Theologian: The Bible leaves room for gay people

In the view of Mainz theologian Thomas Hickey, gay people also have their place in the Christian view of humanity.

Bon – In the view of Mainz theologian Thomas Hickey, gay people also have their place in the Christian view of humanity. The Old Testament scholar said in an interview with the katholisch.de portal that he refuses to rule out gender diversity on the basis of the reference to “man and woman” in the biblical story of creation.

The English word queer is used to describe people who are not heterosexual or whose sexual identity does not match social role models. Among them, people with same sexual orientation are perhaps the largest group.

“In the creation account, we do not find duality at this stage, but rather bipolarity. There are two poles: male and female. Hickey explained that each person must find himself between these two poles. “Every man also experiences the feminine parts within himself. Every woman also experiences the masculine parts within herself. These are the self-perceptions we have to take seriously.”

Hickey referred to a statement made by the Pope’s ambassador to Germany, Nikola Iterović, at the current autumn general meeting of bishops in Wiesbaden. Etorovic expressed his regret on Monday evening that the biblical image of man and woman “is now forgotten in some church circles.” On the other hand, a different and sometimes opposite picture of people and their nature prevails.

“Otherwise the Bible would be a dead text,” the Mainz theologian warned against biblical doctrine in these statements. Instead, in the creation story, diversity is expressed in two opposing terms. “There is light and darkness, day and night. But based on the text, no one would question the existence of dusk, dawn and twilight.

The theologian stressed that the Church should not ignore the results of the humanities and social sciences and must learn to be “open to LGBT people and accept how they are part of this creation.” In this regard, a similar development is needed as is already the case with exceptions based on skin color or religion. “Telling someone, ‘You’re not okay because your gender identity doesn’t fit my mold,’ is inhumane in my view.”

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