Same Sex Controversy, The: Defending and Clarifying the Bible's Message About Homosexuality [Paperback]

James White (Author), Jeff Niell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2002

In the guise of tolerance, Hollywood and modern culture have granted "alternative lifestyle" status to a behavior condemned by Scripture. In the Same Sex Controversy, the authors clarify and defend the Bible's stand on homosexuality as they expand on key passages. Subjects include the basis of biblical morality, biblical teaching on marriage and sexuality, the new "homosexual apologist," and both Old and New Testament witnesses against homosexuality. They also provide information on how to lovingly and biblically reach out to those caught up in its grip.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...well-researched and solid in both biblical stances and emphasis on a need to face this growing trend." -- Church Libraries

"Christians have had few resources to counter the growing trend towards homosexual accommodation in our culture. That has now changed." -- Discerningreader.com

"The book to give to all who want level-headed scriptural teaching as they wrestle with this provocative issue." -- Dr. Joel R. Beeke-Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, President and Professor of Systematic Theology and Homiletics

About the Author

James R. White is the author of several acclaimed books, including The King James Only Controversy and The Forgetten Trinity. He is an elder of the Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church, director of Alpha and Omega Ministries&#151a Christian apologetics organization, an adjunct professor with Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, and a professor of apologetics with Columbia Evangelical Seminary. He and his family live in Phoenix.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Bethany House Publishers (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764225243
• ISBN-13: 978-0764225246
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #645,020 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars old sin, new arguments May 14, 2002

By Jason Engwer

Format:Paperback

James White and Jeffrey Niell explain and defend what the Bible teaches about homosexuality. Other issues, such as science and statistics, are discussed only briefly. There's a lot of documentation of church fathers and other ancient sources discussing and condemning homosexuality, however. This is a book primarily for those who want to know what the Bible teaches about homosexuality and related topics, such as homosexual marriage.

The book is about 250 pages long. It's well-organized, moving from Old Testament passages to New Testament passages in canonical order, and it's well-written. There's no index, though.

There are eight chapters and four appendixes. They cover Sodom and Gomorrah, Leviticus 18 and 20, Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6, 1 Timothy 1, Romans 6:14, and some other topics. The arguments of people like Daniel Helminiak, John Boswell, Letha Scanzoni and Virginia Mollenkott, L. William Countryman, and Choon-Leong Seow are cited and refuted. Relevant passages of scripture are quoted and discussed, followed by a discussion of pro-homosexual arguments. I noticed that some of the material cited is as recent as last year (2001). There's a lot of recent, up-to-date material in this book. White and Niell effectively refute the pro-homosexual arguments, with a lot of attention to detail, though there are some arguments I'd like to add to their case and I sometimes disagreed with their emphasis. Overall, though, their arguments are convincing and much better than the arguments of the pro-homosexual movement.

Basically, the pro-homosexual side of this dispute does three things:

1.) Dismiss as insignificant the absence of any approval of homosexuality in hundreds of Biblical passages about marriage, sex, etc.

2....) Reject as mistaken the traditional interpretations of relevant passages of the Bible, interpretations spanning thousands of years in countries around the world.

3.) Propose textually and contextually unlikely interpretations of passages like Romans 1 and Jude 7 in place of more likely interpretations.

... Read more ›

26 of 35 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A Decent Popular Level Treatment of Explosive Issue May 2, 2003

By J. F Foster

Format:Paperback

Let me say up front that my 3 star rating may not be indicative of how good this book is. As I will explain below, I think the book is between 3 and 4 stars, and whether one should give the book a 3 or 4 star rating depends on the type of reader who reads the book.

White and Neill have rightly felt called to put pen to paper and attempt a formal response to what they feel is the increasing decibal level of those within the church who are urging a legitimization of homosexuality within Christianity. I agree with the authors that this is a challenge that deserves an answer, and I applaud the authors for stepping into the middle of what is becoming a warzone where this issue is ground zero.

In this book, the authors attempt to accomplish two basic things. They seek, through their own exegesis, to maintain the traditional Christian view regarding homosexuality - this it is incompatible with the Bible's teachings. Second, they attempt to critique many of the arguments that have recently been made by more liberal Christians advocating compatibility between Christianity and 'modern day monogamous homosexual intimacy'. In both of these areas, the authors hit on some good points and produce some sustained strengths. But in the end, I felt that the authors came up short too often, thus the less than flattering review I'm giving it.

Among the sustained strengths of the book are the identification of Biblical hermeneutics and authority as being the core issue of debate. White and Neill rightly emphasize that Biblical authority is really what's on trial in this debate, and do a good job of demonstrating that apologists for homosexual legitimacy within Christianity are forced to adopt an inconsistent and very weak Bibliology that necessarily discounts entire sections of the Bible.... In this vein, the authors do a good job of dealing with the Old Testament law and effectively outlining a Biblical basis for applicability of Leviticus 18 and 20. In addition, the authors mostly succeed in dismantling the exegetical rationales offered by the other side and showing them to be amateurish and logically flawed in many cases.

