Date of Award
2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Doctor of Ministry (DMin)
Abstract
Preaching to, for, and about LGBTQ people is too often characterized by ambivalence, homophobia, and microaggressions couched as speaking truth in love. And yet, the biblical text includes themes, images, and stories with liberating and prophetic messages for LGBTQ people that include and affirm them within the body of Christ. This thesis argues that preachers can proclaim a liberating, prophetic word for the LGBTQ people within their congregations by using a queer hermeneutic, the intentional and conscious interpretation of the biblical text using the experience, information, and knowledge about LGBTQ people as the lens through which to bridge the world of the biblical text and the world of the contemporary church. Through a qualitative study of affirming sermons and surveying LGBTQ hearers’ experiences of affirming sermons, this thesis shows preachers how to use the marginalized perspective of LGBTQ people in their reading and interpretation of the Bible to make their preaching more liberating and prophetic.
Recommended Citation
Davis, Dewayne L., "There is a Word: Using a Queer Hermeneutic Toward Liberative and Prophetic Biblical Preaching" (2020). Doctor of Ministry Theses. 61.
https://digitalcommons.luthersem.edu/dmin_theses/61
Included in
Biblical Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Practical Theology Commons