For all the Christians that use their Bible to attack same-sex marriage, a US bishop is suggesting they should take a closer look at the scripture.

In Gene Robinson’s new book, God Believes In Love: Straight Talk About Gay Marriage, the gay Episcopalian bishop deconstructs the most seemingly homophobic passages in the Bible.

He believes, at best, the orders against gay sex are products of a time in which all people were assumed to be born heterosexual.

In an interview with the Lexington Herald Leader, Robinson said: ‘Making gayness seem like willful disobedience rather than an inborn orientation was not even considered within the cultural framework of the period.’

He rejects passages like in Leviticus, which famous line states ‘You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.’

Robinson says if we have moved on from keeping slaves, wearing clothes of different fabrics, not keeping women as property, then we can move on from homophobia.

He states Jesus never referred to homosexuality as a sin, and spent time with those on the outskirts of society.

The 65-year-old bishop is well known as the first US priest to be in a same-sex relationship when he was ordained in a major Christian denomination.

Public opinion has changed since Robinson’s widely criticized appointment in 2003, but he believes the presidency of Obama, as the first to back marriage equality, shows times are changing.

He said: ‘When negative things are said about gay people, we need to find the courage to say that doesn’t wash anymore.

‘That way, we can begin to change the atmosphere so that those kinds of negative statements are seen as the toxic things that they are.

‘It eventually might be unthinkable to discriminate against gays.’

God Believes In Love: Straight Talk About Gay Marriage will be available on 18 September.