Grove City College professor Carl Trueman describes the modern self  with the term expressive individualism in a lecture at the C.S. Lewis Institute. In the contemporary age, we ground our sense of self in psychological satisfaction instead of external obligations. Trueman argues that this shift historically occurred in three stages.

Progressive divinity schools and churches have transitioned from an embrace of inclusivity to instead uproot the fundamental principles of theology. Queer theology branches from Marxist-influenced liberation theology and queer theory. For three centuries, queer theologians attempted to root their armory of arguments and literature in biblical truths. Book titles include Rainbow Theology, Queer Christianities, and The Queer God.

Queer theologian Marcella Althaus-Reid was a driving force in its formation. Althaus-Reid’s theology paints heterosexual and binary norms as oppressive, limiting, and anti-biblical. She asserts that queerness is natural, healthy, and to be celebrated.

In her book, The Queer God, Althaus-Reid wrote that “the Queer God seeks to liberate God from the closet of traditional Christian thought, and to embrace God’s part in the lives of gays, lesbians and the poor… only a theology that dares to be radical can show us the presence of God in our times.” She concluded that “the Queer God…challenges the oppressive powers of heterosexual orthodoxy, whiteness and global capitalism.”

Mainline Protestant divinity schools are exposing these pervasive, heretical, and borderline pornographic ideas to the next generation of ministers.

Most recently, the University of Chicago’s religion department offers a “Queering God” class this fall quarter. The course explores queer and trans foundations in relationship to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and “analyzes the ways that contemporary artists, activists, and scholars are using theology to reimagine gender and experiment with new relational forms.”

Professor Oliva Bustion of the UChicago Divinity School teaches the class. She asks, “Can God be an ally in queer worldmaking? Is God queer? What does queerness have to do with Judaism, Christianity, or Islam?”

In 2018, Duke Divinity School students protested during the divinity dean’s State of the School speech because they believed the school marginalized gay and trans students. Duke Divinity School now offers a certificate in Gender, Sexuality, Theology, and Ministry (GSTM).

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