Lecture by J. Derrick Lemons, Assistant Professor of Religion, University of Georgia

For over a decade, scholars have called for more research about the spiritual lives of American millennials, the age cohort born between the 1980s and early 2000s. Scholars are especially interested in the religious-to-spiritual shift of American millennials, which is characterized by highly individualistic millennials leaving traditional forms of religious practice while maintaining a deeply spiritual identity. This study seeks to understand the use of the Bible by millennial college students in the southeastern religion of the United States. In particular, this paper uses Ralph Turner’s theory of self-conception to understand how millennials exegete the Bible and how they apply their exegetical model to the social issue of same-sex marriage. Grounded analytical engagement with the ways that millennials draw on theological concepts and democratic values to make sense of same-sex marriage can help to identify spaces for conversation between Southern Christian millennials and same-sex marriage activists.

Sponsored by the Department of Religious Studies, the Christianity and Culture Minor, the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, the Provost’s Committee on LGBTQ Life, and the UNC Program in Sexuality Studies.

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