Best Gender & Sexuality in Religious Studies Books
Here you will get Best Gender & Sexuality in Religious Studies Books For you.This is an up-to-date list of recommended books.
1. The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth
Author: by Beth Allison Barr
English
256 pages
1587434709
USA Today Bestseller”A powerful work of skillful research and personal insight.”-Publishers WeeklyBiblical womanhood-the belief that God designed women to be submissive wives, virtuous mothers, and joyful homemakers-pervades North American Christianity. From choices about careers to roles in local churches to relationship dynamics, this belief shapes the everyday lives of evangelical women.
Yet biblical womanhood isn’t biblical, says Baylor University historian Beth Allison Barr. It arose from a series of clearly definable historical moments. This book moves the conversation about biblical womanhood beyond Greek grammar and into the realm of church history-ancient, medieval, and modern-to show that this belief is not divinely ordained but a product of human civilization that continues to creep into the church.
Barr’s historical insights provide context for contemporary teachings about women’s roles in the church and help move the conversation forward. Interweaving her story as a Baptist pastor’s wife, Barr sheds light on the #ChurchToo movement and abuse scandals in Southern Baptist circles and the broader evangelical world, helping readers understand why biblical womanhood is more about human power structures than the message of Christ.
2. Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was, and Who God Has Always Been
Author: by Jackie Hill Perry
English
208 pages
1462751229
I used to be a lesbian. In Gay Girl, Good God, author Jackie Hill Perry shares her own story, offering practical tools that helped her in the process of finding wholeness. Jackie grew up fatherless and experienced gender confusion. She embraced masculinity and homosexuality with every fiber of her being.
She knew that Christians had a lot to say about all of the above. But was she supposed to change herself? How was she supposed to stop loving women, when homosexuality felt more natural to her than heterosexuality ever could?
At age nineteen, Jackie came face-to-face with what it meant to be made new. And not in a church, or through contact with Christians. God broke in and turned her heart toward Him right in her own bedroom in light of His gospel.
Read in order to understand. Read in order to hope. Or read in order, like Jackie, to be made new.
3. Unwanted: How Sexual Brokenness Reveals Our Way to Healing
Author: by Jay Stringer
NavPress
English
288 pages
Outreach magazine 2018 Resource of the YearCounseling & Relationships! Unwanted: How Sexual Brokenness Reveals Our Way to Healing is a ground-breaking resource that explores the why behind self-destructive sexual choices. The book is based on research from over 3,800 men and women seeking freedom from unwanted sexual behavior, be that the use of pornography, an affair, or buying sex.Jay Stringer’s (M.
Div, MA, LMHC) original research found that unwanted sexual behavior can be both shaped by and predicted based on the parts of our storypast and presentthat remain unaddressed. When we pay attention to our unwanted sexual desires and identify the unique reasons that trigger them, the path of healing is revealed.
Although many of us feel ashamed and unwanted after years of sexual brokenness, the book invites the reader to see that behavior as the very location God can most powerfully work in their lives. Counselors, pastors, and accountability partners of those who experience sexual shame will also find in this book the deep spiritual and psychological guidance they need to effectively minister to the sexually broken around them.
4. Embodied: Transgender Identities, the Church, and What the Bible Has to Say
Author: by Preston Sprinkle
English
288 pages
0830781226
Compassionate, biblical, and thought-provoking, Embodied is an accessible guide for Christians who want help navigating issues related to the transgender conversation. Preston Sprinkle draws on Scripture as well as real-life stories of individuals struggling with gender dysphoria to help readers understand the complexities and emotions of this highly relevant topic.
With careful research and an engaging style, Embodied explores: What it means to be transgender, nonbinary, and gender-queer, and how these identities relate to being male or femaleWhy most stereotypes about what it means to be a man and woman come from the culture and not the BibleWhat the Bible says about humans created in God’s image as male and female, and how this relates to transgender experiencesMoral questions surrounding medical interventions such as sex reassignment surgeryWhich pronouns to use and how to navigate the bathroom debateWhy more and more teens are questioning their gender Written for Christian leaders, pastors, and parents, Embodied fills the great need for Christians to speak into the confusing and emotionally charged questions surrounding the transgender conversation.
5. The Complete Illustrated Kama Sutra
Author: by Lance Dane
Inner Traditions
English
320 pages
A fully illustrated Kama Sutra from the extraordinary and rare art collection of Lance Dane The first complete translation to illustrate all 64 sexual postures described in the Kama Sutra Includes 269 rare images Composed by one of the world’s foremost scholars of the Kama Sutra and Indian art The erotic sentiments described in the Hindu love classic the Kama Sutra constitute the most famous work on sex ever created.
Written almost 2,000 years ago, the Kama Sutra deals with all aspects of sexual life, including the principles and techniques of sexual pleasure and how to best achieve ecstatic expression of life’s beauty. In this complete and illustrated guide Lance Dane accompanies the Kama Sutra text with 269 illustrations and great works of art that encompass coins, palm leaf manuscripts, sculptures, ancient toys, jewelry, architecture, ivory combs, birch bark, cloth, paintings, frescoes, and scrolls.
Gathered from museums and private collections around the worldas well as the author’s own collection of over 300,000 photographsthese rare images clearly illustrate all 64 sexual positions and the erotic instructions set forth in the Kama Sutra. The result is a dazzling and sensuous reading experience through which the teachings of the Kama Sutra spring to life.
6. Holy Sexuality and the Gospel: Sex, Desire, and Relationships Shaped by God's Grand Story
Author: by Christopher Yuan
B07B2JGPJR
English
4536 KB
From the author of Out of a Far Country, which details his dramatic conversion from an agnostic gay man who put his identity in his sexuality to a Bible professor who now puts his identity in Christ alone, comes a gospel-centered discussion of sex, desire, and relationships.
Dr. Christopher Yuan explores the concept of holy sexuality-chastity in singleness or faithfulness in marriage-in a practical and relevant manner, equipping readers with an accessible yet robust theology of sexuality. Whether you want to share Christ with a loved one who identifies as gay or you’re wrestling with questions of identity yourself, this book will help you better understand sexuality in light of God’s grand story and realize that holy sexuality is actually good news for all.
7. God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships
Author: by Matthew Vines
Convergent Books
English
224 pages
The landmark book exploring what the Bible actually saysand doesn’t sayabout same-sex relationships. As a young Christian man, Matthew Vines harbored the same basic hopes of most young people: to some-day share his life with someone, to build a family of his own, to give and receive love.
But when he realized he was gay, those hopes were called into question. The Bible, he’d been taught, condemned gay relationships. Feeling the tension between his understanding of the Bible and the reality of his same-sex orientation, Vines devoted years of intensive research into what the Bible says about homosexuality.
With care and precision, Vines asked questions such as: Do biblical teachings on the marriage covenant preclude same-sex marriage or not? How should we apply the teachings of Jesus to the gay debate? Can celibacy be a calling when it is mandated, not chosen?
What did Paul have in mind when he warned against same-sex relations? Unique in its affirmation of both an orthodox faith and sexual diversity, God and the Gay Christian has sparked heated debate, sincere soul searching, and widespread cultural change on the issue of what it means to be a faithful gay Christian.
8. A Change of Affection: A Gay Man's Incredible Story of Redemption
Author: by Becket Cook
English
224 pages
1400212308
The powerful, dramatic story of how a successful Hollywood set designer whose identity was deeply rooted in his homosexuality came to be suddenly and utterly transformed by the power of the gospel. When Becket Cook moved from Dallas to Los Angeles after college, he discovered a socially progressive, liberal town that embraced not only his creative side but also his homosexuality.
He devoted his time to growing his career as a successful set designer and to finding “the one” man who would fill his heart. His life centered around celebrity-filled Hollywood parties and he traveled to society hot-spots around the world-until a chance encounter with a pastor at an LA coffee shop one morning changed everything.
