ROGERS, J: Jesus, the Bible and Homosexuality

Westminster John Knox Press, 2009

208 pages

Christian, Gay and lesbian, Scripture

In this revised and expanded best seller, Rogers argues for equal rights in both the church and society for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered people. He describes how he moved away from opposition to that support, charts the churchżs history of using biblical passages to oppress marginalized groups, argues for a Christ-centered reading of Scripture, debunks stereotypes about gays and lesbians, and explores texts used most frequently against homosexuals and gay ordination.In this newly revised edition, he maps the recent progress of major U.S. denominations toward full equality for LGBT persons, adds a new chapter that examines how Scripture is best interpreted by Jesus’ redemptive life and ministry, and updates his own efforts and experiences. The book also includes a guide for group study or personal reflection.

Where to Begin Reading?

With such a wealth of titles available, and the field constatnly expanding, the obvious question is where to begin? To which the obvious reply is, where are you starting from?

The question matters. You need to be clear on whether you want a simple introduction, a general but comprehensive overview for playpeople, or a scholarly tome filled with notes, sources and all the necessary qualifications, ifs and buts. Are you looking for approaches rooted in Scripture, or Church teaching, or both? From a gay male, lesbian, or trans perspective? All these questions, and more, will influence your choice. In my detailed posts for each book, I have attempted to provide answers to these questions. The labels included in each post will help you to find books on a specific topic. With time, I will be building in thematic lists, a search engine, and other means to access exactly what you personally will find helpful - but all these refinements take time, while I am simultaneously trying to expand the number and range of books included. I crave your patience.

In the meantime, I offer some suggestions of what might be the most useful for specific purposes:

Read More:

COLEMAN: Homosexuality

Coleman, Gerald

Homosexuality - Catholic Teaching and Pastoral Practice

From the back cover:

"Father Coleman consistently displays a reverence for the complexity of this issue, but a respect that is "wise", grounded in the Church's authentic wisdom about the meaning of morality, and here specifically about the meaning of sexual morality. On a subject as difficult and at times as controverted as homosexuality, one does not always find the calm and the balance seen in"Homosexuality: Catholic Teaching and Pastoral Practice" ...When readers complete this book, they will fnd an attitude to wards homosexual women and men that is honest, respectful and grounded in fine scholarship and research."

(Cardinal Roger Mahoney, Archbishop of Los Angeles)

From Google Books:

"An in-depth, thorough and respectful presentation of the Catholic position on homosexuality, from a theological and pastoral perspective."

JORDAN, M D: Blessing Same Sex Unions

Univ of Chicago Press, 2005

258 pages

Christian, gay and lesbian, gay marriage

“At most church weddings, the person presiding over the ritual is not a priest or a pastor, but the wedding planner, followed by the photographer, the florist, and the caterer. And in this day and age, more wedding theology is supplied by Modern Bride magazine or reality television than by any of the Christian treatises on holy matrimony. Indeed, church weddings have strayed long and far from distinctly Christian aspirations. The costumes and gestures might still be right, but the intentions are hardly religious. Why then, asks noted gay commentator Mark D. Jordan, are so many churches vehemently opposed to blessing same-sex unions? In this incisive work, Jordan shows how carefully selected ideals of Christian marriage have come to dominate recent debates over same-sex unions. Opponents of gay marriage, he reveals, too often confuse simplified ideals of matrimony with historical facts. They suppose, for instance, that there has been a stable Christian tradition of marriage across millennia, when in reality Christians have quarrelled among themselves for centuries about even the most basic elements of marital theology, authorizing experiments like polygamy and divorce. Jordan also argues that no matter what the courts do, Christian churches will have to decide for themselves whether to bless same-sex unions. No civil compromise can settle the religious questions surrounding gay marriage. And queer Christians, he contends, will have to discover for themselves what they really want out of marriage. If they are not just after legal recognition as a couple or a place at the social table, do they really seek the blessing of God? Or just the garish melodrama of a white wedding? Posing trenchant questions such as these,Blessing Same-Sex Unions will be a must-read for both sides of the debate over gay marriage in America today.”

L'EMPEREUR: Spiritual Direction and the Gay Person

Edicoes Loyola, 1998

The opening sentences of this book:

Homosexuality is one of God's most significant gifts to humanity. To be gay or lesbian is to have received a special blessing from God. to be gay or lesbian is to have received a special blessing from God. All humans receive their own special graces from their creator, but god has chosen some to be gay and lesbian as a way of revealing something about Godself that heterosexuals do not.

"Written with a solid grasp of the central personal and social issues facing lesbian and gay people, "Spiritual Direction and the gay Person" is a practical and liberating resource for spiritual directors and those seeking guidance.  It is not prescriptive.  Its only aim is to assist gay men and lesbian women on their spiritual journeys, through relationships, prayer and liturgy and through their commitment to, or rejection of, institutional religion."

-Robert Nugent, co-founder of New Ways Ministry

Again and again I scribbled Excellent in the margins of this book - unflinching in examining the gay experience, refreshing in recognizing God's handiwork there, illuminating in charting this particular path of spiritual growth, and chock-full of references creatively and insightfully used

-Daniel Helniniak, author of "What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality"