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Science, Scripture, and Same-Sex Love
Some church leaders assert that same-sex practices are incompatible with Christian teaching. The issues threaten to divide our churches and our nation. Michael B. Regele explores current scientific findings in biological brain research, psychology, and sociology, which he compares with scriptural teaching from the Bible, to show that a faithful reading of the Scriptures is consistent with Christian teaching that affirms same-sex love leading to same-sex marriage and full participation of LGBT people in church leadership. Regele offers compelling research and well-supported answers to common-place questions such
Is sexual orientation a choice that individuals make?
Is same sex attraction sinful in itself?
Is it true that lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are more promiscuous than heterosexual people?
Is it true that same-sex relationships do not last as long as hetero-sex relationships?
Is abstinence for life the only choice for a Christian LGBT person? Or can they enter into intimate and sexual relationships and still be active participants in a Christian community?
Is same-gender marriage acceptable from a Christian standpoint?
Is sexual orientation a choice that individuals make?
Is same sex attraction sinful in itself?
Is it true that lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are more promiscuous than heterosexual people?
Is it true that same-sex relationships do not last as long as hetero-sex relationships?
Is abstinence for life the only choice for a Christian LGBT person? Or can they enter into intimate and sexual relationships and still be active participants in a Christian community?
Is same-gender marriage acceptable from a Christian standpoint?
- GenresNonfictionLGBTReligion
298 pages, Paperback
First published October 7, 2014
19 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 20, 2019
I came to this book expecting to be favorably inclined. I’m in a 30+ year same-sex relationship, was married in my church six years ago (UCC, not the author’s Presbyterian denomination, but even so), known a number of seminarians and ministers, am a weekly churchgoer familiar with the biblical issues involved. But.
Michael Regele goes over two issues: scientific and religious. It’s a bit odd that someone religious by training would spend about half the book on science, but he does marshal a lot of scientific studies in Chapters 3, 4 and 9, to assert that LGBT orientation is innate, rather than a choice. To give him credit, he does review the data from the other side (notably the Family Research Council, itself a religious organization) and contest it: useful enough for religious people who may have heard some of this debate, so it was a worthwhile effort, as far as it goes.
Even so, if he was going to dip into sociology it would have been nice if he had talked to LGBT people, or at least LGBT seminarians, instead of treating this as an abstract issue. He does mention his daughter’s announcement that she is a lesbian, and he mentions gay people he knew early in his ministry, in the 1970s and 1980s, a vastly different time in society in general, the gay community in particular. But that’s all. It’s a rather dry, wordy analysis.
LGBT readers, laypeople at least, might find this slightly offensive, the idea that they are some kind of abstract phenomenon, an issue, not individuals. Worse yet, if Regele’s aim is to show that same-sex attraction is forgivable because it’s innate, it suggests that those people can’t help themselves. (It shouldn’t go without saying, and yet it does, that Christian faith is a choice, marriage is a choice, and both are also identify-defining characteristics – and expect freedom from discrimination too; equal protection under the law isn’t limited to heredity).
And on the subject of real LGBT people, Regele apparently didn’t touch on the history. He does devote a chapter or so to the changing cultural tide, as he calls it, with a lot of polling data. Even here, though, it comes off as a natural progression, a tidal phenomenon or tectonic movement, when, in fact, activists struggled for years in society and in medical and religious conferences to get it to this point. He could have skimmed historians of the movement like John D'Emilio, George Chauncey, Randy Shilts, Jonathan Katz among others to get a sense of the struggle and the human drama of it.
As for his religious arguments, he reviews the Biblical passages on homosexuality: Gen. 19 (Sodom & Gomorrah), Lev. 18 and 20, Romans 1, 1 Cor. 6, 1 Tim. 1 and Jude. He applies considerable technical analysis – exegesis – to them and examines the original Hebrew and Greek wording. He even finds the Biblical cross-references to Sodom elsewhere, in Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, where the Scriptures there suggest that Sodom may have been a matter of inhospitality to foreigners, or hostility to the poor – both themes that may be relevant to current American society. All this is ground that John O’Neill and John Boswell first researched decades ago, but it’s still a worthwhile, detailed and competent review, and he does construct a theology of inclusion.
(We could have used a discussion of some other Bible verses, more upbeat ones, about David and Jonathan. And Ruth and Naomi).
I sense that this is the kind of book, and argument, current maybe 10, 15 years ago. As I write (March 2015), the U.S. Supreme Court is cooking up a ruling that may extend same-sex marriage from the current three dozen or so to all 50 states. Now, maybe not all Christian churches may want to perform weddings, and maybe they shouldn’t, but those that do may be pondering what to do next, whether this new source of celebrations might bring new congregants and goodwill to denominations that are otherwise losing membership and funds to age, disinterest and hard times. (Among other things, Regele didn’t cite Boswell’s Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe, which not only suggests early Christian approaches but could be a rich source of liturgy for future weddings.)
