Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality: Explode the Myths, Heal the Church by Jack Rogers Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality: Explode the Myths, Heal the Church
Book Review: Author gets Barth wrong
Summary: 3 Stars
This book has much to commend it, but the author's summary of Barth on male-female relationships (and his subsequent rejection of same-gender love) disregards Barth scholarship of the past 10 years, and is a superficial reading of Church Dogmatics in any case. A brief conversation with George Hunsinger at Princeton--one of the leading Barth scholars in North America--would have cleared this up and resulted, I think, in a very different argument. Eberhard Busch, Barth's longtime secretary and a respected theologian in his own right, would also have been helpful.
Barth, in the last months of his life, dictated a letter to a pastor struggling with the issue of homosexuality, in which he said that while he was too old to give the issue the attention it deserved, he suspected that if he were to rewrite the offending paragraphs in Church Dogmatics III.4, he would have said that homosexual relationships, too, shared in "freedom for community." That comment is brief, but striking, since "freedom for community" is precisely the divine gift in which heterosexual married partners participate, according to Barth.
To argue that Barth believed that the male or female is incomplete without the other does not mean that Barth concluded heterosexual marriage was normative for everyone. In fact, in the context of Protestant theology in the early 50s when Barth wrote III.4, he rather boldly praised vocational celibacy and reminded the reader that Jesus had no wife. Therefore, if Rogers is right, Barth believed that Jesus was "incomplete" or "not fully human" because he was unmarried.
On the contrary, if you dig deep enough, you can see a trajectory leading from III.4 to the comment near the end of his life that same-gender relationships might also be seen as a divine gift that leads to "freedom for community." So Rogers missed an opportunity to approach the issue constructively in a Barthian context: instead, he merely concedes Barth to those Barthians whose reading, like his, of Church Dogmatics is one-sided. Thus, Barth has to be rejected as a theologian of "male superiority" who has nothing to contribute to the debate. The sad thing is that up-to-date Barth scholarship--which would have called this view into question--was available to the author in his own church.
Book Review: Dishonest
Summary: 1 Stars
This is an intellectually dishonest book. The worst example of the author's dishonesty concerns his references to Robert Gagnon's book The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics. To put it plainly, Rogers misrepresents Gagnon's arguments and perspective. Either Rogers has not actually read Gagnon, or else he is bearing deliberately false witness. In either case, it is deplorable for a former General Assembly Moderator to use such tactics. This also calls into question every assertion in this book. As a Presbyterian pastor, I also consider it deplorable that this deeply dishonest book is published by Westminster/John Knox Press (which has published other embarassingly bad works including asinine conspiracy theories about 9/11).
The large number of fawning reviews for a clearly deficient book indicate that the pro-gay caucus within the Presbyterian Church (USA) is growing increasingly desperate. If this book is the best evidence they have for their stance, then their cause is lost.
Book Review: great factual reading
Summary: 5 Stars
wonderfully written. the author brings in facts along with the culture during the time it was written. you will thouroughly enjoy this book. after reading it the first time, i will digest it for a couple of weeks and then read it again. thank you jack rogers!!!Book Review: good book!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an excellent book that deals with the "truth" of what the bible says about being gay. It really explains the truth of the scriptures and shows you how people have wrongly interpreted the bible for many years. It would be especially good for people in the Presbyterian church. It is a wonderful read and would be very helpful for people who have a GLBT friend/relative or for a GLBT who has struggled with this. I encourage you to read this book and break free of the religious nonsense!! God is here for you now!!Book Review: A Pastor rethinks his opinion on homosexuality
Summary: 5 Stars
JAck Rogers in this book exemplifies what SHOULD be going on in the church today. He challenges his traditional view on a controversial subject, and, using the Presbyterian church's methodology, changes his mind. This is a spiritual and thoughtful book that every Christian (and homophobe) should read.