I am a progressive United Methodist with a strong theology of Biblical authority. I have been asked by a friend to share the content below regarding our misuse of the Bible and exclusion of the LGBTQIA+ community. I should have shared what follows more boldly prior to now. I do not have a Ph.D. in Biblical studies, but I do have an M.Div., which I earned with a select emphasis in Bible. I have studied the Biblical languages. What follows is the fruit of an honest search across Scripture, language, and history. I confess to those who read this that for the first many years of my Christian journey I held a theological position that would lead to an exclusionary stance towards the LGBTQIA+ community. I repent of this, and now hold a position of full inclusion, while retaining the belief that the Bible is authoritative for life and practice.      Our problem lies not in the authority of Scripture, but in failing to address human error in the translati...