Christian singer Vicky Beeching: 'I knew I was gay when I was 13'

[Michael]

Whether people see it as cherry-picking or not is going to depend a lot on how you read the bible. I read the bible as an unfolding understanding of God; hence later biblical voices can criticise actions earlier that were celebrated. For example the killing of the house of Ahab at Jazreel is celebrated in the books of Kings, but is seen as a reason for disgrace and revenge by the prophet Hosea. It is perhaps more an English than American tradition to see the bible as 'the books God wants us to hear' (as Rowan Williams puts it). We can then engage with them and even disagree with actions of people who were convinced that they were doing God's will. Like Hosea, we may see what was previously celebrated as actually being deeply misguided (or perhaps sometimes only appropriate for their time).