[] How
prevalent is homosexuality? [] What causes it? [] Is it a psychopathology? [] Can it be changed?
Questions like these often accompany discussions of homosexual behavior. For answers we naturally look to scientific studies. But what does the scientific research actually show? More important, what place should this research have in shaping the church's response?
Stanton Jones and Mark Yarhouse help us face these issues squarely and honestly. In four central chapters they examine how scientific research has been used within church debates-in particular within Methodist, Presbyterian and Episcopal contexts. They then survey the most recent and best scientific research and sort out what it actually shows. Next they help us to interpret the research's relevance to the moral debate within the church. In a concluding chapter they make a strong case for a traditional Christian sexual ethic.
Church groups considering these complex issues will find helpful discussion questions at the end of each chapter. Essential reading for anyone involved in the church's debate over homosexual behavior.
"How grateful I am to Stanton Jones and Mark Yarhouse for this book. As one engaged now for over twenty-five years in the church's moral debate about homosexuality, it is refreshing to read the results of scientific research that elevates the level of discussion and dispels many rhetorical myths. This is an important read!" John Huffman, St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Newport Beach, California
"This is a brilliant book of common sense, reasoned analysis and biblical wisdom. A must-read for every Christian who wants more light than heat on what may be the watershed issue of Christ and culture in this generation." Timothy George, Beeson Divinity School of Samford University
"Both liberal and conservative Christians are ignorant about scientific studies of homosexuality. Furthermore, most do not understand the contributions and limits of scientific claims to theological-ethical reasoning about Christian morality. This new book by Jones and Yarhouse provides significant insights into both issues and will benefit greatly all sides to the contemporary debate." Don Browning, University of Chicago Divinity School
"Carefully written, impeccably researched, biblically attuned, sensitive and thought-provoking, this is a masterful treatment of a vitally important topic. The book is certain to have great relevance for counselors, church leaders, students, researchers and all who have an interest in the complex issues surrounding homosexuality." Gary R. Collins, author and psychologist
"Professors Stanton Jones and Mark Yarhouse have tackled a crucial question in the debate about homosexuality. Both highly qualified scientists and moral theologians, they have made a thorough study of the interaction of scientific research and theological ethics, and in an appropriately dispassionate way. To have serious science and serious moral theology undertaken in one volume is a major resource to all those engaged in the debate. . . . Churches and scientists will be grateful to the authors for this careful book." Timothy Bradshaw, Regent's Park College, Oxford.
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