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(Volume 1: Number 10) -- August 20, 1997

If you are interested in Christian responses to homosexuality, get the Summer 1997 Christian Scholar's Review while you still can. Here are a few of the articles that this current issue features:

* - "Exegetical Issues in the Use of the Bible to Justify the Acceptance of Homosexual Practice" by Guenther ("Gene") Haas (p386) -- lengthy, begins with an analysis of linguistic arguments, then considers the following objections: the idea that biblical authors are limited by their social horizon, the argument that biblical prohibitions are conditioned by misunderstanding, and the appeal to science and personal experience.

* - "Gay Texts of Terror?" by Michael McIntyre (p413) -- contemplates "the biblical texts and their interpretations conventionally used to condemn 'homosexuality.'" Concludes in part that "Scriptural passages that appear at first glance to have some bearing on the question of homosexuality provide little guidance. ...and do not add up to a coherent set of ethical teachings."

* - "Biblical Texts Relevant to Homosexual Orientation and Practice: Notes on Philology and Interpretation" by P.D.M. Turner (p435) -- "an in-depth philology of the plain sense of the Greek and Hebrew texts and concludes that homosexual practice is fundamentally incompatible with biblical teaching."

* - Also included are reviews of multiple books on the subject. Here are a few of the titles mentioned:

Jesus Acted Up: A Gay and Lesbian Manifesto, by Robert Goss (Harper, 1993) -- reviewer Gene B. Chase thrashes it. (p573)

Against Nature: Types of Moral Argumentation Regarding Homosexuality, by Pim Pronk (Eerdmans, 1993) -- the same reviewer finds Against Nature "an even-handed, nuanced treatment of homosexuality that disagrees with everybody." (p574)

Love Between Women: Early Christian Responses to Female Homoeroticism, by Bernadette J. Brooten (Univ. of Chicago Press, n.d.) -- reviewer Karin L. Thompson finds the book "an astoundingly thorough compilation of ancient sources relevant to female homosexuality. ...However, [Thompson's] presentist tendencies consistently slant her hermeneutical scholarship and detract from what is otherwise an excellent historical compilation and resource for this issue." (p579)

Stranger at the Gate: To be Gay and Christian in America, by Mel White (Simon & Schuster, 1994) -- "a case study of one Christian's very personal struggle with his sexuality, his attempts to please his Lord and his cry to us as a stranger at our gate." (p581)

-- from Apologia Report 2:24, August 4, 1997