In A Change of Affection, Becket Cook shares his testimony as someone who was transformed by the power of the gospel. His dramatic conversion to Christianity and subsequent seminary training inform his views on homosexuality-personally, biblically, theologically, and culturally-and his compelling book guides readers through this complex and controversial issue while revealing how to lovingly engage with those who disagree.
9. People to Be Loved: Why Homosexuality Is Not Just an Issue
Author: by Preston Sprinkle
0310519659
English
224 pages
Christians who are confused by the homosexuality debate raging in the US are looking for resources that are based solidly on a deep study of what Scripture says about the issue. In People to Be Loved, Preston Sprinkle challenges those on all sides of the debate to consider what the Bible says and how we should approach the topic of homosexuality in light of it.
In a manner that appeals to a scholarly and lay-audience alike, Preston takes on difficult questions such as how should the church treat people struggling with same-sex attraction? Is same-sex attraction a product of biological or societal factors or both?
How should the church think about larger cultural issues, such as gay marriage, gay pride, and whether intolerance over LGBT amounts to racism? How (or if) Christians should do business with LGBT persons and supportive companies? Simply saying that the Bible condemns homosexuality is not accurate, nor is it enough to end the debate.
Those holding a traditional view still struggle to reconcile the Bible’s prohibition of same-sex attraction with the message of radical, unconditional grace. This book meets that need.
10. Outlove: A Queer Christian Survival Story
Author: by Julie Rodgers
English
235 pages
1506464041
After decades of bouncing between hope and despair, Evangelical, Baptist-raised Julie Rodgers found herself making a powerful public statement that her former self would have never said: “”I support same-sex marriage in the church.”” When Rodgers came out to her family as a junior in high school, she still believed that God would sanctify her and eventually make her straight.
Wanting so intensely to be good, she spent her adolescent and early adult years with an ex-gay ministry, praying for liberation from her homosexuality. In Outlove Rodgers details her deeply personal journey from a life of self-denial in the name of faith to her role in leading the take-down of Exodus International, the largest ex-gay organization in the world, to her marriage to a woman at the Washington National Cathedral.
Through one woman’s intimate story, we see the larger story of why many have left conservative religious structures in order to claim their truest identity. Outlove is about love and losses, political and religious power-plays, and the cost to those who sought to stay in a faith community that wouldn’t accept them.
11. Men and Women in the Church
Author: by Kevin DeYoung
Crossway (April 6, 2021)
English
176 pages
This is the first book I will recommend to those who want to study what the Scriptures teach about the roles of men and women both in marriage and the church… I was amazed at how much wisdom is packed into this short book.
Everything in the book is helpful, but the practical application section alone is worth the price of the book.Thomas R. Schreiner, James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary A Biblical Primer on Men and Women in the Church There is much at stake in God making humanity male and female.
Created for one another yet distinct from each other, a man and a woman are not interchangeablethey are designed to function according to a divine fittedness. But when this design is misunderstood, ignored, or abused, there are dire consequences. Men and womenin marriage especially, but in the rest of life as wellcomplement one another.
And this biblical truth has enduring, cosmic significance. From start to finish, the biblical storylineand the design of creation itselfdepends upon the distinction between male and female. Men and Women in the Church is about the divinely designed complementarity of men and women as it applies to life in general and especially ministry in the church.
12. On Her Knees: Memoir of a Prayerful Jezebel
Author: by Brenda Marie Davies
Eerdmans (April 6, 2021)
English
200 pages
The problem was, because Purity is an idol (a validated and worshiped idol), I didn’t know who or what I’d be without my totem. My Christianity depended on Purity. Going to a conservative Christian church when she was young, Brenda Marie Davies heard a consistent messagesave yourself for marriagethat instilled in her fear and shame about sex.
But after moving to Los Angeles at nineteen and finding herself suddenly exposed to a world far outside her comfort zone, she was forced to wrestle with the power and perversity of Christian purity culture. On Her Knees chronicles Brenda’s spiritual journey over the course of a decade in LA, through marriage, divorce, unlikely friendship, and sexual exploration.
