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Being Gay, Being Christian
Is it possible to be both gay and Christian? This book explains, calmly and logically, that the two are not mutually exclusive. With the support of some of the finest scientific and theological minds, Dr Stuart Edser presents a compelling case for tolerance and acceptance, rejecting the traditional Christian view that gay people are either sick or sinful as a result of their sexual orientation. While shrill voices of prejudiced fundamentalism are raised from all sides of the Christian church, he invites the reader to a new experience of God. Dr Edser is uniquely qualified to explain the biology, psychology and sociology of being gay, as well as to examine the Bible, its interpretation, and traditional Christian teaching on sexual morality. Not only does he have a wealth of experience grounded in the Church (both Catholic and Protestant), but he is also a psychologist, author and researcher. Moreover, he threads his own extraordinary story through the text, using this and his experience as a clinician to guide his thinking. In particular, he offers a positive and rational voice so often glaringly absent from the Church's utterances on homosexuality. He argues passionately for church people everywhere to open their minds and show a willingness to discard older ways of thinking where more modern explanations reveal the truth more accurately. And he encourages gay Christians to integrate their sexuality and their faith so that both are valued equally. "This is probably the single best book published on this topic in the last five years. It combines a succinct analysis of the science and psychological science on being gay with the lived experience of the author and an analysis of the scriptural and theological background which, while not lacking in rigour, manages to be accessible." - Jim McManus, Chartered Scientist, Chartered Psychologist
- GenresNonfictionSpirituality
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 18, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 12, 2022
Do we need to see more sad or angry queer people?
I wanted to love this book. I really did. I wanted to find within its' pages an affirmation- support for the idea written on it's cover.
Instead, I was deeply frustrated, confused, and even angered by it. I even found myself wanting to throw it away.
I don't know which if the myriad of things to even start with, but I will attempt to unpack one.
I am bisexual, and deeply religious. No, these things are not in conflict. I have to manage my inner rage when someone suggests this- as I am not someone who likes conflict or, as it were, wants to fight. I thought that in this book, I would find a writer who agreed with this and who understood this phenomenon. Apparently not. What I found was someone who suggested, emphatically, that to be out in the church, you had to openly act in defiance of homphobic doctrines. At least I am happy that he is not somebody that legitismises 'God hates gays' by accepting it as an integral doctrine of Christianity whether they believe it or not. However this seemingly imperative call to fight grated on me. What about those of us who just want peace? What about those of us who, as it were, are not called to martyrdom? Not all, as he somehow does not know, are called to wear a martyrs' crown. He suggests that we must act in open defiance, or, as he suggests, simply leave and never return, which he views as equally admirable. This decidedly combative attitude, though, I guess is not new among the LGBTQIA+ community, neither is the call to be so. Nor is the apparent accusation that you are in a state of wrongdoing should you not do so. This leaves us at an unfortunate conclusion- that you are in a state of sin if you do not fight. It is eerily similiar to 'Your are in a state of sin if you are gay.'
I simply suggest that an LGBTQI+ person does not need to openly fight. Their existence is enough to undermine the rank blasphemy against the holy ghost that is homophobia- no crusade here is imperative. Our existence also undermines and saps the secular idea that one cannot be LGBTQIA and religious, seemingly because secular authority seems to regard this teaching as legitimate.
This says nothing of the deeply disturbing footnote- 'Bisexuality is another orientation, whose actual existence has been debated in research circles. It is another topic altogether and far too complicated to discuss in a mere footnote.'
Nor does this even mention the fact that the title is so shallow it borders on not even being theology- it is something we really must move beyond as queer Christians.
All up, an important book, but poorly delivered. You can be LGBTQI and a Christian. No qualifiers. But I do not accept that the only way to be queer in the church is to be openly combative- I think that there are much holier ways to be while hearing the voice of God and following in the footsteps of Christ.
'Put your sword back into its' sheath.' Matthew 26:52.
I wanted to love this book. I really did. I wanted to find within its' pages an affirmation- support for the idea written on it's cover.