Having said all that, the book itself is flawed in a number of ways. First, the book does not answer every argument given by the other side and in particular, the book does not deal with two central arguments of the pro-homosexual side - the relationship of David and Jonathan in the Old Testament, and the argument that Jesus Himself never condemned homosexuality. The lack of treatment of the first of these arguments in particular is a glaring oversight that leaves the book decidedly deficient in the very area that is supposed to be its strength. Secondly, while White's exegesis of Romans 1 and other pertinent passages is quite good most of the time, the exegetical responses to the other side's exegetical arguments are often too surface level. The point to be made here is that while the authors do a good job in showing that the arguments coming from the other side tend to be from the low rent district of scholarship, it appeared to me that the authors fall prey to this by sinking to the level of the arguments and offering less than thorough responses. It's as if the authors concluded that many of the arguments were so bad they didn't deserve much of a response, but if that's so, they shouldn't have written a book with the express intent of refuting such arguments.

Lastly, the main reason I'm giving the book 3 stars is because I expected better from White. White is one of the more outstanding exegetes around, and it was clear from his fairly recent debate with Barry Lynn on the homosexual issue that he has firm command of the pertinent issues and can devastate the other side in a debate, as he did with Lynn. Yet in this book, I did not find a high level of rigor in the critiques, certainly not the level that we're used to seeing from White. In the end, I had expectations for something more scholarly and more rigorous, and this book doesn't really produce it in sufficient quantity.

However, I think that because this book is purely a popular level of treatment, someone looking for an introductory work on this issue will likely find many things of great value in this work. I think if that's the kind of reader who is contemplating looking at this book, a 4 star rating is appropriate. But for someone who wants a more comprehensive analysis, the book is a decidedly qualified success. On the back cover of this book, Fred Zaspel claims that he knows of no other book that so thoroughly deals with this issue. If this opinion is right, that's bad news for those who hold to the traditional view, because the book is not thorough and not very in-depth, in my opinion. Read more ›

16 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A GREAT BOOK--WITH ONE ESPECIALLY ENLIGHTENING SECTON! August 14, 2002

By Richard J. Klaus

Format:Paperback

This is a comprehensive book that details the many and varied attempts to circumvent the Bible's plain teaching condeming homosexuality. All the relevant texts are dealt with in a thorough manner and the modern day revisionists are refuted by cogent scriptural exegesis. What is especially noteworthy are the chapters dealing with the book of Leviticus and its interpretation (pages 53-108). The arguments that focus on "Holiness Codes" being inapplicable to modern day Christians are disposed of by deft and insightful reasoning. Most Christians are thoroughly unfamiliar with the book of Leviticus and are thus misled rather easily by bad arguments. Niell and White are conversant with the objections to the traditional interpretation and interact well both with the text of Leviticus and the objectors. The Biblical arguments showing forth the distinction between "moral" and "ceremonial" laws in Leviticus is worth the price of the book. Recognizing this Biblical distinction allows one to properly understand a great deal of the Old Testament law and which parts are applicable for the modern Christian. It is such argumentation that allows one to understand why it is that Christians can eat pork sandwiches and still condemn homosexuality as a sin before the face of God. If your looking for a book that is strong on logic, exegesis, and theological reasoning then this is the book to read.

17 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Good rebuttals to the homosexual arguments May 31, 2003

By E. Johnson

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

White and Niell give a good biblical response to those who want to promote a "homosexual Christian" lifestyle. For those in this camp who believe in the authority of the Bible, they ought to consider the cogent arguments offered by these gentlemen.

At this point I wish to disagree with the several reviewers before me (from Virginia and Canada) who criticized the book. As far as not answering all homosexual arguments, the writer from Virginia lists two:

1) Jesus did not mention homosexuality (well, they basically answered this when they said that not everything is listed in the Bible, i.e. pediaphilia, Trinity, etc. Just because something is not specifically named does not make it wrong if the principle is there. The gospels don't specifically have Jesus naming many things as wrong, though he certainly would have thought they were);

2) The issue of the "love" shared between Jonathan and David. (There is absolutely nothing in the context of the relationship between these men to hint at anything erotic between them; it seems to be such a ludicrous argument that it hardly needs a response.)

As far as the argument that the authors already had their minds up and did not take the scripture to heart--as the critique from Canada says--this is an unbelievable statement! Everything about The Same Sex Controversy deals with scripture. It is up to the pro-homosexual advocate to show where in scripture the Bible endorses or promotes homosexual behavior. Besides inuendo and far stretches, there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that the biblical commands were not meant for all time, such as for today.

For those who want answers in response to the homosexual agenda, I would recommend The Same Sex Controversy. The only thing the book lacks is a scripture index in the back.... However, the authors probably felt this was not needed because the main passages referring to homosexuality (i.e. Leviticus 18, Romans 1, etc.) are listed in the "Contents" section. Besides this, I will keep the book on my shelf as a reference tool for this issue. Read more ›