my left arm, into my shoulder, and down my arm. The pain is so severe that it affects everything I do. Some days, I can hardly use my left arm (and I’m left-handed).
I had X-rays. Normal. CT scan. Normal. And now an MRI of my thoracic spine. NOT normal. I have:
Disc herniation (T7,T8)
Disc herniation (T6,T7)
Central spinal canal stenosis (T9/T10, T10/T11)
Foraminal stenosis (T5,T6)
Disc degeneration/spondylosis (T1/T2 through T10/T11)
Facet Arthropathy throughout the spine, particularly at T2/T3, T3/T4, T5/T6, and T7/T8 through the T12/L1 levels.
Hypertrophic arthropathy at T9/T10
I knew I had osteoarthritis arthritis in my spine. I have arthritis everywhere. Why I have these other problems is unknown. Genetics (my sister has similar problems)? Injury? Age-related deterioration? God’s judgment (I already know Evangelicals are thinking this)? Too much sex (you will have to ask Polly)? 🙂 Sports-related damage? There’s no way of knowing the exact cause. And it doesn’t matter. Knowing the cause won’t change the fact that I have excruciating pain in the middle of my back.
My primary care doctor called me this morning to give me the MRI results. I could tell by his voice that the results were not good. He’s been my doctor for twenty-six years. Doc has literally watched me physically deteriorate over the years (he calls me an enigma — something that baffles understanding and can’t be explained). He genuinely cares about me and wants to alleviate my suffering. Unfortunately, there’s little he can do except treat the pain. Doc referred me to a pain management doctor in Fort Wayne. Hopefully, I will get in to see him soon.
After Doc gave me the verdict, I replied, in my gallows humor way, “I’m fucked.” He chuckled a bit — we’re friends — and then he reminded me of a scene in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles; the scene where Steve Martin repeatedly uses the F word.
Today, I feel fucked. Hopefully, the pain doctor will help me feel less fucked soon.
It is what it is, but the spinning plate that I call life is overflowing. I’d pray if there were a God, but since there’s not, all I can do is endure. As I ponder my suffering, I am reminded that it could be worse. My friend, Eric, died several weeks ago from pancreatic cancer. In less than a year, he went from enjoying life with his grandchildren to excruciating pain and death. I have another friend who contracted COVID-19 before the vaccines were available. She’s in her forties. She had a stroke, heart problems, and had to have eye surgery. I’m concerned that she could end up blind. It is unlikely that she will ever work again. I have another dear friend, Tammy, who also contracted COVID. She was a spry, outgoing psychiatric nurse, that is until COVID left her incapacitated. She’s now on permanent disability. I could go on and on. Like it or not, suffering is part of our lives. Few people will escape this life without suffering at one point or another. It’s just the way it is.
Oh, did I tell you about the rash I have; that is so itchy I want to get out a butter knife and scratch myself to death? True story . . . years ago, Polly came home from work and found me in the middle of the floor, scratching my arms and legs with a butter knife. I had had a painful gallbladder attack that caused me to break out in hives. Thank the Gods for butter knives. And Benadryl. And corticosteroids.
I do have one bit of good news: I am retaking generic Lyrica. It is quite effective for the nerve pain in my legs. In fact, I now have NO nerve pain in my legs. In the past, taking Lyrica has caused weight gain, so much so that I had to stop taking the drug (twice). Gastroparesis has dramatically altered my physiology. I thought maybe my body would react differently to Lyrica this time. So far, no weight gain. Can I get an AMEN? And for that, I am grateful. Grateful to whom? Not God, that’s for sure. Loki? Maybe. 🙂 It is science that courses through my veins, lessening the pain in my legs. All praise be to science, the only God that makes its presence known.
Thank you for your continued love and support. Your kind words mean the world to me.
Bruce Gerencser, 64, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 43 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Today, I received the following email from an Evangelical man named Randy Willis. My response is indented and italicized. All grammar and spelling are in the original.
