Huffington Post

Sinners. That's what a lot of Christians call lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. As an openly-gay theologian and ordained minister with the Metropolitan Community Churches -- an LGBT-affirming Christian denomination that is open to all -- I unfortunately know all too well what it means to be labeled a sinner, as well as the incredible damage that this label inflicts emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually upon my LGBT sisters and brothers.

According to traditional Christian theology, we are all sinners. Since at least the writings of Augustine of Hippo in the fourth and fifth centuries, the doctrine of original sin has dominated Christian thought. According to this doctrine, Adam and Eve first sinned by disobeying God by eating from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The original sin of our first parents unleashed death into the world, and ever since, sin has been passed on, virus-like, through reproduction (and specifically sexual pleasure) to all subsequent human beings. This is why we are all in need of God's grace in Jesus Christ: to save us from original sin and its consequences of death and eternal suffering.

full story:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-patrick-s-cheng-phd/ sin-as-the-closet-grace-a_b_510437.html

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