Matthew Vines, 24, author of "God and the Gay Christian," grew up in a conservative Presbyterian church in Wichita, Kansas.

"Homosexuality was never discussed in my church," said Vines, who will speak at First Presbyterian Church of Birmingham on Sunday, Feb. 15, at 5 p.m. "Nobody thought there was any room for discussion."

Vines said he revealed his sexual orientation to his family during his sophomore year at Harvard University.

"I was distraught when I realized I was gay," Vines said. "There was no precedent for acceptance in my family. I decided to work to change people's minds."

But he wanted to convince people while still upholding the authority of the Bible, he said. He began studying the six passages in the Bible that are most frequently used as scriptural evidence that homosexuality is a sin: Genesis 19: 4-11; Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13; Romans 1: 26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10.

"For conservative Christians, a foundation principle is respecting the authority of the Bible," Vines said. "They believe the Apostle Paul in Romans condemned same-sex relationships across the board. My main argument is not that Paul is wrong, but that the very conception of what long-term, committed same-sex relationships are now did not exist in the ancient world."

The society then did not allow equal-status relationships of any kind, he said. Women were considered property. "Women were seen in society as having an inferior status," Vines said. "The only discussion we see of same-sex attraction and behavior was as a vice of excess along the lines of gluttony and drunkenness. The idea is that same-sex behavior grew out of wantoness and excess, of men seeking more exotic pleasures to sate an ever-growing appetite. The concept of same-sex relationships between social equals was not conceivable. Now, we think about love as mutuality between equals. Then it was about expressing status and dominance."

So Paul was not talking about what people now say he was talking about, Vines said.

Matthew Vines wrote the controversial book 'God and the Gay Christian.' (File)

"Christians don't have to say Paul was wrong," Vines said. "Paul in Romans 1 is condemning sexual excess, the use of sex for lustfulness. He was talking about lust and self-seeking excess."

Long-term, committed, same-sex romantic relationships based on love are not condemned in the Bible, Vines said.

"Love is a pretty different thing from lust," he said. "Lustful one-night stands would be something the church would counsel against even in heterosexual relationships. It's a relational context. Committed, long-term same-sex relationships were not an issue in ancient times. It's a new issue that Christians have not faced before."

Vines said that the Bible's teachings about marriage should apply to same-sex couples as well, encouraging committed, self-sacrificial relationships. "Of course the language is heterosexual, but the core principals are about keeping covenant with one's spouse," Vines said. "One of the main passages, Ephesians 5, quoted at weddings, says that marriage is a picture of the relationship between Christ and the church, to point to the covenant God has with us in Christ through self-sacrificial relationships."

Vines said that he believes progressive Christian theologians have been too quick to dismiss the Bible.

"A fair amount of popular theological literature, their goal would be to dismiss or set aside biblical authority," Vines said. "They are not very reverent. They would say, 'Paul simply got this wrong.' That argument will never fly with conservative Christians. It's asking them to change their belief about the Bible. I want to take a very different approach. I think it's possible for conservative evangelical Christians to fully affirm the authority of the Bible and to affirm same-sex marriage. I'm not dismissive of any of the biblical texts. Christians can affirm the authority of the Bible and affirm same-sex marriage."

Vines also advises gay Christians to avoid looking for gay couples in the Bible.

"Many people want to find same-sex relationships that are affirmed in the Bible," he said. "I don't think that's an advisable argument. I just don't think that's the right approach. There aren't examples that are explicitly romantic relationships. Our very understanding of same-sex relationships now is different from that which shapes the ancient world. We have to draw a line between the ancient world and today in terms of equal status same-sex relationships. We need to look at what are the core values in the scriptures in regards to marriage and covenant-keeping that are applicable to same-sex relationships."

Vines' appearance in Birmingham comes at the end of the first week of legal gay marriage in Alabama. He was invited by the Rev. Shannon Webster, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Birmingham, who has been outspoken in favor of gay marriage. Webster spoke on Thursday at the meeting of the Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley, where commissioners from throughout central Alabama voted 75-39 to affirm gay marriage. The Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly last year affirmed gay marriage and proposed a change to the church constitution. It issued an authoritative interpretation allowing same-sex marriages, but the vote will change language in the constitution that says "marriage is a civil contract between a woman and a man" to language stating that marriage is between "two persons."

The change must be approved by 86 of 171 presbyteries nationwide. So far, 38 have voted in favor and 14 against.

Vines said his home church in Wichita left the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 2011 over the gay issue.

It's important to maintain a respect for the authority of the Bible and emphasize its teaching on love when it comes to gay marriage, Vines said.

"I don't want to undermine Paul, that's not the approach to scripture I was raised with," Vines said. "Respecting the Bible's authority in its entirety has tremendous value for how Christians understand our faith. It's consistent with core principles that we find in scripture. It's about empowering Christians from conservative churches to have those conversations."

Vines will also do a three-day conference at the Downtown Sheraton in Atlanta, June 11-13. For more information, visit his web site,

.