I saw your little Facebook post about Biblical marriage and wanted to share the truth with you.
What you want to share with me is your personal opinions and interpretations of the Protestant Christian Bible. Why should I listen to one word you say? You imply that you speak for God. What evidence do you have for this claim?
Jesus Christ is God who created man and woman. Male and female for the institution of marriage. They however chose to sin willfully.
First, you must provide evidence for the existence of God. Then you must provide evidence for that God being Jesus. Just because a book says something doesn’t make it true. Have you read the Harry Potter books? Why should I view the Bible differently from Harry Potter?
You wrongly think the Bible=truth. It does not. The Bible was written by mostly unknown men thousands of years ago. It is not in any way a moral/legal standard by which societies should or must govern themselves. The United States is a secular state. Currently, heterosexual and same-sex marriage are legal in all fifty states. Cohabitation and common-law marriages are recognized in most states. Marriage is a legal contract between two people. God/Bible has nothing to do with state-sanctioned marriage. You, Randy, are free to live according to moral and legal teachings of the Bible — albeit I am certain you do so selectively. No Christian follows all the teachings of the Bible. Why does it matter to you who marries whom? I can’t think of one thing that would materially affect your life if two women marry. Can you think of anything, Randy?
I don’t believe in “sin.” Sin is a religious construct used by sects and clerics to cause fear, keep asses in church pews, and money in offering plates. Evangelicals like you, Randy, are obsessed with who fucks whom, when, where, why, and how. Why is someone’s sex life any of your business. If I have a threesome tonight — God, I can only hope 🙂 — how does that materially affect you in any way?
I assume you believe in personal accountability and responsibility. I know I do. Explain something to me. Why is any of us responsible for Adam and Eve’s “sin”? We all come into this world “sinless,” yet Evangelicals teach that we are born with a sin nature; that we come into the world at variance with God. We have no choice in whether we become a “sinner.” Does that seem fair and just to you? When you look at a newborn, do you see a sinner who hates God, a little bundle of Hell deserving sin? I know I don’t.
The world would be a far better place if we banished “sin” to the dustbin of human history. Just imagine how much better the world would be if Christians stopped moralizing about the “sins” of others?
Because of sin marriage was perverted polygamy, sodomy and everything that was listed on that meme that was meant to mock God’s Word.
Of course, I meant the meme to mock God’s “word.” That’s the purpose of memes. That said, the Bible does permit and condone incest, polygamy, and other sexual relationships Evangelicals consider “sin.” In fact, the Bible commands the subjugation and rape of female children. You do know this, right?
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the Lord of Midian.
….
And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods.And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire.And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts.And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho.And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp.And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.“
Have fun with that one, Randy.And then we can talk about slavery and genocide.
Did Adam and Eve “pervert” marriage? How about Cain and Abel? If yes, what evidence do you have for this claim? We know that it is likely Cain and Abel married and/or had sex with their sisters. Was this incest? How would they have known it was incest since it would be long after their deaths that God gave Moses the law? You seem to be reading later history back into Biblical text or taking your personal moral standards and applying them to Adam, Eve, and everyone else who lived before the giving of the law. Is a behavior a sin if God has not forbidden it? Think on that one, Randy.
I know telling you the TRUTH will be met with how big of a hater I am . . .
Just because you capitalize the word TRUTH doesn’t make your claims any more truthful. If you want me or the readers of this blog to accept your truth claims, you are going to have to present evidence for them. So far, you have not done so. An assertion is not good evidence for anything.
I have no idea how big of a “hater” you are. It seems, at least to me, that you have a persecution complex. You sent me an unwanted, unsolicited email, Randy. Why did you do so? What did you hope to accomplish? Are you a hater? I don’t know. So far, all I know is that you are obsessed with what consenting adults do behind closed doors.
. . . but let me ask you this. If your house was on fire in the middle of the night would you rather I just keep driving? Or bust the door in and pull you out and save your life?
