Richard B. Hays (1948–2025)

A fresh, deeply biblical account of God’s expanding grace and mercy, tracing how the Bible’s narrative points to the full inclusion of LGBTQ people in Christian communities

Discussions of the Bible and human sexuality often focus on a scattered handful of specific passages. But arguments about this same set of verses have reached an impasse, two leading biblical scholars believe; these debates are missing the forest for the trees.

In this learned and beautifully written book, Richard and Christopher Hays explore a more expansive way of listening to the overarching story that scripture tells. They 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. Those who were once outsiders find themselves surprisingly embraced within the people of God, while those who sought to enforce exclusive boundaries are challenged to rethink their understanding of God’s ways.

The authors—a father and son—point out ongoing conversations within the Bible in which traditional rules, customs, and theologies are rethought. They argue that God has already gone on ahead of our debates and expanded his grace to people of different sexualities. If the Bible shows us a God who changes his mind, they say, perhaps today’s Christians should do the same. The book begins with the authors’ personal experiences of controversies over sexuality and closes with Richard Hays’s epilogue reflecting on his own change of heart and mind.

The authors—a father and son—point out ongoing conversations within the Bible in which traditional rules, customs, and theologies are rethought. They argue that God has already gone on ahead of our debates and expanded his grace to people of different sexualities. If the Bible shows us a God who changes his mind, they say, perhaps today’s Christians should do the same. The book begins with the authors’ personal experiences of controversies over sexuality and closes with Richard Hays’s epilogue reflecting on his own change of heart and mind."… (more)

What a disappointment! Do not waste your time on this book.

As I am finishing this fairly well written book published in the late 90's, I discover that the author has now, in 2024, changed his mind on homosexuality. Here is the summary.

Nearly 30 years ago, a revered New Testament professor at Duke Divinity School named Richard B. Hays published “The Moral Vision of the New Testament,” a sweeping 508-page meditation of Christian ethics in which Hays concluded that the Christian Bible condemns homosexual acts. Hays called homosexuality “one among many tragic signs that we are a broken people” and said that churches should not sanction or bless homosexual unions.

Now we learn that Hays has changed in position. “In a book scheduled to be released in September 2024, ‘The Widening of God’s Mercy: Sexuality Within the Biblical Story,’ written with his son, Christopher B. Hays, the elder Hays makes an about face.” Hays has changed his mind because a “dynamic and gracious God … is willing to change his mind.” Robert Gagnon, a professor of New Testament at Houston Baptist University, who used Hays’ book The Moral Vision of the New Testament in his book The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics, had this to say: “God hasn’t changed his mind. Hays and son have changed their minds.

I imagine he is probably changing his mind about anti-Semitism too. This is all the rage today on college campuses and I imagine Hays thinks God has changed his mind om this topic also.… (more)