And while he was at it, he might have reflected on what this means for his daughter. He wouldn’t have to interview her, but he needed only reflect on what it means for her, especially now. He might also have reflected on the civics: why the religious-minded would want to use politics and the law to deny her the ability to form a legal household, own a home together, raise a legal family together. Another worthy chapter left unwritten.,
I see this book as helpful for ministers and seminarians who may be new to this discussion, or are seeking talking points. Lay LGBT people may find it off-putting and dry. Certainly those whose minds are made up won’t accept this, though some doubters might find it of interest. A religious publisher like Abingdon must have thought this useful for religious professionals already in the discussion – but this book’s timeliness and appeal to laypeople needs work. Maybe a future revised edition might correct it.
For now: nice try, but ...
(Postscript: the author's PCUSA general assembly voted March 2015 to allow its clergy to officiate over same-sex marriages in states where it is legal. It seems to be an optional choice -- pastors may do weddings, but aren't compelled to -- so this vote begins an internal debate, not end it. The June 2015 Supreme Court decision means that PCUSA may feel more pressure to do weddings, and this book's stilted, dated analysis may not be entirely helpful.)
Michael Regele goes over two issues: scientific and religious. It’s a bit odd that someone religious by training would spend about half the book on science, but he does marshal a lot of scientific studies in Chapters 3, 4 and 9, to assert that LGBT orientation is innate, rather than a choice. To give him credit, he does review the data from the other side (notably the Family Research Council, itself a religious organization) and contest it: useful enough for religious people who may have heard some of this debate, so it was a worthwhile effort, as far as it goes.
Even so, if he was going to dip into sociology it would have been nice if he had talked to LGBT people, or at least LGBT seminarians, instead of treating this as an abstract issue. He does mention his daughter’s announcement that she is a lesbian, and he mentions gay people he knew early in his ministry, in the 1970s and 1980s, a vastly different time in society in general, the gay community in particular. But that’s all. It’s a rather dry, wordy analysis.
LGBT readers, laypeople at least, might find this slightly offensive, the idea that they are some kind of abstract phenomenon, an issue, not individuals. Worse yet, if Regele’s aim is to show that same-sex attraction is forgivable because it’s innate, it suggests that those people can’t help themselves. (It shouldn’t go without saying, and yet it does, that Christian faith is a choice, marriage is a choice, and both are also identify-defining characteristics – and expect freedom from discrimination too; equal protection under the law isn’t limited to heredity).
And on the subject of real LGBT people, Regele apparently didn’t touch on the history. He does devote a chapter or so to the changing cultural tide, as he calls it, with a lot of polling data. Even here, though, it comes off as a natural progression, a tidal phenomenon or tectonic movement, when, in fact, activists struggled for years in society and in medical and religious conferences to get it to this point. He could have skimmed historians of the movement like John D'Emilio, George Chauncey, Randy Shilts, Jonathan Katz among others to get a sense of the struggle and the human drama of it.
As for his religious arguments, he reviews the Biblical passages on homosexuality: Gen. 19 (Sodom & Gomorrah), Lev. 18 and 20, Romans 1, 1 Cor. 6, 1 Tim. 1 and Jude. He applies considerable technical analysis – exegesis – to them and examines the original Hebrew and Greek wording. He even finds the Biblical cross-references to Sodom elsewhere, in Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, where the Scriptures there suggest that Sodom may have been a matter of inhospitality to foreigners, or hostility to the poor – both themes that may be relevant to current American society. All this is ground that John O’Neill and John Boswell first researched decades ago, but it’s still a worthwhile, detailed and competent review, and he does construct a theology of inclusion.
(We could have used a discussion of some other Bible verses, more upbeat ones, about David and Jonathan. And Ruth and Naomi).
I sense that this is the kind of book, and argument, current maybe 10, 15 years ago. As I write (March 2015), the U.S. Supreme Court is cooking up a ruling that may extend same-sex marriage from the current three dozen or so to all 50 states. Now, maybe not all Christian churches may want to perform weddings, and maybe they shouldn’t, but those that do may be pondering what to do next, whether this new source of celebrations might bring new congregants and goodwill to denominations that are otherwise losing membership and funds to age, disinterest and hard times. (Among other things, Regele didn’t cite Boswell’s Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe, which not only suggests early Christian approaches but could be a rich source of liturgy for future weddings.)