You sent me an email expressing your outrage over a meme I posted on social media. There’s nothing in your email that remotely fits your burning house analogy. (I do hope you would call 911 before trying to “save” me.) You didn’t even share the Christian gospel with me. Damn, this might have been the day I got saved had you shared the good news with me (as Trese did yesterday, and countless Evangelicals before you have done). Be honest, Randy, you are butthurt over a meme that makes your precious Bible/God look bad. Not my problem. Perhaps it is time to rewrite the Bible, getting rid of all the offensive shit. Man, Thomas Jefferson would be proud.
Your house is on fire (spiritually) and if you don’t truly put your trust in Jesus Christ soon you will be burning for eternity and will remember all the times you mocked and rejected Jesus Christ.
Why is it that Evangelicals always threaten me with hellfire and brimstone? You know I am an atheist. You know I don’t believe in the existence of God/Jesus/Heaven/Hell. What’s the point of threatening me with a place I do not fear nor do I believe exists?
Yes, I reject Jesus, and, at times mock the very dead, not-resurrected, not-virgin born, not-miracle working son of God. However, I would bet that I have read and studied the Bible, won more souls, and done more good works, than you have. Shall we have a dick measuring contest? I’m John Holmes, baby, when it comes to good works and loving Jesus. I spent most of my life, fifty years, devotedly following Jesus and following his teachings. Even now, I am a kind, decent, thoughtful person (though I have no patience for Christian assholes). Are you saying that the totality of my good works matters not, that the only thing that matters is me believing the right things? Are you not, then, preaching a gospel of “right belief”? What kind of monster is your God, Randy? Look at all the good works atheists, agnostics, pagans, Buddhists, and billions of non-Christians do. Yet, because they refuse (or out of ignorance, fail) to worship Randy’s God, when they die they will be consigned to the flames of Hell to be tortured by Randy’s God for eternity. If such a God existed, I wouldn’t worship him.
Richard Dawkins was right when he said:
“The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”
— (The God Delusion)
Saved by Reason,
Bruce Gerencser, 64, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 43 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Today, I received the following email from an Evangelical woman named Trese (Teresa) Drek. She totally ignored that I ask people to NOT send me emails like hers. Trese refuses to accept my story at face value. Why? She can’t square my story with her theological beliefs and personal experiences. This is a common problem Evangelicals have with me.
Here’s Trese’s email. All grammar and spelling in the original. My response is indented and italicized.
Hello Bruce,
Im writing to tell you ‘in love’ the truth …
Actually, you are writing to preach at me; to share your personal opinions and personal interpretations of the Protestant Christian Bible.
There’s no “love” in your email, just arrogance and self-righteousness. You can’t or won’t square my story with your peculiar theology, so instead you decide to attack me and trash my character. Instead of trying to honestly engage me, you chose to discredit me and call me a liar.
You had 50 yrs of “experience” as a fake christian who had a false conversion. You were never born again! Thus , you never had a deconversion. (“I know it must painful for you to read about my deconversion.”) That is my message to you in a nutshell.
What evidence, Trese, do you have for these claims? Outside of your own experiences and beliefs, that is? Think about all the people who heard me preach over the years. Think about all my Evangelical friends and colleagues in the ministry. Think about my Evangelical family members who are pastors, evangelists, and missionaries. All of these people observed my life up close, yet none of them ever said, “Bruce, you are not a real Christian.” Not one. In every way, my life said to everyone that I was a devout follower of Jesus (and by all means, you are free to seek out these people on the Internet and social media and ask them). Thus, I was either a master deceiver, or you, Trese. are full of shit. I’m going with the latter, as will the people who know me.
Why didnt the following verses ring true to you when ‘you decided’ you were ‘no longer a christian’?
The Father gives the heart of repentance and the measure of faith. Triune God is the author and finisher of ones faith. You never received real Godly repentance or real faith because those that do never leave!
