Martin’s attempts to “unclobber” these six passages fall short. He rehearses well-worn liberal interpretations of the six common passages from Scripture that are used in the homosexual debate. His theological interpretations are false because he does not use a biblical-theological approach to interpret Scripture and he does not properly consider Genesis 1–3 in his examination. 

Colby Martin. UnClobber: Rethinking our Misuse of the Bible on Homosexuality. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2016.

Introduction

I did not hear the gospel until I was fifty–five years old. One of the pathologists I worked with in Gulfport, Mississippi came to saving faith and brought me the gospel. Two years later the Lord called me, gave me faith, justified me, and I embraced Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. One of the many sins the Lord saved me from was thirty-seven years of homosexuality. I praise God for his mercy and grace for me, a sinner. While I also praise him for the grace he showed me by opening my eyes to see and my heart to embrace biblical truth regarding homosexuality and sin, many others, it seems, are turning the other way.

Colby Martin, the author of UnClobber: Rethinking Our Misuse of the Bible on Homosexuality, is one such figure today. Martin and his wife are co-pastors of Sojourn Grace Collective, a progressive Christian church in San Diego, California. Martin grew up in a Baptist household and left conservative evangelical theology because his feelings did not align with his beliefs.

Summary

What is a “clobber passage” anyway? This phrase refers to six passages in the Bible which are used to support the view that homosexuality is a sin. They are called “clobber” passages because the church has used these passages to confront or “clobber” those who deny homosexuality as sin. The phrase arose in the LGBT community in the 1990s.[1] In UnClobber, Martin is convinced, based on his personal experience and study of Scripture, that these passages can be “un-clobbered.” In other words, the traditional interpretations of these texts are wrong, and “God does not stand opposed to those who are attracted to the same sex and he divinely blesses same-sex relationships” (xiii). In reality, they do no such thing.

Beginning with personal testimony in chapters 1–3, Martin weaves his journey from conservative evangelicalism to progressive Christianity around various chapters examining the “clobber passages.” The major impetus for Martin’s turn to progressive Christianity was his reading of A New Kind of Christianity,[2] which provided progressive interpretations of Scripture. These interpretations aligned with his emerging acceptance/feelings regarding homosexuality. As a result, he deconstructed his faith. His book is dedicated to teasing out these progressive interpretations of Scripture.

Chapter 4 outlines Martin’s argument regarding Sodom and Gomorrah. He claims those two cities were destroyed because the people in those cities were inhospitable to Lot’s visitors, not because of the sin of homosexuality (59). According to “common sense and statistics every man in these cities could not possibly have been gay” (54). Therefore, the surrounding of Lot’s house is not a “judgment against homosexuality as an orientation or same-sex attraction, but about a display of dominance for the sake of power and control” (55–56). Martin states that the main point of this story is to reflect the opposite of the hospitality Abraham showed the Lord and his two messengers in Genesis 18 (56).

In chapter 6, Martin raises four notable points regarding Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13. First, the Hebrew nouns in verse 22 are “vague and uncertain” (86–88). Second, the second half of the verses are “superfluous” (86–87). Third, there is no mention of “lesbianism” in these verses (88). And fourth, the Hebrew word toevah (abomination) is not “rooted in evil or immoral actions but were actions that crossed the (cultural) boundary markers set by God for Israel” (92–93).

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