Sufjan Stevens has shared his thoughts on Christianity, and said that he has come to think that “the Bible is very gay”.
The Michigan singer-songwriter spoke about religion during a new interview with Vulture, and revealed that he has been pondering the content of the Bible in recent times.
“The Bible’s very gay,” he told the outlet. “Just all men. That’s what you get when there’s a patriarchy that’s endured for so long. Jesus was single, never married; Disciples were all dudes…”
He went on to speak about religious imagery as a whole, adding: “[It] is very sexual. It’s erotic. Look at Catholic art through the ages, Baroque art. It’s all very fleshy and sensual and full of naked bodies.”
Stevens continued: “I’ve always embraced that. I’ve always felt that my relationship to God is a very intimate and sensual one. Sacraments are. It’s engaging with God in a physical way.
“You’re literally eating the flesh and drinking the blood of God during the Eucharist. It doesn’t get much more erotic than that. If you’re a vampire, that’s the ultimate erotic experience.”
The comments come just weeks after the artist announced a 10th anniversary reissue of his 2015 album ‘Carrie & Lowell’. Set for release on May 30 via Asthmatic Kitty Records, the new version will include previously unheard tracks and is available for pre-order here.
To mark the announcement, he shared a demo version of ‘Mystery Of Love’ – a track from the original sessions that was later re-worked and re-recorded for Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name.
In 2015, NME awarded the original album four-and-a-half stars, writing: “Pruned to a relatively tight 44-and-a-half minutes, ‘Carrie & Lowell’ – with the couple pictured on the sleeve – is one of Sufjan’s most fat-free and consistently stunning records, but also his darkest. There are no brass fanfares like 2006’s ‘Adlai Stevenson’ or fancy-dress-party tunes like 2005’s ‘Chicago’. This is downbeat and delicate alt-folk drenched, very sweetly, in blood, grief and desolation.”
His latest album arrived in 2023 in the form of ‘Javelin’.