“If I wanted to be a True Christian, I had to come forward to the front of the church, kneel at the altar, and pray a certain prayer. If I did these things, I would then be a Christian — forever. And so I did. ” ( this is the ‘Billy Graham way’ who was never a real christian either. )
Welp, there’s no God, so of course, I didn’t actually receive these things from him/her/it. Much like all Christians, including you, I was a product of indoctrination, conditioning, cultural experiences, and environmental factors.
I find it interesting that you cherry-picked one experience from my story to build this false narrative about me in your mind. Why not take my story as a whole? The answer, of course, is that doing so would destroy the caricature you built of me in your head.
Billy Graham was never a Christian? Really? I mean really?
1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.”
Acts 11:18 When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.”
2 Timothy 2:25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,
Romans 12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
John 6:39 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day.
John 6:65 Then Jesus said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has granted it to him.”
John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.
Golly gee, I have never, ever read or studied these verses. *sigh* By the way, I have preached sermons from all of these verses. I preached a 100+ sermon series from the book of John.
Quoting Bible verses to me has no magical powers. The Bible is just words on pages, ink on paper. Do you have any evidence that suggests otherwise?
Isnt it amazing that a professed well read man can miss so many scriptures (or purposefully forget) that explain you and your newfound friends walking away?
Yes, I am well-read. Are you? As I mentioned above, I know these Scriptures quite well. Perhaps the real issue here is whether the Bible is what you claim it is: God’s inspired, inerrant, infallible Word. I would love to engage you on this subject. If I can disabuse of the notion that that Bible is inerrant or infallible, perhaps you can then see that your peculiar interpretations of the Bible don’t hold water.
Have you ever read any of Dr. Bart Ehrman’s books? Ehrman is a New Testament scholar and historian at the University of North Carolina. I am confident that if you will read several of his books you will see that the Bible is not what you claim it is. Are you up to my challenge? I will even buy one his books and have it shipped to you. Won’t cost you a dime.
“Everywhere I look, I see agnostics and atheists who were once devoted followers of Jesus Christ. Pastors, youth directors, worship leaders, missionaries, deacons, evangelists, soulwinners, bus workers, and Sunday school teachers; on-fire, filled-with-the-Holy-Ghost Christians. Thousands of former followers of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords read this blog. Were all of these washed-in-the-blood Christians deceived, never having tasted the goodness of God? Would a scientist doing a study on this group conclude that they were false Christians? Of course not. In every way, they were once numbered among those who followed the lamb wherever he went. When Jesus said “follow me,” they cast their nets aside, forsook all, and followed him. No matter what they now are, the past cannot be erased by the wave of a magic theological wand.”
You quote me, yet don’t interact with what I wrote. Why is that? What I wrote above is a statement of fact based on thirteen years of interaction with countless former devout Christians; men and women who were pastors, youth directors, worship leaders, missionaries, deacons, evangelists, soulwinners, bus workers, and Sunday school teachers.
You expect me and the readers of this blog to accept your testimony of Christian faith at face value — and we do. If someone says “I am a Christian,” I believe them. Why can you not extend the same courtesy to former Christians? Why do you refuse to respect the life stories of others, dismissing them out of hand, all because of your theological beliefs?
Oh and by the way; “evangelical christianity” is for the most part ‘main stream apostate christianity’ today thus it is not the term fruit bearing discerning christians use for themselves ; myself included.
*sigh* If it walks, talks, and acts like an Evangelical . . .
You have been infected by the A.W. Pink virus. Pink was a 20th century Evangelical Calvinist. In his early years, Pink was a pastor and an evangelist. Over time, Pink become more and more disaffected by what he saw in Evangelical churches. Instead of taking a hard look at himself, Pink blamed others for his disaffection. Pink eventually stopped going to church, believing that no congregation was pure enough for him. He spent the remaining years of his life writing books and raging against Christians who believed differently from him.