And while he was at it, he might have reflected on what this means for his daughter. He wouldn’t have to interview her, but he needed only reflect on what it means for her, especially now. He might also have reflected on the civics: why the religious-minded would want to use politics and the law to deny her the ability to form a legal household, own a home together, raise a legal family together. Another worthy chapter left unwritten.,
I see this book as helpful for ministers and seminarians who may be new to this discussion, or are seeking talking points. Lay LGBT people may find it off-putting and dry. Certainly those whose minds are made up won’t accept this, though some doubters might find it of interest. A religious publisher like Abingdon must have thought this useful for religious professionals already in the discussion – but this book’s timeliness and appeal to laypeople needs work. Maybe a future revised edition might correct it.
For now: nice try, but ...
(Postscript: the author's PCUSA general assembly voted March 2015 to allow its clergy to officiate over same-sex marriages in states where it is legal. It seems to be an optional choice -- pastors may do weddings, but aren't compelled to -- so this vote begins an internal debate, not end it. The June 2015 Supreme Court decision means that PCUSA may feel more pressure to do weddings, and this book's stilted, dated analysis may not be entirely helpful.)
May 2, 2015
The author, Michael B. Regele, is a pastor and the father of a woman who happens to be a lesbian. I couldn't quite follow each and every one of his arguments, but I get the main ideas. His main conclusion, summed up well in the book's second-to-last chapter, is that there is a Biblical basis for believing and acting as if loving, life-affirming, non-exploitative, long-term relationships between two people of the same sex can be moral. The arguments used in this book are scientific, Biblical, and ethical. While it won't appeal to a general audience that doesn't specifically have a Christian worldview, many Christians will find it engaging food for thought.
November 23, 2014
A thoughtful, well researched and compassionate look at Christianity's struggle with LGBT issues throughout time and in the world today.
Regele cuts through the rhetoric and misinformation, getting to the meat of this polarizing issue.
He is a welcome voice in an often hateful and harmful genre. I truly hope this book finds it's way into many lives.
Regele cuts through the rhetoric and misinformation, getting to the meat of this polarizing issue.
He is a welcome voice in an often hateful and harmful genre. I truly hope this book finds it's way into many lives.
November 14, 2014
A special thank you to Abingdon Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A Father's Personal Journey through Science, Scripture, and Same-Sex Love with much controversy and debate of LGBT, and the Christian beliefs, Michael B. Regele courageously steps out and delivers personal insight, and well researched information.
With a deep understanding, Regele addresses all concerns and perspectives, intelligently with an easy to read format; from theological reflection, biblical, current medical, psychological, neurobiological, and sociological data on sexual orientation and identity, as well as pastoral insights and most importantly, the warm heart of a father who writes every page with his own daughter in mind.
There are so many detailed topics addressed within the book, and would recommend reading the book when you have the time to study and make notes; as found myself bookmarking so many pages, so hitting only a few of the highlights, I found enlightening.
As Regele mentions, perhaps this awareness is the work of the Spirit. Today, tolerance for diversity has never been greater, at least in the most Western countries shaped by Christianity in one form or another over the past two thousand years.
What Must Change?
“To see our doors opened to the LGBT community and to see the church have a voice in calling them, like straight folk, to faithful discipleship, we must make some changes.”
• The first change: “Our discomfort is our discomfort.”
• The second change: Willingly to redefine what Christian marriage means.
• Third change: How we define Christian leadership.
This issue is no different than the discomfort many Southerners felt when suddenly blacks were granted equal status. It is no different than the discomfort many of us felt as we recognized the need and necessity of granting women equal status in society and in the church. As Paul teaches us in Galatians 3:28.
Some important facts:
• Current science supports the idea that a person’s sexual orientation is an innate trait with which one is born. One does not choose to be heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual. One is born as one of these, or in some cases, intersexual.
• Attraction is attraction. At the biological and psychological level, it is a natural process that is established through processes that also determine a person’s orientation. Attraction serves the human community by bringing people together. All of us have need of healing and restoration of our sexuality, for all of us are broken in some way.
The book addresses three important areas:
• Sexual behavior
• Same sex marriage
• LGBT leadership in the church
For many conservatives, improper sexual behavior leads to the judgment of God and the prospect of spending eternity in hell. Within this conceptual world young people are taught sex is bad unless you are married and you are bad if you practice it before marriage. Consequently we have young people everywhere dropping out of our churches because their choice is between feeling guilty and condemned or turning away from God entirely.
The conclusion, being gay with same sex attraction is an innate reality. There is nothing biologically wrong with being gay. If there is nothing biologically wrong, then there is nothing wrong period any more than there is something wrong with all of us?
He asks the question is same sex marriage acceptable from a Christian standpoint? Not surprisingly, a survey with the question: “Should the religious community embrace LGBT people by Christian affiliation?"
The data demonstrates a progressive to conservative orientation, with Episcopalians at 61% are ready to accept than any other affiliation group. (The Quadrennium Project 2012 Mission Insite, LLC)
• The highest in agreement: Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, and Presbyterians/Reformed.
