1. The Legalization of Same-sex Marriage
and Evolving Protestant Theology
ABSTRACT
This research demonstrates that a
liberalizing trend has evolved over
the course of the last fifty-one years
within evangelical and mainline
Protestant Christianity due to
cultural and political shifts regarding
same-sex marriage and examines the
causes and effects of those
theological changes in America.
BACKGROUND
Same-sex Marriage Legalized June 2015
• Goodridge v. Massachusetts
Department of Public Health- Mass.
became the first state to recognize
same-sex marriages in 2003
• United states v. Windsor-The House of
Representatives voted to strike down
DOMA by a 5-4 vote, ruling that the
law was unconstitutional
• Kim Davis, county clerk of Rowen
County, Kentucky went to jail for five
days in 2015 for refusing to issue
marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Govenor Matt Bevin issued an
executive order to change licenses so
her signature is no longer required.
OBJECTIVES
• Research court cases that reflect culture
• Research liberal Protestant perspectives
• Research conservative Protestant views
• Show relationship between cultural shift
and evolving theological developments
METHODS
• Identify historical milestones and gather biblical
interpretive texts from key scholars.
• Analyze a range of Protestant views in literature
and investigate the correlation with legal, historical
events in America.
• Examine six legal court cases regarding same-sex
marriage that demonstrate the liberal shift in
American culture which created the tension
between church and state.
• Presents conclusions of canonical exegesis and
critical analysis of literature and court cases based
on historical and semantic evidence.
• www.theblaze.com
• The liberal theological trend began in the 1970s, coinciding with
first rejected same-sex marriage cases.
• Conservatives maintained the same biblical interpretation
throughout the last 51 years.
• Contemporary Protestant churches have divided and continue to
divide over disagreements about this issue.
• The legalization of same-sex marriage is raising new questions and
effecting the way that some conservatives approach the topic today.
RESULTS
CONCLUSIONS
• American culture and Protestant theology have struggled with the
issue of homosexuality simultaneously over the last half decade.
Both American culture and Protestant theology have shown a
marked increase in acceptance of homosexuality.
• Mainline churches demonstrate a pattern of following cultural
trends that coincide with the civil rights movement, and liberal
theological interpretations in turn influenced the opinions of the
larger American culture. American culture and liberal Protestant
Christian theology seem to have influenced each other.
The Legalization of Same-sex Marriage and Evolving Protestant Theology
RESULTS
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/12/21/where-christian-
churches-stand-on-gay-marriage/ft_15-07-01_religionsssm/
by Tamara Love working with mentor Dr. Donna Ray
from the History and Religious Studies Dept.