Chaplain’s Study of The Bible Reveals Jesus Was Gay, Committed to John

Posted by Kevin Farrell on Apr 23, 2012 in Separation of Church & Prostate | 30 comments

John to Judas: Step off my man or you'll get the lipstick gun!

Paul Oestreicher is having a big month, maybe the biggest of his life. The Anglican priest, a chaplain at the University of Sussex, devoted his Good Friday sermon to a topic that had been weighing heavily on him for some time after careful study of the scripture.

The topic? Jesus was gay, and in a committed, sexual relationship with his beloved disciple John.

Even in the Anglican Church, free of several hundred years of the pretension weighing down the Roman Catholic Church, this sermon was more than enough to keep tongues wagging and feathers raised well after service ended that Friday. So Oestreicher took quill to paper – or fingertips to keyboard, really – and penned a followup explaining how he came to his position about Jesus and John for The Guardian.

Oestreicher explains that Jesus was most certainly a sexual being, because to have been devoid of sexuality would have made him inhuman – a heresy! And while biblical slash fiction enthusiasts may love casting Mary Magdalene as the Bellas to Jesus’ Edward, there’s simply no suggestion of this romance in the scripture. Instead, all signs point to John as Jesus’ sweet, sweet boo.

Was that divisive issue a subject for Good Friday? For the first time in my ministry I felt it had to be. Those last words of Jesus would not let me escape. “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, ‘Woman behold your son!’ Then he said to the disciple. ‘Behold your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.”

That disciple was John whom Jesus, the gospels affirm, loved in a special way. All the other disciples had fled in fear. Three women but only one man had the courage to go with Jesus to his execution. That man clearly had a unique place in the affection of Jesus. In all classic depictions of the Last Supper, a favourite subject of Christian art, John is next to Jesus, very often his head resting on Jesus’s breast. Dying, Jesus asks John to look after his mother and asks his mother to accept John as her son. John takes Mary home. John becomes unmistakably part of Jesus’s family.

Drop everything and go read Oestreicher’s case for a gay Jesus in its entirety at The Guardian. It’s both fascinating and completely accessible. Then come back here and tells us what you think about a Jesus and John bad romance, and exactly where Judas and Gaga both fit into all of this.

Do you think Jesus was gay? Was John his devoted partner? Was Mary the original PFLAG mom? Sound off in the comments below.

(via Guardian UK)

http://www.facebook.com/itxasomarie Shaynan Holen

Bwahahahahaha…. This really made my day so much better! I love it!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=537726244 Adam Kuglin

Ahh the pitfalls of trying to frame ancient history through a modern lens.

http://www.facebook.com/badromance44 Daniel Holt

homosexuality isnt a “modern” topic though… it has extended throughout history, especially through Greek and even Egyptian culture

http://www.facebook.com/ramiro.doporto Ramiro Doporto

think you missed the point of what Adam was saying!
http://www.facebook.com/INTJadis Simon Delott

I think that Adam means that certain expressions do not translate to modern times. Just as one might go to India and see male friends holding hands, where in the US (or many other places), that would seem to indicate that they are in a relationship.

Obviously, human homosexuality is as old as humans. A man laying his head upon the breast of another (especially in an artistic rendering) does not mean the same thing in every culture or in every time.

(Personally, to quote The Good Wife, I think that Jesus was a man who lived a long time ago who has very little to do with me. His sexual orientation does not interest me any more than the things that he purportedly said or did, so I do not have a stake in this argument)
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=508951055 Brody Rechlo

But the Greeks didn’t actually see it as “homosexual”. There was still a sort of unspoken understanding that you were supposed to procreate and that a “lover”(If you read Plato’s “Symposium”, they never specify that the love of men was the sole route to go, but as more of a side thing.) would be in addition to your “heterosexual” union.

So yes, Adam is completely correct to mock the idea of framing Ancient History through a modern lens. Because you can’t. And it is the main and first thing any historian, especially classicist, learns in university.

If you want a somewhat more accurate “modern” look at what kind of homosexual “culture” existed back then, you need not look any further than that of the Turks and Middle Eastern/Mediterranean cultures.

Anonymous

So so far, with two “likes” guess I’m going to hell with the person doing the sermon, the person writing the article, and the other “liker.”

I’m completely open to any possibility, because something had to have been left out in telling about the lives of Jesus and his disciples. From what I’ve heard, it would be entirely unheard of for a man to be 33 years old in those times, and not married, not to mention 12 other men in the same situation. So either they all had wives that weren’t being mentioned, or there’s something else missing.

I’ve had flashes, when hearing the story of Jesus saying to John, “Behold they mother.” And it’s horrible, and irreverent, and I hit myself in the head at the thought, but I can hear myself in that place, saying “oh no you don’t; I’ve had enough of this mother thing, cleaning up after you and feeding your friends. You can’t stand the thought of my having some down time?” It’s just the kind of thing my son would do, the same way he finds “lost boys” who need nurturing, and puts them at my doorstep like wounded birds, and then goes off his merry way.

It’s an interesting take; and entirely typical of me that I would find this more interesting than any of the more common scenarios. And I’d be totally up for seeing it in play or movie form.

Yup. Going to tell.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1292547608 Jason Bellini

Well at least I know I won’t be alone, I asked the is Jesus and John togeather question when I was 14 , it was that question that cut my relationship with the church and when I saw I was not the only one with the same question .

Anonymous

I was 45 when I was told by a childhood friend who had since married with 5 children, was a Policeman, and turned Minister in a big city, probably, to find himself. We were alone in a Hotel room where he chose to stay until a 3-day class re-union was over. When he told me that I thought he was the ideal society man. I was Gay and he, probably, suspected it . I did not know what had happened until we finished making love. I still don’t, but I could live with myself much easier.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001265934140 Dven Hologram

This isn’t the first time this has been promoted as a concept..(well, maybe to THIS generation….) A great avant garde movie called “The Garden” hits this topic….Personally, I also believe that Mary Magdealene was a transgender.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000044532968 Gary Stewart

It doesn’t matter to me if Jesus was homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, asexual, celibate or any other kind of sexual you can think of. I also don’t see why his sexuality or any other persons sexuality should matter to anyone but their own sex partner or partners. What you do in your bedroom doesn’t matter to me unless you’ve invited me in to join you, and what I do in mine should not make any difference to you unless I’ve invited you.
Jesus did not marry and did not procreate, both of which Christians claim are among God’s commandments to men and given as reasons why homosexuality is a sin. If Jesus also failed to abide by those commandments whether because of sexual orientation or any other reason, did he also sin?
As for what the Bible says, well it has been translated from language to language by men who are fallible. It has been altered by men to suit their own agendas I.E. King James version. Even before the King James version, church officials met to decide what books to keep or omit from what became the standardized Bible.
If homosexuality were unnatural then it would not occur within the animal kingdom since animals are incapable of sin and are certainly part of the natural order. Also if God created man and woman in our current forms and based on our sexual roles then why do men have nipples? How many fathers breast feed their children?
Also in church I was taught that all men are sinners and that was why Jesus had to die on the cross, so that our sins could be forgiven. Why is it then that people feel they must consider one particular sin unforgivable? I do not see people condemning overweight people for the sin of gluttony nor do I see people condemning anyone for the sin of pride. Does this mean they feel a person can be a glutton or too prideful till the day they die and still be forgiven those sins? How many heterosexuals who claim they believe in the sanctity of marriage have cheated on their spouse or divorced and are those sins as equally unforgivable as homosexuality?
There are a multitude of things that are listed as an abomination in the Bible and yet we freely accept or totally ignore all but homosexuality. Do we no longer consider the other acts abominations and if not why? Why is homosexuality the only abomination we don’t embrace?
Loren Moreno

Gaga has nothing to do with it. She’s a heretic.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_RCSI6Z2NZCTTFGHKKG3FANL7NU Kris

Definition of a heretic – “A person holding an opinion at odds with what is generally accepted” so on that level, since Gaga is a Catholic but doesn’t follow what most Catholics believe, she is on a basic level similar to this post.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Alan-Fann/100000368571724 Alan Fann

The truth is simple. The basic story of the bible is that a gay man can inherit the kingdom of G-d, even if he produces no direct descendants, only spiritual heirs. What a fortune he gave us.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Benedict-J-Harrisson/100002018728709 Benedict J. Harrisson

yes, Jesus was gay!!… if he ever existed at all!!??

Kevin Gilmartin

Jesus did exist because even in Jewish scripts they do in fact recognize him as a prophet, but not as the messiah.

http://profile.yahoo.com/HU6EXBBSHWIF7SONNSRIDUOXGE Jase

I wonder if Judas was a homophobe. That would be an explanation of why he betrayed Jesus. At least it would be a good plot for a book.
http://www.facebook.com/eliazara Eliazara Campbell

What is that picture from?? I think I want to see that show!!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=659909775 Sierra Vail

It’s from Lady Gaga’s video, Judas.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=779414011 Olivia Ochoa

It is from the Lady Gaga video for Judas.

Anonymous

Open (albeit quietly accepted) sexuality between the sexes, especially Man/Boy love was a regular and routine practice in those days. This is certain, however the story of Jesus even existing is still fiction…
http://twitter.com/szthdy Heather McPherson

That would be fine and an interesting take. His sexuality is really no more relevant to his words and wonder than any other human’s. that’s the problem: people think sexual orientation is far too important in everything.

Anonymous

You’re lucky you have the privilege to be able to say so. But for me, my right to marry is being denied by people who claim my sexuality is wrong or sinful, people who claim it’s important *because* the Bible says it’s wrong. And the Bible is allegedly built on Jesus’ ways and Jesus’ teachings. If it was ever accepted that Jesus was gay, that would have huge implications for the rest of us. I’d love for this to be a purely academic debate and say “sexual orientation is irrelevant to Jesus’ teachings and is just as irrelevant as any other human’s”, but really, the fact is it’s *not*.

Elva Redwood

Of course this is fabulous. I want a t shirt now; “Jesus was Gay.” My only criticism is sexuality isn’t a defining trait of humanity. There are plenty of people who are asexual, or don’t get sexually attracted to anyone. There’s nothing wrong with them. That’s just how they are.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000018450160 Mark Long

Just to educate you all The Gospel of John, where the Idea of the “Beloved disciple” comes from was not written by John, it was attributed to him. Further, the “Beloved Disciple” and John ARE NOT THE SAME PERSON!!!!!!!!! Yes Jesus was Jewish. Yes when Jesus reenters the scene he is 30 years old. But there is no record of his life from age 12-30, so please stop trying to make something out of nothing. As for his sexuality, WHO REALLY CARES!!! Whether he is gay or straight has no effect on my belief that he is my Lord and Savior. During his life, which was well into the Hellenistic Era (Greek/Roman rule of the holy land), there was a group called the Essenes who left Jerusalem to start a monastic order at Qumran. And if you don’t know about them they wrote/translated the Dead Sea Scrolls. I am a religious scholar and firmly believe that 1. the author of The Gospel of John was from this group and 2. Jesus was most likey part of this group before his public ministry.

I am a gay christian and i find this very offensive. Must we resort to the same idiotic games that the right wing conservatives play. I am in a denomination (PCUSA) that is facing turmoil over ordaining gays and things like this doesn’t help our cause.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1798928275 Kurt Werner

There’s no evidence in the
scripture of his relationship to Mary, but there is in the Apocrypha
text The Gospel of Mary. It is in fact this text that contradicts the
Gospel of John that this chaplain is using as John being Jesus’ most
beloved disciple. Who’s to say which text has more authority? (note: doesn’t effect me which is the truth or neither, and if it takes Jesus being gay for homosexuals to have equal rights then that’s just sad.)
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=508951055 Brody Rechlo

Meh, its a good enough possibility as any, when you’re discussing fictitious literature.
http://profiles.google.com/artzfreak Jesi Lipp

Slash fiction wouldn’t put Mary and Jesus together. Slash is, by definition, fiction in which there is a a homosexual relationship.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Aurastar-Taijiya/100000111467903 Aurastar Taijiya

*claps*
http://www.facebook.com/people/Virgo-Elizabeth-LaVierge/1181809716 Virgo Elizabeth LaVierge

Gay Jesus? With John? they were the first gay celebrity couple!

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