There’s a cure for the A.W. Pink virus: self reflection and a willingness to accept people as they are, even those who believe differently from you.
“Ask yourself, “how will my email reflect on Jesus, Christianity, and my church?””
My email glorifies my Lord Jesus Christ , true christianity that adheres the Gods word, and my entire church family who are those who are in Christ! It does so because my words to you are Christ’ truth written !
*sigh* I want to say that you are delusional, but then I remember that I once believed as you do. Yes, Trese, a never-saved preacher believed just like you. Ponder that for a moment.
“Always silent, Jesus. Why is that?”
Jesus speaks to mankind through his holy living scriptures . We speak to Jesus through our prayers. Why would a guy who “pastored” a church for 25 yrs expect Jesus to speak to him except through the holy scriptures?
Your comment reveals that you really don’t know your Bible very well. The Bible says that God speaks to us through creation, divine revelation (the Bible), the preaching of the Word, prayer, the sacraments, and personal interaction — the still small voice of God in our hearts. The Bible is replete with stories of God speaking directly to people. You do know that most Christians didn’t have a printed copy of the Bible for 1,500 years after the death of Christ. How did God speak to these Christians without the Bible?
You may print my email to you if you wish to! I used my real name and real email address. I am confident that if it is Gods will ; some of your readers will be drawn to the Father through scriptures provided. Scripture has a way into a mans soul like no other words written ever IF GOD IS DRAWING HIM! Perhaps , the Father will draw you to!
I assume you are a Calvinist. Most of the readers of this blog have read the Bible many, many times. Some of them were in the ministry for years. They are not ignorant of what the Bible says.
Let’s see if your magic book leads to the salvation of one person. If one regular reader, after reading your email, repents of their sins, and professes faith in Christ, I will stop blogging. There ya go, God and Trese, bring down your saving power on the deluded readers of this blog. Save them, Lord! In Jesus’s name, deliver them from darkness! We are waiting . . .
And when this doesn’t happen, Trese, are you willing to admit that you and your God are failures? Are you willing to admit that you and God are no match for skepticism, reason, and intellectual inquiry?
I deleted the remainder of Trese’s Bible quotations. I suppose I just damned some of you to hellfire and brimstone by not publishing the rest of the soul-saving verses. You were three verses away from eternal life. I’m sorry. I will see you in Hell.
Saved by Reason,
Bruce Gerencser, 64, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 43 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
I have been blogging since 2007. When I first started publicly writing, I was still a Christian — barely. By then, my theology had moved leftward, so much so that I was no longer an Evangelical. Still Christian, but not “that kind of Christian.” In those days, my writing attracted Fundamentalist Christian critics such as Ken Silva, Preacher Boy (John), and others. These keepers of the Book of Life were convinced that I wasn’t a True Christian®. Eighteen months later, proving my critics right (in their small minds, anyway), I left Christianity and declared I was an atheist. My wife, Polly, also deconverted.
Whether as a Christian or an atheist, the focus of my writing has always been the same:
To help people who have questions and doubts about Christianity
To help people who have left Christianity
The content of my writing has remained constant too: telling my story — my journey from Evangelicalism to atheism — and critiquing Christianity. Five years ago, I added the Black Collar Crime series, focusing on Evangelical preachers’ sexual misconduct (and other criminal behavior).
I do my best as a writer to stay in my lane. I am not a philosopher or a scientist, so I typically don’t address these subjects. It’s not that I don’t know anything about these things — I do. However, I choose to focus on what I know well: Evangelical Christianity and the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church movement. My unwillingness to be all things to all men irritates some readers. Some atheist readers have stopped reading because I am not atheist enough or don’t write enough about atheist issues. I do, on occasion, write about these subjects, but they have never been my focus.