• The groups with the higher percentage of disagreement were: Baptist, Non-denominational, and Pentecostal/Holiness.
• Out of the eight religious affiliation groups, 40% believe same-sex marriage should be legalized compared to 31% who disagree.
With new perspectives from scientific to scripture, presented with compassion and clarity—causing new reactions and awareness. A book for all ages, diversity, churches, leaders, and those of any sexual preference and religious belief; liberal or conservative—especially for those who have been clouded by narrow minded and ignorant thinking to age old beliefs.
It is sad, especially when parents, friends, family, and churches are turning their backs on gays and their lifestyles. What does this say about their behavior? I have many LGBT friends and have heard horror stories of their guilt, shame, condemnation, and judgments; primarily coming from family and the church—It is time for a change. A Must Needed Gift-Well Done!
BTW: I come from Non-denominational and Baptist background; unfortunately, they are both in the highest disagreement group; however, not all of us share these findings and fully aware of their misconceptions.
A Father's Personal Journey through Science, Scripture, and Same-Sex Love with much controversy and debate of LGBT, and the Christian beliefs, Michael B. Regele courageously steps out and delivers personal insight, and well researched information.
With a deep understanding, Regele addresses all concerns and perspectives, intelligently with an easy to read format; from theological reflection, biblical, current medical, psychological, neurobiological, and sociological data on sexual orientation and identity, as well as pastoral insights and most importantly, the warm heart of a father who writes every page with his own daughter in mind.
There are so many detailed topics addressed within the book, and would recommend reading the book when you have the time to study and make notes; as found myself bookmarking so many pages, so hitting only a few of the highlights, I found enlightening.
As Regele mentions, perhaps this awareness is the work of the Spirit. Today, tolerance for diversity has never been greater, at least in the most Western countries shaped by Christianity in one form or another over the past two thousand years.
What Must Change?
“To see our doors opened to the LGBT community and to see the church have a voice in calling them, like straight folk, to faithful discipleship, we must make some changes.”
• The first change: “Our discomfort is our discomfort.”
• The second change: Willingly to redefine what Christian marriage means.
• Third change: How we define Christian leadership.
This issue is no different than the discomfort many Southerners felt when suddenly blacks were granted equal status. It is no different than the discomfort many of us felt as we recognized the need and necessity of granting women equal status in society and in the church. As Paul teaches us in Galatians 3:28.
Some important facts:
• Current science supports the idea that a person’s sexual orientation is an innate trait with which one is born. One does not choose to be heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual. One is born as one of these, or in some cases, intersexual.
• Attraction is attraction. At the biological and psychological level, it is a natural process that is established through processes that also determine a person’s orientation. Attraction serves the human community by bringing people together. All of us have need of healing and restoration of our sexuality, for all of us are broken in some way.
The book addresses three important areas:
• Sexual behavior
• Same sex marriage
• LGBT leadership in the church
For many conservatives, improper sexual behavior leads to the judgment of God and the prospect of spending eternity in hell. Within this conceptual world young people are taught sex is bad unless you are married and you are bad if you practice it before marriage. Consequently we have young people everywhere dropping out of our churches because their choice is between feeling guilty and condemned or turning away from God entirely.
The conclusion, being gay with same sex attraction is an innate reality. There is nothing biologically wrong with being gay. If there is nothing biologically wrong, then there is nothing wrong period any more than there is something wrong with all of us?
He asks the question is same sex marriage acceptable from a Christian standpoint? Not surprisingly, a survey with the question: “Should the religious community embrace LGBT people by Christian affiliation?"
The data demonstrates a progressive to conservative orientation, with Episcopalians at 61% are ready to accept than any other affiliation group. (The Quadrennium Project 2012 Mission Insite, LLC)
• The highest in agreement: Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, and Presbyterians/Reformed.
• The groups with the higher percentage of disagreement were: Baptist, Non-denominational, and Pentecostal/Holiness.
• Out of the eight religious affiliation groups, 40% believe same-sex marriage should be legalized compared to 31% who disagree.
With new perspectives from scientific to scripture, presented with compassion and clarity—causing new reactions and awareness. A book for all ages, diversity, churches, leaders, and those of any sexual preference and religious belief; liberal or conservative—especially for those who have been clouded by narrow minded and ignorant thinking to age old beliefs.
It is sad, especially when parents, friends, family, and churches are turning their backs on gays and their lifestyles. What does this say about their behavior? I have many LGBT friends and have heard horror stories of their guilt, shame, condemnation, and judgments; primarily coming from family and the church—It is time for a change. A Must Needed Gift-Well Done!
BTW: I come from Non-denominational and Baptist background; unfortunately, they are both in the highest disagreement group; however, not all of us share these findings and fully aware of their misconceptions.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews