Wesley Hill in his book, Spiritual Friendship: Finding Love in the Church as a Celibate Gay Christian, poses the following question, “Perhaps celibate gay and lesbian Christians, precisely in and out of their celibacy, are called to express, rather than simply renounce and deny, same-sex love. And perhaps this is where, for all the potential trials and temptations that come with this way of thinking, same-sex friendship represents one way for gay Christians who wish to be celibate to say: “I am embracing a positive calling. I am, along with every other Christian, called to love and be loved.” As Anne Kennedy notes in her article, “This is the central, pressing concern of the Spiritual Friendship movement. How same-sex attracted Christians order their relationships increasingly touches on today’s fluid assumptions about identity, acceptance, and belonging. The issues underscored by Hill deserve to be studied and understood. Their answers carry immense spiritual and practical implications for Christian doctrine, worship, and community life. While I am sorely sympathetic to the desires of same-sex attracted Christians and their need for family and belonging, I believe that the proponents of modern-day spiritual friendship disorder the precious mystery of friendship. In collapsing the good desire for home and belonging with the wrong one for familial and even romantic intimacy with the same sex, the Spiritual Friendship movement, relying as it does on categories derived from the Sexual Revolution and postmodernism, devalues the institution of marriage and wanders into self-defeating contradiction.”
This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with JOURNAL author Anne Kennedy about her online-exclusive article, “Spiritual Friendship: Temptation or Belonging?” and the above questions and issues.
Starting in February 2021, online-exclusive articles, have been locked and are only available for Journal subscribers as noted below; however, given the time sensitive nature and global importance of this subject, our editorial board decided to make this available to the public as soon as possible. Also consider this a free preview of the quality and in-depth research that goes into our online-exclusives. To learn more about subscribing and gaining early access to future online-exclusive articles, please see our FAQ section on Early Access to Online-Exclusive Articles by clicking here and subscribing by clicking here.
Locked articles are online exclusive content that are only available to subscribers. There are three subscription options to access our online exclusive content.
1. Subscribe ($33.50) to the print edition of the Christian Research Journal which includes all online exclusive content.
2. Pay a monthly fee ($4.99) for Christian Research Journal online exclusive content. This does not include online versions of current print edition articles or receiving the print issues.
3. Pay an annual fee ($24.99) for Christian Research Journal online exclusive content. This does not include online versions of current print edition articles or receiving the print issues.
For more information and to subscribe please click here.
Note online-exclusives are eventually made available to the public at regular intervals but to gain access to read it when it’s originally posted subscribing at the link above is the best option.
When you to subscribe to the Journal, you join the team of print subscribers whose paid subscriptions help provide the resources at equip.org that minister to people worldwide. These resources include our ever growing database of over 1,500 articles, as well as our free Postmodern Realities podcast.
Another way you can support our online articles is by leaving us a tip. A tip is just a small amount, like $3, $5, or $10 which is the cost for some of a latte, lunch out, or coffee drink. To leave a tip, click here
Other articles and podcasts featuring this author
Episode 273: Identity and Obedience in Revoice 2021
Identity and Obedience in Revoice 2021
Episode 308 A More Unconditional Love: Modern Iterations of Platonic Marriage