The Bible and Sexuality in Netflix’s Coming Out Colton: ‘There’s a Lot to That Book

Abstract

Popular and academic discussions about ‘the Bible and homosexuality’ often centre on a

small but consistent number of passages from the Old and New Testaments. Given this

consistency, the conversations around sexuality and Christian faith in the Netflix series

Coming Out Colton are remarkable for not referencing any of these texts, while still

repeatedly mentioning the Bible in general, as well as specific biblical texts. The show opens

up a small but significant window into the range of ways in which biblical texts are currently

used and given meaning and authority in connection with sexuality. The show confirms the

tendency observed in previous research that contemporary Bible users who operate in a digital

context are interested specifically in ‘therapeutic’ texts and uses of the Bible, at the expense

of ‘propositional’ ones. Given the show’s wide audience, the presentation of the Bible in it

can be expected to have an influence in shaping how biblical texts will be seen and used in

conversations about sexuality in the near future. This may mean that appeals to the Bible in

the context of sexuality will increasingly be more fluid and therapeutic, and move away from

the ‘clobber texts’ that have often dominated this discourse.