The sources of the book can be traced back to 1987, when the Presbyterian General Assembly asked for a broad study of sexuality. They wanted a blue-ribbon group “to conduct a comprehensive study of human sexuality in the context of Christian faith and practice, and to report their findings to a later General Assembly” (p. 5).
That task force worked for four years, producing a document that some called prophetic and others roundly denounced as unbiblical. What the group proposed was that sexual behavior be judged by the norm of “justice/love” more than by law; the substance of sexual relationships (qualities of justice and love) was considered more important than their form (e.g., the institution of marriage). The report ignited a firestorm of controversy when it appeared, and the 1991 General Assembly overwhelmingly rejected it. Ironically, the paper turned out to be a runaway bestseller among Presbyterian study-documents; more than 100,000 copies have been sold since publication.
In this present volume the writers, noting the social change of the past decade or so, undertake further exploration of the issues raised by the task force. The book is an anthology, edited by two members of the earlier group, and like many anthologies, it suffers from considerable unevenness in quality and readability. Some of the essays are replete with esoteric terminology and “inside” expressions that many readers may find hard to understand. Others are lucid and readable, notably the chapters by Daniel Maguire, Mary Hunt and Thelma Burgonic-Watson. Most helpful is the last chapter by Virginia Davidson, Michael Smith and Janie Spahr. These three give us a good, practical overview of the church’s struggles over homosexuality since 1978, and they push us to re-think not only homosexual ordination but the very principle of ordination itself.
Three recurring emphases here deserve comment.
1.) The writers remind us, as did the earlier task force document (and as the Bible consistently does) that body and spirit cannot be separated. In Western culture we have tended to elevate the spiritual and downgrade the “bodily” — including sexuality — as partaking of evil. This book calls us to rejoice in sexuality as God’s good gift, and to express it responsibly in accordance with God’s creative purpose.
2.) They remind us that sexuality is not a private matter related only to individual decision; it is “something structurally located with the entire fabric of complex social institutions” (p. 334). Our convictions about our sexuality are shaped by the patterns of our society as much as by our own faith in God. We need to be working at re-shaping social attitudes so that they will more nearly reflect God’s purpose.
3.) In that connection, many of the essays speak of the link between our sexual behavior and our diverse ways of seeking and using power (thus the “justice” element in the norm). Where there is a patriarchal social structure, power rests primarily in the hands of men, and patterns of male domination and female subordination are easily enforced. There are power dynamics in all human relations, sexual or otherwise; we need to analyze them and seek to make them more just.
This books is not easy reading and it is long. It summons us to hard thinking about uncomfortable realities. But they are realities that we must face if we would be faithful to God in a changing society. This reviewer believes that the writers have rendered a real service to our church.