Instead, I was deeply frustrated, confused, and even angered by it. I even found myself wanting to throw it away.
I don't know which if the myriad of things to even start with, but I will attempt to unpack one.
I am bisexual, and deeply religious. No, these things are not in conflict. I have to manage my inner rage when someone suggests this- as I am not someone who likes conflict or, as it were, wants to fight. I thought that in this book, I would find a writer who agreed with this and who understood this phenomenon. Apparently not. What I found was someone who suggested, emphatically, that to be out in the church, you had to openly act in defiance of homphobic doctrines. At least I am happy that he is not somebody that legitismises 'God hates gays' by accepting it as an integral doctrine of Christianity whether they believe it or not. However this seemingly imperative call to fight grated on me. What about those of us who just want peace? What about those of us who, as it were, are not called to martyrdom? Not all, as he somehow does not know, are called to wear a martyrs' crown. He suggests that we must act in open defiance, or, as he suggests, simply leave and never return, which he views as equally admirable. This decidedly combative attitude, though, I guess is not new among the LGBTQIA+ community, neither is the call to be so. Nor is the apparent accusation that you are in a state of wrongdoing should you not do so. This leaves us at an unfortunate conclusion- that you are in a state of sin if you do not fight. It is eerily similiar to 'Your are in a state of sin if you are gay.'
I simply suggest that an LGBTQI+ person does not need to openly fight. Their existence is enough to undermine the rank blasphemy against the holy ghost that is homophobia- no crusade here is imperative. Our existence also undermines and saps the secular idea that one cannot be LGBTQIA and religious, seemingly because secular authority seems to regard this teaching as legitimate.
This says nothing of the deeply disturbing footnote- 'Bisexuality is another orientation, whose actual existence has been debated in research circles. It is another topic altogether and far too complicated to discuss in a mere footnote.'
Nor does this even mention the fact that the title is so shallow it borders on not even being theology- it is something we really must move beyond as queer Christians.
All up, an important book, but poorly delivered. You can be LGBTQI and a Christian. No qualifiers. But I do not accept that the only way to be queer in the church is to be openly combative- I think that there are much holier ways to be while hearing the voice of God and following in the footsteps of Christ.
'Put your sword back into its' sheath.' Matthew 26:52.
March 1, 2021
some of the comments regarding the Catholic church exposed a more personal than scholarly tone that the book began with
December 31, 2015
I read Edser’s book with mixed feelings. The word order of the title, the slightly ‘self-help’ feel of the subtitle, and the lack of objectivity throughout the book, concerned me. Edser is a gay Catholic psychologist who has journeyed through the difficulties of being gay and managed to find a way through - and remain a Christian.
Early in the book, (pp 30-31) Edser compares two worldviews: the classical worldview is one based on ‘texts written in the ancient world and adhered to today to varying degrees, in a literal way, or ascribed as the Word of God and given the status of Holy Scripture. The other is a knowledge based one within the modern worldview and on the conceptions of contemporary scholarship undertaken in a modern, post-Enlightenment, technological world where various academic disciplines can be brought to bear on all manner of questions, including that of human sexuality.’
He continues a little later: ‘I argue that a modern understanding of knowledge is to be preferred over a blind, uncritical and literal acceptance of ancient texts, even if they are ascribed as God’s Word, or over church dogma that was often synthesised and resolved in the mediaeval period...I hold to an epistemology based in a modern worldview that deems nothing exempt from rigorous enquiry.’
Note the emotive words. After a biographical introduction, the bulk of his book is taken up with showing how the Church has got it wrong, and science has got it right. Which might be good, if science always got it right. However, in Stanton L. Jones’ lengthy essay on studies about homosexuality, Sexual Orientation and Reason: on the implications of false beliefs about homosexuality , many of the studies that Edser endorses in detail throughout the book are shown to be not the last word on the topic, and to lack sufficient rigour in their approach. Blind, uncritical (and literal) acceptance of scientific studies is as unwise as maintaining a similar approach to Scripture.
