The *best* book on Christianity and homosexuality

I referred below to L. R. Holben's book; let me just add that I heartily recommend it to everyone here; I suspect that ninety percent of the conversations we've had on this subject could have been enriched if we'd read this book in the past. I know that I learned a heck of a lot from it, even in areas where I foolishly thought myself knowledgeable. Holben presents the following six viewpoints (my summary hardly does his presentation justice). * * * Condemnation. The inerrant Bible clearly condemns homosexuality as a willful and perverted act. Both homosexual desires and homosexual acts are to be condemned in the strongest terms, as an abomination to God. (This is the position of the Fundamentalist and conservative evangelical churches.) A Promise of Healing.The inerrant Bible clearly condemns homosexuality; however, homosexual feelings are generally not willed, but are rather the result of normal sexual feelings being bent as a result of psychological trauma in a child's life. Through healing, a person with homosexual feelings can find support in his struggle to remain chaste; in many cases, his sexual feelings can change. (This is the ex-gay position.) A Call to Costly Discipleship. The Bible clearly condemns homosexuality; however, Christians must not mistake the Bible for a scientific textbook, any more than they should mistake science as the place where God has spoken morally. Science tells us that most gays cannot change their orientation; therefore, the Christian who has homosexual feelings that he has been unable to change should direct his efforts toward lifelong chastity. Such a struggle is hard, but being a Christian is always hard. (This is the position of the Catholic Church and most mainline Protestant churches. Pastoral Accomodation. The Bible condemns homosexuality, but careful examination of the context of these passages shows that their focus is not on homosexuality per se but on sin in general. There are many cases where Christians believe they must commit a sin in order to prevent greater sins from occurring; the "just war" principle is an example. Since heterosexual acts rarely live up to the ideals put forward by the Bible, yet the Church does not forbid marriage, so too, under certain narrow circumstances, the Church may wish to allow individual homosexuals to enter into lifelong monogamous relationships, for pastoral reasons. Such relationships, though, must never be publicly proclaimed or placed on par with marriages, since they are essentially abnormal. (This was once a "cutting-edge" view, but is now practiced only by a few clergy in churches that consider homosexuality to be a sin.) Affirmation. Christians should give serious attention to the Bible, which reveals the record of God's revelation throughout history, but the Bible is a difficult text to interpret. Careful study of the passages traditionally thought to refer to homosexuality reveal that only specific forms of homosexuality, or other forms of sexuality, are condemned by the Bible. This being the case, homosexuality is morally on par with heterosexuality, and the Church should encourage the development of rites for same-sex unions. (This is the view of the Metropolitan Community Churches and of most gay Christian groups.) Liberation. None of the above viewpoints goes far enough. The Bible reveals that Jesus' message was a radical call to save the oppressed from persecution by the "normal" culture. This being the case, "queer" people are not simply to be accepted by the Church – they are to be regarded as prophets, reminding the Church of its injustice over the centuries. Thus, to talk mildly about gays being as good as straights does not go far enough – straight Christians must admit that they are under judgment by God for their homophobia and heterocentrism. (This is the view of gay Christians influenced by liberation theology.) * * * Interestingly enough, Holben omitted a variation on the Affirmation viewpoint: the viewpoint expressed by Bernadette J. Brooten in Love Between Women: Early Christian Responses to Female Homoeroticism that homosexuality in general is condemned in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, but that Paul's reasons for condemning homosexuality are based upon views of gender that may not be accepted by modern Christians. That was the only major hole I found in Holben's book; other than that, I thought it was a wonderfully unbiased presentation of the arguments on all sides. Heather [E-mail]   [Home Page]