Is God anti-gay? - And other questions about homosexuality, the Bible and same-sex attraction - Paperback

Is God Homophobic? It Is One of the Most Urgent Questions of Our Time. Here Is a Careful, Compassionate Answer.

Few questions create more heat — and generate more confusion — in contemporary culture than the relationship between Christianity and homosexuality. Christians, the church, and the Bible seem to many people to be fundamentally out of step with modern attitudes. There is growing hostility toward those who hold a traditional view. And many Christians find themselves uncertain — not just about how to engage the culture, but about what they actually believe, and why, and how to hold it with both conviction and compassion.

Sam Allberry has written this short, honest, and deeply personal book to help.

In Is God Anti-Gay?, Allberry draws on his own experience of same-sex attraction to offer a response to these questions that is neither defensive nor dismissive — but careful, compassionate, and rooted in what God has actually said in Scripture. He wants to help confused Christians understand what the Bible teaches about sexuality and homosexuality, and to show that there is a positive and liberating way forward through the debate — one that takes both God’s word and human experience seriously.

This revised and updated edition includes answers to several new questions that have come to the forefront of the debate, making it more comprehensive and more useful than ever for Christians navigating one of the most contested issues of our time.

What This Book Covers

Sam Allberry works through the key questions surrounding Christianity and homosexuality with biblical care and personal honesty:

• What the Bible says — A careful, clear account of what Scripture actually teaches about homosexuality — in the Old and New Testaments — and how to understand it
• Is God homophobic? — A direct, honest engagement with the charge that the Bible’s teaching on sexuality is motivated by hostility or fear — and why that charge misunderstands both God and the gospel
• Same-sex attraction and sin — Is it sinful to experience same-sex attraction? This revised edition addresses this question directly and pastorally
• Relating to gay friends and family — How Christians can relate with genuine love, honesty, and gospel hope to both Christians and non-Christians who experience same-sex attraction
• Should Christians attend gay weddings? — A thoughtful, nuanced answer to one of the most practically pressing questions Christians face
• Is the Christian view dangerous? — A response to the charge that the traditional Christian view of sexuality is harmful — and why the gospel offers something genuinely better
• A positive and liberating way forward — How the gospel speaks to every human being’s deepest longings — for love, acceptance, and belonging — in a way that no sexual identity can

What Readers Will Learn

• What the Bible actually says about homosexuality — carefully and without caricature
• Why the charge that God is homophobic misunderstands both the character of God and the nature of his commands
• How to think about same-sex attraction — including whether experiencing it is itself sinful
• How to relate with genuine love, honesty, and gospel hope to gay friends, family members, and colleagues
• How to navigate practically pressing questions — including whether to attend a gay wedding
• Why the Christian view of sexuality, far from being harmful, offers something genuinely better — a vision of human flourishing rooted in the gospel
• How the gospel speaks to the deepest longings of every human heart — for love, acceptance, and belonging — in a way that no sexual identity can satisfy

How to Use This Book

Is God Anti-Gay? is short, clear, and immediately useful:

• Personal reading — Ideal for any Christian wanting to understand what the Bible teaches about homosexuality and how to hold that conviction with both clarity and compassion
• Gift for a confused or questioning friend — A gentle, honest, and compassionate resource to give to a Christian friend who is wrestling with these questions — or to a non-Christian friend who wants to understand what Christians believe and why
• Small group discussion — Short enough to read together, substantial enough to generate honest and meaningful conversation about one of the most contested issues of our time
• Pastoral resource — A reliable, biblically grounded guide for pastors and counsellors working with individuals who experience same-sex attraction or whose family members do
• Church training — A clear, accessible resource for churches wanting to equip their members to engage this issue with both biblical conviction and genuine compassion

Who Should Read This Book

This book is for you if you are:

• A confused Christian who wants to understand what the Bible teaches about homosexuality — and how to hold that conviction without hostility or fear
• A Christian with gay friends or family members who wants to relate to them with genuine love and gospel hope
• A Christian who experiences same-sex attraction and wants to understand what the Bible says about their experience — and what a positive, gospel-centred way forward looks like
• A pastor or counsellor wanting a reliable, compassionate, and biblically grounded resource to use with individuals and families navigating these questions
• Anyone — Christian or not — who wants to understand what Christians actually believe about homosexuality, and why

About the Author

Sam Allberry is a pastor, author, and speaker, and an editor at The Gospel Coalition. He is the author of several books including James For You and Why Does God Care Who I Sleep With?, and is a co-founder of Living Out — a ministry supporting Christians who experience same-sex attraction. Sam speaks and writes from his own experience of same-sex attraction, bringing both personal honesty and careful biblical thinking to one of the most contested issues in contemporary culture. His approach is consistently marked by a combination of theological rigour, pastoral warmth, and genuine care for every person he addresses — making him one of the most trusted voices on this topic in the evangelical world.

About the Questions Christians Ask Series

Is God Anti-Gay? is part of the Questions Christians Ask series — a range of short, simple books designed to help Christians understand what God has said about the pressing questions of our time. Each volume takes one significant question and answers it with biblical clarity, pastoral care, and genuine accessibility for ordinary Christians.