Robert A. J. Gagnon

This book presents a very precisely argued version of the 'conservative' exegesis of what many of us think of as few and peripheral texts in the Bible: it places them near the centre of Biblical consciousness, conditioned by the normative framework of the Creation narratives in Genesis which designate an anthropology of complementarity, specifically male and female. In particular Robert Gagnon interprets St Paul's understanding of same-sex activity and self-expression as a conscious and deliberate working out of this framework at the start of Genesis. This implicitly designates gay self-understanding itself as something which corresponds to part of Paul's idea of 'idolatry' and which, in turn, subverts God-ordained 'natural' norms. That is to say: this book not only challenges liberal exegesis, but also closes the gap which many of us have allowed to open up between 'orientation' and 'activity' in our discussion of ethics and morality. Gagnon narrows these down to a kind of 'self-expression' which - according to his reading of Paul - is itself idolatrous; and he claims that even on the most liberal reading of the disputed texts, the Biblical testimony - and this is true especially of the Apostle Paul - is 'disgusted' by homosexuality. Some of us will need to step back a bit at this point.

So much for the texts - for the 'exegesis'. But this is a book which claims also to consider their application in the self-evidently radically - if not fundamentally - different context of contemporary society today: this is the 'hermeneutics' of Gagnon's subtitle. Maybe all I need to do to give a flavour of this second section of the book is to note the extended passage in which Gagnon cites gay corrective therapy as both effective and desirable - this, I ought to add, entirely without any substantiation of any kind: indeed he laments the lack of adequate evidence for his claim. I found that deeply shocking - particularly in a book in which the exegesis itself is so fastidious. What more can I say about this part of the book? - It simply fails to engage with any kind of social or anthropological (or, for that matter, religious or spiritual) actuality of which I am a part: Gagnon's assertions and arguments simply don't meet the ground on which I find myself standing. And so it is extremely difficult to think that his conclusions are going to be taken seriously by anyone except those who already share his preconceptions - I forbear from calling them prejudices - against homosexuality in the first place. This cannot be the last word on the subject of texts which also (not least in their Pauline portions) speak, equally fundamentally, of the gathering in of all things into a 'new creation' in which disparates are 'reconciled' - to use a Pauline term. But we are not going to find much help here in getting there.

I am rather glad that I read this book in parallel with Judith Butler's 'Gender Trouble' [London/New York, 1990/1999, ISBN 9780415389556] and the collection of essays edited by Gerard Loughlin as 'Queer Theology' [Oxford (Blackwell), 2007, ISBN 9780631216087]. I am struck by Judith Butler's appeal that even in the case of what we encounter as deeply subversive or transgressive, we need to allow ourselves to be able, genuinely, to 'think' it before we are in a position to reach any meaningful conclusions about how we evaluate it; and the essays in Gerard Loughlin's book, acknowledging - as we all know - that gays are not a 'them' out there, but part of an 'us' in here; and that the Tradition - pretty much from the beginning - is itself extremely 'queer' (think of the extraordinary exegesis of the same Creation narratives in Genesis by Gregory of Nyssa, for instance - and there are some amazing reflections here on John of the Cross). The Tradition has not been as univocal as Robert Gagnon asserts - and the opening of a radical gulf between the Scriptures and the Tradition itself raises basic hermeneutical questions at least as important as those which surround any gulf between Scripture and our own consciousness of ourselves today. And none of us can plausibly evade these questions, however vexed they may be.
I wonder whether we shall, all of us, collectively as best we can, actually begin to get anywhere unless we start to try and do something like what Judith Butler says - to try and imagine things before we condemn them. Without some kind of imagination we cannot even begin to embark on hermeneutics at all.… (meer)

NO OF PAGES: 520 SUB CAT I: Homosexuality SUB CAT II: SUB CAT III: DESCRIPTION: "Gagnon offers the most thorough analysis to date of the biblical texts relating to homosexuality. His strong and clearly articulated argument establishes that the Bible contains a unanimous witness defining same-sex intercourse as sin. He does so while rigorously engaging biblical scholars and historians who have written both for and against this understanding of same-sex intercourse. In addition, he demonstrates systematically why attempts to classify as irrelevant for our contemporary context the Bible's rejection of same-sex intercourse fail to do justice to the biblical texts. His conclusions are clear and compassionate, as he cautions readers on all sides of the debate against a truncated gospel, and challenges all to strive for a holistic view of the command to love God and neighbor."NOTES: Purchased from the Amazon Marketplace. SUBTITLE: Texts and Hermeneutics… (meer)