PIEN HUANG, HOST:
Earlier this month, theologian Richard B. Hays died after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. The Duke Divinity School professor emeritus was best known for his 1996 book, "The Moral Vision Of The New Testament." One chapter in his book dealt with same-sex relationships in Christianity and was often cited by other Christians as theological grounds to exclude LGBTQ people from the church, which was a reaction that troubled Hays.
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RICHARD B HAYS: In that book, I actually argued that gay and lesbian people should be welcome in the church. I even said that if they're not welcome in the church, I will have to walk out of the sanctuary with them, leaving only those who feel qualified to throw the first stone. But I did venture the judgment that if they were going to be in the church, they needed to remain celibate. I gradually became uneasy with what I had written, especially as I saw how what I had written was in some quarters weaponized. I think that was a misreading of what I wrote, but I left myself open to that in serious ways.
HUANG: Host Scott Detrow spoke with Hays last September about his new book, "The Widening Of God's Mercy." In the book, he and his son, Chris Hays, argued the exact opposite of his previous stance, saying now that LGBTQ people should be fully embraced by the church. Hays argued that the Bible shows how God's mercy is ever expanding to include more people but that followers can be too caught up in the letter of the law and miss the spirit of God's commandments.
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HAYS: One of the themes of the New Testament chapters that I wrote in the book is that people who are conscientiously attempting to uphold what they believe to be something that's a changeless command of God actually, with all good intention, end up acting in ways that are contrary to the spirit and intent of God's commandments.
HUANG: Hays recounted a story from the Gospel of Mark. According to the Bible, a group of Pharisees is watching to see if Jesus will heal a man's withered hand. It's an act of compassion, but one that would violate laws for being performed on the Sabbath.
HAYS: They're operating with a deep intention to be obedient to God's law, but Jesus is grieved at their hardness of heart. Now, I think we see things like that happening over and over in the stories of the Bible and that the desire of God is for healing and inclusion of more and more people and that the rigid attempt at obedience actually is operating contrary to God's will.
HUANG: At the time we spoke with Hays, he knew that his cancer had returned and spread. And despite his worry that his new book might cause a painful rupture with friends and colleagues, he wanted to correct the record about where he stood on the question of LGBTQ Christians.
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HAYS: You know, change is sometimes hard, but it's something that scripture itself calls us to all the time - repentance. The Greek word for it is metanoia, which means a change of mind. I'm concerned that it will perhaps burn some bridges and break some relationships that I've cherished. But as I age, I wanted my final word on the subject to be out there, and so there it is.
HUANG: Richard B. Hays was 76 years old.
(SOUNDBITE OF PATRICK WATSON SONG, "JE TE LAISSERAI DES MOTS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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