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Summary: Bart LCSW
Review: A simplistic piece of Biblical propaganda. Ignores the reality of long, committed, and rewarding homosexual relationships. As a psychotherapist (already suspect to the Christian Right) this serves as continued avoidance of the question "did God create homosexuals?" This topic is simply to confusing for the rigid "black and white thinking fundamentalist Christian" I hope people interested in the subject will also research more scientific based literature for balance. I am the person who treats your children after their suicide attempts. For their sake, I hope the reader will broaden their scope.
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Summary: another sad case of satan quoting scripture
Review: God's principal teachings of love and compassion are ignored in this decidedly un-christian book. It promotes the mistaken attitude that homosexuals are a problem to be fixed, instead of individuals created in God's image, like all human beings. God asks us to open up the doors to understanding, and said that His Path is for all people wiling to open their hearts to Him. Dr. Stott uses the scriptures to justify his own ignorance, which happens all to frequently. His so-called "Christian" perspective misleads true Christians who want to witness God's love to others, not their own intolerance.
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Summary: Gracious, solidly Biblical, concise, and readable
Review: I just read Stott's work on same sex unions. In the middle of all of the foggy vocabulary and doctrine that is being created these days around this issue, Stott has done a wonderful job of cutting through that fog like a powerful lighthouse, showing the way for individuals and churches so that they will not crash upon the rocks of falsehood. It is important to remember that heresy sounds wise, otherwise no one would succumb to it (2 Cor. 11:13-15; 1 Tim. 4:1-2; Eph. 4:14-15; Col. 2:23). Stott has truely done his work as a Pastor and a teacher in the wider body of Christ (Eph. 4:11-16). I highly recommend this book to anyone, whether they are struggling with this issue, know someone who is, or are just in need of a short, but solid Biblical exposition on the subject. It would be great supplimental reading for a Bible college or seminary class in contemporary issues.
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Summary: Gracious, solidly Biblical, concise, and readable
Review: I just read Stott's work on same sex unions. In the middle of all of the foggy vocabulary and doctrine that is being created these days around this issue, Stott has done a wonderful job of cutting through that fog like a powerful lighthouse, showing the way for individuals and churches so that they will not crash upon the rocks of falsehood. It is important to remember that heresy sounds wise, otherwise no one would succumb to it (2 Cor. 11:13-15; 1 Tim. 4:1-2; Eph. 4:14-15; Col. 2:23). Stott has truely done his work as a Pastor and a teacher in the wider body of Christ (Eph. 4:11-16). I highly recommend this book to anyone, whether they are struggling with this issue, know someone who is, or are just in need of a short, but solid Biblical exposition on the subject. It would be great supplimental reading for a Bible college or seminary class in contemporary issues.
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Summary: Poor Attempt by Good Author
Review: John Stott is one of my favorite authors. He is a respected theologan and commentator. John Stott's book The Cross of Christ is a classic book. Unfortunately, this book falls far short of the theological rigor one expects of John Stott. He takes a complex theological and scriptural issue and treats it in simplistic terms, without giving adequate coverage of the issue. This book is a sad disappointment. It is hardly worth reading and is definitely not worth purchasing.
Rating:
Summary: Poor Attempt from Super Author
Review: John Stott is one of my favorite authors. He is a respected theologan and commentator. John Stott's book The Cross of Christ is a classic book. Unfortunately, this book falls far short of the theological rigor one expects of John Stott. He takes a complex theological and scriptural issue and treats it in simplistic terms, without giving adequate coverage of the issue. This book is a sad disappointment. It is hardly worth reading and is definitely not worth purchasing.
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Summary: Book Descriptions
Review: No moral issue stirs up the church more than that of homosexuality. In "Same-Sex Partnerships?" John Stott calls readers to separate emotion and fear from conviction. A revised and updated chapter from Stott's "Decisive Issues Facing Christians Today", this book reviews four clusters of biblical texts bearing on homosexuality together with their contemporary challenges. Stott then sensitively responds to five principal arguments advanced in favor of same-sex partnerships, addresses the AIDS epidemic, and concludes with a plea for Christian compassion toward the homosexual individual. Stott asks, "Is there a Christian way to combine biblical thinking about God's intention for human sexuality with an equally biblical attitude of understanding, respect, and support for persons with a homosexual disposition?" Fair and compassionate, Stott provides biblical answers to that question. Parents, youth leaders, and pastors will find in this book thoughtful insight into what the Bible says about same-sex partnerships. Includes twenty-four full-color illustrations. John Stott is rector emeritus of All Souls Church, London, England. He is a New Testament scholar, respected speaker around the world, and director of the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity. Stott is also the author of numerous books, including "Basic Christianity" and "Christian Counter-Culture". Contents Preface 1 The Context 2 Biblical Prohibitions 3 Sexuality and Marriage in the Bible 4 Contemporary Arguments Considered 5 The AIDS Epidemic 6 Faith, Hope, and Love
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Summary: Biblical, exegetical integrity and compassion are hallmarks
Review: of Stott's treatment of the troublesome issue of homosexual behavior within the context of orthodox Christianity. Stott's interest is not in bringing ringing condemnations of proscribed behavior, but in compassionately and clearly setting out the biblical and traditional boundaries of sexual behavior within authentic Christian community. Books that will take the reader further include STRAIGHT AND NARROW (which nicely deals with the misinterpretations and faulty exegesis of scholars like Mollenkott, Boswell, etc.); HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE POLITICS OF TRUTH, and the fine volume edited by Christopher Wolfe on Homosexuality and American Public Life.
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Summary: Biblically balanced and hits the heart of the issue.
Review: Stott addresses an issue that is in much need of clarification. In this text he first addresses three affirmations. First we are all human beings created in the image of God. Second we are all sexual beings and as sexual beings we all have a particular sexual inclination. Third we are all sinners. Stott also states that he writes that those who are probably reading this book are Christians. The book then deals with the texts which cover same-sex relationships in a sound exegetical fashion. Stott is more concerned with a proper biblical interpretation then being accepted by a certain group. He also addresses a balanced understanding of marriage and how it is involved in this discussion. There is also a discussion on the contemporary issues and how they are to be understood in regards to the Bible. Overall I believe the book to be an excellent work that is biblically based. Stott is concerned not so much with being politically correct, but being biblically accurate.
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Summary: Biblical, exegetical integrity and compassion are hallmarks
Review: Stott's book is an excellent introduction to the conservative view of homosexuality and the Bible. In this area, however, he fails to acknowledge the fact that homosexual sexual behavior as spoken of in the Bible is consistently abusive behavior involving aberrations from what was then considered the heterosexual norm. The Bible shows no understanding of mutually loving homosexual relationships on the part of those for whom such orientation is a given and natural part of their makeup (other than, perhaps, David and Jonathan, in whose relationship, however, no genital sexual contact is mentioned), but Stott dismisses that as a humanistic fallacy. (Yet the biblical authors thought the sun revolved around the earth, but such limited understanding is not critiqued by Stott.) In addressing the issue of the possibility of faithfulness among homosexual couples, he quotes statistics taken from gay researchers, but he fails to critique such data regarding the degree to which it reflects only the gay population who are "out", thus ignoring the (probably) much larger number of homosexual persons--let alone homosexual Christians seeking to be faithful to Christ and their life partners--whose lifestyles would not reflected in such data. To balance Stott's views, I commend the chapter "Gayness and Homosexuality" in James Nelson's Embodiment and Letha Dawson Scanzoni's and Virginia Ramey Mollenkott's Is the Homosexual My Neighbor? A Positive Christian Response to those seriously interested in getting a variety of views on the issue before coming to a conclusion. Those who want to adhere to the "Christianly correct" line (there is a "political correctness" enforced among and by Christians, too, you know!) need read no further than Stott.
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