My writing style is an acquired taste. I will leave it up to readers to decide if that taste is fine wine or a $5.99 bottle of Boone’s Farm. Using my fifty years in the Christian church and twenty-five years I spent in the ministry as a backdrop for my prose, I write from an Evangelical perspective. I write from an insider’s perspective, someone who knows the secret handshake and where the bodies are buried. Because I write this way, first-time Evangelical readers often think I am a Christian. Oh, the shock and outrage when they find out I’m on Team Satan®. I have received emails from Evangelicals filled with praise, only to receive another email from them, upset that I am an unbeliever. Cognitive dissonance sets in. “How can an atheist know or say anything of value about Christianity and the Bible,” they think. It’s as if the moment that I left Christianity, decades of reading, study, and knowledge magically disappeared from my mind. I went from being an expert on these subjects to someone who doesn’t know anything. Of course, such thinking is absurd. I know what I know, regardless of my belief on the existence of God.
When I write a post on, say, “salvation by grace” or “being filled with the Holy Spirit,” it is not that I believe these things to be true. I don’t. I write from an Evangelical perspective. I know my writing has an “Evangelical” vibe, but remember my aforementioned purposes: to help people who have questions and doubts about Christianity and help people who have left Christianity. I want to draw Evangelical readers in, hoping to get them to critically and honestly examine their beliefs. I want them to see me as an insider who knows where they are, speaks their language, and understands their experiences.
Thank you for reading my writing. Your love and support are greatly appreciated.
Bruce Gerencser, 64, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 43 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
I put out the call to readers, asking them for questions they would like me to answer. If you have a question, please leave it here or email me. All questions will be answered in the order in which they are received.
(I use the word homosexual for the sake of answering this question, knowing Evangelicals will be reading my answer. I know it is a derogatory term, as is sodomy/sodomite, used by Fundamentalist Christians, Jews, and Muslims to denigrate LGBTQ people. I rarely use it in my writing.)
Sage asked:
I personally have escaped christianity and do not consider the Christian Bible to have any useful value. But lately I have heard LGBTQ people, who still attend church, saying that the biblical prohibition on homosexuality is a misinterpretation introduced in the 20th century, and prior it was prohibiting pedophilia. What are your thoughts?
And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them.
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.
And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.
And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature.And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
The above quotes are from the King James Version of the Bible. It is clear from these verses that the Bible condemns homosexual sex. The Bible does NOT say that being LGBTQ is a sin. It is who a person is fucking (and perhaps how) that determines whether a sex act is sinful. Just because someone is LGBTQ, or heterosexual, for that matter, doesn’t make them a sinner. Certain sex acts do. This same interpretation is borne out in modern translations too.
Our society is far more accepting of LGBTQ people than it ever has been. Progress, right? Even among Evangelicals, we are seeing increasing acceptance of gay people. The Bible hasn’t changed; people have. Thus, to make the Bible fit what people now believe, the aforementioned verses are reinterpreted. Instead of the Bible condemning homosexual sex, revisionists say it condemns incest, sex with children, or sex with prostitutes. However, if these verses are read in context, it is clear that the Bible condemns homosexual sex (and in other places, it also condemns incest, sex with children — sometimes — sex with prostitutes, fornication, and adultery). These reinterpretations are just ways for Christians, Jews, and Muslims to have LGBTQ friends or engage in homosexual sex without feeling guilty about it. Instead of just saying the Bible (God) is wrong or outdated, Christians, Jews, and Muslims make the Bible fit their feelings and beliefs.
The Bible can be used to justify almost anything. Just reinterpret the Hebrew, Greek, or English, and viola! homosexual sex is no longer sinful. This is a sign that the Bible is losing its control over our culture. And all the atheists said, AMEN! What was sin fifty years ago is no longer sin today. Some Evangelicals no longer believe fornication is a sin — hard telling what sins will be reinterpreted or vanquished by Christians in the years to come.
For further information about how the Bible prohibitions on homosexual sex have been reinterpreted, please read the Wiki titled, The Bible and Homosexuality. You might want to take some Tylenol and Aspirin before you do.
Bruce Gerencser, 64, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 43 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