Through it all, she began tearing down the false idol of purity while refusing to abandon her faith. Told with raw honesty, sans obligatory shame, this is a story for anyone who wonders if it’s possible to love God without fearing sex, in all its shades of grey.
13. Is God anti-gay? (Questions Christians Ask)
Author: by Sam Allberry
The Good Book Company
English
88 pages
A practical and sensitive exploration of the Bible’s teaching on homosexuality. It’s the hot topic of the moment. Christians, the church and the Bible seem to be out of step with modern attitudes towards homosexuality. And there is growing hostility towards those who hold a different view.
So is God homophobic? And what do we say, and how do we relate to to both Christians and non Christians who experience same-sex attraction. In this short, simple book, Sam Allberry wants to help confused Christians understand what God has said about these questions in the scriptures, and offers a positive and liberating way forward through the debate.
14. Loveology: God. Love. Marriage. Sex. And the Never-Ending Story of Male and Female.
Author: by John Mark Comer
0310337267
Zondervan
English
Finally-a theology of love that will help you navigate the confusing waters of modern relationship. In the beginning, God created Adam.Then he made Eve. And ever since we’ve been picking up the pieces. With an autobiographical thread that turns a book into a story, pastor and speaker John Mark Comer shares about what is right in male/female relationships-what God intended in the Garden.
And about what is wrong-the fallout in a post-Eden world. Loveology starts with marriage and works backward. Comer deals with sexuality, romance, singleness, and what it means to be male and female; ending with a raw, uncut, anything goes Q and A dealing with the most asked questions about sexuality and relationships.
This is a book for singles, engaged couples, and the newly married-both inside and outside the church-who want to learn what the Scriptures have to say about sexuality and relationships. For those who are tired of Hollywood’s propaganda, and the church’s silence.
And for people who want to ask the why questions and get intelligent, nuanced, grace-and-truth answers, rooted in the Scriptures.
15. Messy Grace: How a Pastor with Gay Parents Learned to Love Others Without Sacrificing Conviction
Author: by Caleb Kaltenbach
English
224 pages
1601427360
Sometimes, grace gets messy. Caleb Kaltenbach was raised by LGBT parents, marched in gay pride parades as a youngster, and experienced firsthand the hatred and bitterness of some Christians toward his family. But then Caleb surprised everyone, including himself, by becoming a Christianand a pastor.
Very few issues in Christianity are as divisive as the acceptance of the LGBT community in the church. As a pastor and as a person with beloved family members living a gay lifestyle, Caleb had to face this issue with courage and grace.
Messy Grace shows us that Jesus’s command to love your neighbor as yourself doesn’t have an exception clause for a gay neighboror for that matter, any other neighbor we might find it hard to relate to. Jesus was able to love these people and yet still hold on to his beliefs.So can you.
Even when it’s messy. Messy Grace is an important contribution to the conversation about sexual identity for churches and leaders. Caleb’s story is surprising and unique, and he weaves it together compellingly. He states his views clearly, leaves room for disagreement, and champions love no matter where you are in this conversation.
16. Born Again This Way
Author: by Rachel Gilson
English
160 pages
178498390X
A rich portrayal of living faithfully and happily as a Christian with same-sex attraction that paints a compelling picture of discipleship for every believer. In this powerful and personal book, author Rachel Gilson describes her own unexpected journey of coming out and coming to faith…And what came next.
As she does so, she addresses many of the questions that Christians living with same-sex attraction are wrestling with: Am I consigned to a life of loneliness? How do I navigate my friendships? Will my desires ever change? Is there some greater purpose to all this?
Drawing on insights from the Bible and the experiences of others, Born Again This Way provides assurance and encouragement for Christians with same-sex attraction, and paints a compelling picture of discipleship for every believer. Whatever your sexuality, this book is an inspiring testimony of how a life submitted to Jesus will be fulfilling and fruitful, but not always in the ways we might expect.
