By jmbThe following is a letter-to-the-editor that I wrote to Bible Study Magazine in response to “Word Nerd-Language & the Bible,” a column by Editor Mark Ward in the September/October 2022 print issue of the magazine.
Dear Editor,
I am deeply disturbed by your decision to use your Word Nerd column in the September/October 2022 issue to promote a theology that is hurtful and dangerous.
It is simply not true that I Corinthians 6:9 contains “explicit prohibitions of homosexuality,” as there are many who argue that it is not so clear at all (see for instance this essay by Rev. Adam Erickse, this essay from ReformationProject.org, this essay from Whosever MCC, or this essay from QueerGrace.com — all examples of those who have good faith arguments for a very different way of translating 1 Corinthians 6:9). — And then with your assumed correct translation of this verse, you make the next logical jump (using the verse of course) to tie homosexuality with thievery, idolatry, greed, and drunkenness… I know all too well where this leads and I cannot be silent. This kind of hate speech, aimed at teachers of the Bible, has real-world consequences.
When I first signed up as a customer of Logos.com, I understood it to be a company that was committed to serving sincere students of the Bible from all theological perspectives (important to me because I then served in a Mennonite church with a broad range of theological diversity), and hence I was excited to start receiving Bible Study Magazine, but unfortunately, your magazine has shown that you are promoting one narrow understanding of Biblical interpretation.
While my subscription to your magazine was free, I do not want my name to be counted as a subscriber when you are selling ad space, so please unsubscribe me from your magazine.
I will of course remain a LOGOS customer (I’ve paid plenty over the years), but I don’t want the magazine anymore.
Sadly,
James M. Branum
If you share my concerns and happen to subscribe to the magazine and/or are a customer of Logos.com, please give contact them and tell them how you feel.