Homosexuality

The Use of Scientific Research in the Church's Moral Debate

By Stanton L. Jones and Mark A. Yarhouse

(paperback)

Product Details

Line: IVP Academic
Length: 192 pages
Size: 5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches
Binding: paperback
Published: November 2000

ISBN-10: 0-8308-1567-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-8308-1567-8
IVP Order Code: 1567

Related Subjects

Homosexuality

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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!"

"A carefully researched and well-balanced critique. In the final chapter the authors show how their moral teaching flows out of their Faith vision, their love of Christ. I recommend this book for all those helping men and women with same-sex attractions to live chastely in the unmarried or married states."

"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. The authors avoid "knock-down" arguments; in fact, their work is undertaken with care and courtesy to respect theories from all sides and cross-examine them rigorously. In terms of a fair statement of the current scientific evidence, the book is a real asset. For example, case studies of prevalence, of conditioning factors, of the claims to changed sexual desire by programs working with people--this type of researched material is presented in a very accessible fashion for a general readership. But the book gains another level of importance by the mutual questioning of ethics and such data: does research render Christian morality outmoded? This is the essential claim made by many revisionist writers. This book in turn cross-questions that claim, especially in its final chapter where Countryman and Nelson are posed some questions from the core Christian ethic. Jones and Yarhouse, in effect, remain scientific in the purest sense, in their final judgment that the revisionist case is not made. This is a refreshing, informative study which will become a central work in the Christian debate about the proper response to the gay claims. It has a note of calm and charity, refusing to go along with, or react in kind to, angry recrimination in this highly politicized debate. Churches and scientists will be grateful to the authors for this careful book."

Christians who take seriously the authority of the Scriptures to direct all of life will find Jones and Yarhouse very helpful and challenging.