Sir – In reading Samantha Mandrup’s letter (May 24), I found myself wondering what a “bible believing Christian” is. The Bible is not a simple instruction manual which can be believed or not believed, but a complex set of writings which have to be selectively interpreted in order to make any sense.
For example, very few Christians attach much importance to the Mosaic prohibition against wearing clothing woven from two types of material (Leviticus 19:19).
The Bible has been used to justify everything from slavery to genocide, and even today it is used to justify appalling human rights abuses against LGBT people in Africa.
The question is, how should we interpret the Bible? I am no theologian, but, as a Christian, I fervently believe that God gave us brains in order that we should use them, and rather than prejudice, scripture should be interpreted in the lights of contemporary truths such as the scientific perspective, human experience, and human rights. From this perspective, I think the rightness of gay marriage is obvious.
When one looks at statistics such as the higher prevalence of suicide among gay teenagers, a statistic associated with feelings of social rejection, it brings home, at least for me, the responsibilities of educated people to encourage thoughtful and open-minded attitudes.
Daniel Emlyn-Jones, Oxford
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