He wrote the Christian case against same-sex marriage. Now he’s changed his mind

Almost three decades ago, Richard Hays, a minister and the soon-to-be dean of Duke Divinity School, wrote what became the go-to traditionalist Christian argument against same-sex marriage. In a seismic reversal, Hays now says his views have changed.

Almost three decades ago, Richard Hays, a United Methodist minister and the soon-to-be dean of Duke Divinity School, wrote what quickly became the go-to traditionalist Christian argument against same-sex marriage. Now, Hays says he’s changed his mind. In a seismic reversal, one of the most prominent and influential New Testament scholars of the last century is apologizing for his previous position — writing in a new book, “The Widening of God’s Mercy,” that he is “deeply sorry” for the pain caused to LGBTQ individuals who have been excluded from Christian churches. “I want to repent of what I wrote before,” Richard Hays told me in an interview alongside his son and co-author, Christopher Hays. “Where I now stand on the question is that Scripture, read as narrative, offers a vision of a God who is dynamic and personal, and can constantly surprise us by reshaping what we thought we knew as settled matters.” “It was, I thought, what needed to be said in order to put myself right with God and with my brothers and sisters in the church,” Hays said about his change of mind. “The whole story of the Bible, I think, regularly summons us all to the practice of repentance.” For almost three decades, Hays’ landmark analysis on homosexuality in his 1996 book, “The Moral Vision of the New Testament,” has been referenced in evangelical seminaries and traditionalist studies across the country. And, as a gay Christian myself, I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve read his chapter on homosexuality — or been pointed to it by pastors and church officials — in the 12 years since I came out.