Many readers of Edser’s book are unlikely to dig into the background of the studies he discusses. If they read through these sections at all they will accept Edser’s opinions on them at face value; he’s nothing if not a propagandist for his topic. Equally, they may find reading through his chapter on the Catholic Church’s pronouncements on homosexuality to be hard work (as I did): this chapter is a diatribe against the Church’s teaching on homosexuality (by no means unjustified) and appears because of Edser’s Catholic background. He doesn’t give Protestant viewpoints much room in the book, except the fundamentalist and evangelical ones, which are regarded as part of the ancient or ‘mediaeval’ worldview, and consequently have no place in the modern world.
Edser presents exegesis on the main contentious texts about homosexuality in the Bible. These are reasonably convincing on the surface, though his source for some of his arguments is Sex in the Bible, by J H Ellens, a man whose theological views on sexual morality differ somewhat from the mainstream. One offensive example, which doesn’t give much credence to the rest of Ellen’s book, is in regard to Lot’s offer of his daughters to the rapists in Sodom, where Ellens writes: One must imagine that his doing so incites a general burst of sarcastic laughter among the company of family and friends inside the house, including merriment on the part of his daughters ...” . Furthermore I’m not sure that Edser’s arguments later in the book for Jesus being indifferent to homosexuality hold water, nor am I convinced about his theory that the relationship between the Centurion and his servant was a gay one.
By the time I got past the studies and exegesis and strong criticism of Catholic ‘teaching’ I wondered if Edser was ever going to get to the point about being gay and Christian. Thankfully he does, but I wonder if readers (especially younger ones) looking for help with living as a gay or lesbian Christian will have managed to plough through all the other material, or given up by this time. The reassuring scientific material is all very well; does it actually assist the homosexual person to deal with the theological issues? His section on how Christians should act towards LGBT people is good: it reminds us about genuine love, justice, compassion and more, and is perhaps the best thing in the book.
Edser has put together a considerable work, but for me it doesn’t quite convince, especially on the theological level.
Early in the book, (pp 30-31) Edser compares two worldviews: the classical worldview is one based on ‘texts written in the ancient world and adhered to today to varying degrees, in a literal way, or ascribed as the Word of God and given the status of Holy Scripture. The other is a knowledge based one within the modern worldview and on the conceptions of contemporary scholarship undertaken in a modern, post-Enlightenment, technological world where various academic disciplines can be brought to bear on all manner of questions, including that of human sexuality.’
He continues a little later: ‘I argue that a modern understanding of knowledge is to be preferred over a blind, uncritical and literal acceptance of ancient texts, even if they are ascribed as God’s Word, or over church dogma that was often synthesised and resolved in the mediaeval period...I hold to an epistemology based in a modern worldview that deems nothing exempt from rigorous enquiry.’
Note the emotive words. After a biographical introduction, the bulk of his book is taken up with showing how the Church has got it wrong, and science has got it right. Which might be good, if science always got it right. However, in Stanton L. Jones’ lengthy essay on studies about homosexuality, Sexual Orientation and Reason: on the implications of false beliefs about homosexuality , many of the studies that Edser endorses in detail throughout the book are shown to be not the last word on the topic, and to lack sufficient rigour in their approach. Blind, uncritical (and literal) acceptance of scientific studies is as unwise as maintaining a similar approach to Scripture.
Many readers of Edser’s book are unlikely to dig into the background of the studies he discusses. If they read through these sections at all they will accept Edser’s opinions on them at face value; he’s nothing if not a propagandist for his topic. Equally, they may find reading through his chapter on the Catholic Church’s pronouncements on homosexuality to be hard work (as I did): this chapter is a diatribe against the Church’s teaching on homosexuality (by no means unjustified) and appears because of Edser’s Catholic background. He doesn’t give Protestant viewpoints much room in the book, except the fundamentalist and evangelical ones, which are regarded as part of the ancient or ‘mediaeval’ worldview, and consequently have no place in the modern world.
Edser presents exegesis on the main contentious texts about homosexuality in the Bible. These are reasonably convincing on the surface, though his source for some of his arguments is Sex in the Bible, by J H Ellens, a man whose theological views on sexual morality differ somewhat from the mainstream. One offensive example, which doesn’t give much credence to the rest of Ellen’s book, is in regard to Lot’s offer of his daughters to the rapists in Sodom, where Ellens writes: One must imagine that his doing so incites a general burst of sarcastic laughter among the company of family and friends inside the house, including merriment on the part of his daughters ...” . Furthermore I’m not sure that Edser’s arguments later in the book for Jesus being indifferent to homosexuality hold water, nor am I convinced about his theory that the relationship between the Centurion and his servant was a gay one.
By the time I got past the studies and exegesis and strong criticism of Catholic ‘teaching’ I wondered if Edser was ever going to get to the point about being gay and Christian. Thankfully he does, but I wonder if readers (especially younger ones) looking for help with living as a gay or lesbian Christian will have managed to plough through all the other material, or given up by this time. The reassuring scientific material is all very well; does it actually assist the homosexual person to deal with the theological issues? His section on how Christians should act towards LGBT people is good: it reminds us about genuine love, justice, compassion and more, and is perhaps the best thing in the book.
Edser has put together a considerable work, but for me it doesn’t quite convince, especially on the theological level.
January 23, 2016
In the often volatile, convergence of Christianity and sexuality what is often lacking is sound, rational debate and information. Not only do Christian gay and lesbian people have to sort through the maze of internal struggles, others opinions, prejudices and theology but so do their straight Christian family and friends.
Then of course there are the straight Christian pastors, church leaders and congregants who don’t know any gay people (they do, they just don’t know it) who are questioning previously held beliefs about homosexuality. From my experience there are more in the latter space then are letting on.
Whichever group you belong to it is hard to get clarity when you have angry gay activists yelling 'GAY RIGHTS!' in one ear and in the other, right wing Christian activists screaming 'IT'S AN ABOMINATION!'
Enter Being Gay, Being Christian by Dr Stuart Edser.
With this book you can sit quietly, read and digest information at your own pace with only two calm voices; educated Edser's and your rational mind weighing up and balancing the information with your own assumptions and experience.
Not only does Edser have his own personal experience to contribute but also covers scientific research on sexual orientation, psychology and theology. All these are covered adequately for the average reader thus saving them hours ploughing through academic publications in these areas or several books. Edser's writing style is natural and accessible.
Coming from a Pentecostal/Evangelical background, I found the chapters on Catholicism of particular interest and value. These are insightful, well researched and documented.
Considering the audience I assume will read Being Gay, Being Christian I did wonder if the final chapter was a bit redundant. But I am only one reader in the broad audience. I am sure some will love it.
If you are looking for answers to the question 'can you be gay and a Christian?' Edser's work is a great place to start. Who knows, you may never have to read another thing on the subject again.
Then of course there are the straight Christian pastors, church leaders and congregants who don’t know any gay people (they do, they just don’t know it) who are questioning previously held beliefs about homosexuality. From my experience there are more in the latter space then are letting on.
Whichever group you belong to it is hard to get clarity when you have angry gay activists yelling 'GAY RIGHTS!' in one ear and in the other, right wing Christian activists screaming 'IT'S AN ABOMINATION!'
Enter Being Gay, Being Christian by Dr Stuart Edser.
With this book you can sit quietly, read and digest information at your own pace with only two calm voices; educated Edser's and your rational mind weighing up and balancing the information with your own assumptions and experience.
Not only does Edser have his own personal experience to contribute but also covers scientific research on sexual orientation, psychology and theology. All these are covered adequately for the average reader thus saving them hours ploughing through academic publications in these areas or several books. Edser's writing style is natural and accessible.
Coming from a Pentecostal/Evangelical background, I found the chapters on Catholicism of particular interest and value. These are insightful, well researched and documented.
Considering the audience I assume will read Being Gay, Being Christian I did wonder if the final chapter was a bit redundant. But I am only one reader in the broad audience. I am sure some will love it.
If you are looking for answers to the question 'can you be gay and a Christian?' Edser's work is a great place to start. Who knows, you may never have to read another thing on the subject again.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews