The Man Jesus Loved [Paperback]

Theodore W. Jr. Jennings (Author), Jr. Theodore W. Jennings (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 24, 2009 | ISBN-10: 082981535X | ISBN-13: 978-0829815351

Homosexuality has been at the forefront of debate in the church for the last quarter century, with biblical interpretation at its heart. In the Man Jesus Loved, Jennings proposes a gay affirmative reading of the Bible in the hope of respecting the integrity of these texts and making them more clear as well as more persuasive. This reading suggests that the exclusion of persons on the basis of their sexual orientation or same-sex practices fundamentally distorts the Bible generally and the traditions concerning Jesus in particular.

Product Details

• Paperback: 258 pages
• Publisher: The Pilgrim Press (June 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 082981535X
• ISBN-13: 978-0829815351
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #429,986 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Theodore W. Jennings Jr. is Professor of Biblical and Constructive Theology, Chicago Theological Seminary, Chicago. With interests ranging across Christian doctrine and biblical theology, his recent writings include Jacob's Wound: Homoerotic Narrative in the Literature of Ancient Israel; Reading Derrida, Thinking Paul; and The Insurrection of the Crucified.As an astonishingly fresh understanding of what we mean by the significance of Jesus death--in history and theological reflection--Jennings's book contributes strongly to our theological resources for classroom and theologians as well as clergy and others who preach.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

130 of 142 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Launching the Counter-Attack October 7, 2003

By interested_observer

Format:Paperback

"The Man Jesus Loved" clears away centuries of traditional Christian teaching to reexamine Jesus's positions and roles with regard to personal relationships and family values and how these relate to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Members of the Christian Right in the USA are frequently known to state that biological family trumps everything, that marriage can only be between an adult man and an adult woman, that active homosexuals are automatically condemned to burn in the flames of hell, and that women and children should be subordinate to men. Centuries of the teachings of St. Paul, many early Church Fathers, of Church Councils, of Orthodox Jewish (and Islamic) teachings, and Papal directives are cited to support these views.

The author, Theodore W. Jennings, Jr., Ph.D. is a professor of biblical and constructive theology at Chicago Theological Seminary and is a United Methodist clergyman. He is not a crank but a trained professional willing to take another look at the Jesus story before the Church became a part of the respectable Establishment of the Roman Empire. It turns out that all the above mentioned teachings of members of the Christian Right are challenged in the Gospels (and in supporting documents like the Gospel of Thomas).

Jennings starts out by examining the title character's role in the Gospel of St. John [John 13, 18-21]. It turns out that there is substantial similarity between the relationship between Jesus and the Beloved Disciple and that between a lover and a beloved in a Hellenistic gymnasium; nowadays we would say they were boyfriends or lovers. Jennings reviews various attempts to identify the Beloved Disciple and goes into the stories of the nude youth fleeing at the arrest of Jesus, of Lazarus, of the youth at the tomb of Jesus, and of the usage of the words eros vs. philia vs. agape (different Koine Greek words for love) in the text. Furthermore, there is no indication Jesus and the Beloved Disciple would not have consummated the relationship. Jennings makes a case that traditional commentators prefer to ignore or sublimate.

Jennings moves on to show how the story of the Centurion's lad (pais,doulos) [Matthew 8:5-13] might reasonably be interpreted as Jesus being happy to help a sick lover in a same-sex relationship and on Jesus's compassion for eunichs.

The final section gathers the evidence that Jesus wanted to convert traditional family values to a situation where everyone cares about everyone else and all have a direct connection to God. My example: Jesus would be angry at the present situation where wealthy families push their children to go to the best schools and succeed-or-else while allowing poor children to go to schools with leaky roofs and no books and have no health care. Jesus supported and included women on a largely equal basis with men. Jesus wanted people to break their dependence on family and the accumulation of wealth and power and instead to treat each other well and to do good. This includes treating women as equals, being accepting of various sexual orientations, and not condemning sex itself. Traditional morality is mostly focused on preserving property rights and amassing wealth; the original position of the Jesus movement was different.

Although theology and Biblical research can be a slow slog to read, Jennings writes well enough to keep up one's interest. There is a bit of repetition, but since the ideas are untraditional, they do bear repeating.

While I find his arguments convincing, I suppose I am still fond of the notion that God had choices in how to incarnate the Son and that if Jesus was to experience all the temptations of Earth fairly, He would have been a Kinsey 3 (tempted equally by men and women), rather than a Kinsey 0 (the Traditional position) or a Kinsey 4-6 (gayish to gay) which may be what Jennings would suggest.

When one reads of the differences between Jesus's teaching and Traditional Abrahamic social teachings, it makes me wonder if someone could calculate more accurately than I could the number of gay people (say, from the set of people reaching 12+ years of age) subjected to Abrahamic rules over the centuries. Is it possible that the aggregate damage done to gays (violence, theft) exceeds that to the Jews during the Holocaust? (The count of adversely affected women dwarf both.) Traditional Abrahamic religion has been complicit in so much and is so unrepentant.

This book is an excellent start on reclaiming Christianity from Traditionalists. Jesus can be Our Personal Savior too.

48 of 52 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Short, Useful--Appeals to Different Audiences May 27, 2004

By Allen Smalling TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

THE MAN JESUS LOVED is the right book by the right scholar at the right time. Theodore Jennings, a Methodist by background and New Testament scholar at the Chicago Theological Seminary, offers a useful and reliable short volume that is not only gay-friendly but friendly to all Christians who want to confront an exegesis about the "other" Disciple without the blinkers of homophobia.

Indeed, much of the book's relevance and excellence lies in its ability to speak not only to Queer Studies but to other, more traditional schools of thought in a way that will meet and exceed their expectations. Anyone who expects a tabloidish "Extra, extra, Our Lord was gay! Kept rentboy on side!" won't find that kind of Procrustean insistence here. In THE MAN JESUS LOVED, Jennings takes us through an informed close reading of various gospels, revealing multiple interpretations. He patiently and expertly unpacks a First-Century social and political milieu, offering a full-bodied view of a fully-inclusive Jesus whose ministry spoke to all people, including the marginalized, then as now.

In essence, and in addition to its considerable scholastic merit, Jennings' work acts as a kind of hermeneutic or research switchboard among several polarizing communities: Queer Studies, Social Gospel, contemporary New Testament, and of course the well-informed lay people who like to stay on top of what's going on (some knowledge of the Bible, and preferably the New Revised Standard Version, is assumed).

Whatever one's experience or jumping-off point, this is a good book to begin or refresh a view of Jesus the all-inclusive; and certainly it's a great way to consider how modern ministry today can expand to include the previously excluded and unacknowledged. Highly recommended.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Breaks New Ground December 28, 2005

By Jim Marion

Format:Paperback

The "Man Jesus Loved" is a scholarly and thoroughly nonsensational study of same-sex love in the context of the teachings of Jesus and the Gospels. Up until now, the argument about what the Bible teaches about homosexuality has been largely confined to an exegesis of six or seven verses out of the thousands upon thousands of biblical verses (the only explicit condemnations of homosexuality being found in the Jewish purity laws that Jesus rejected). Jennings takes another and more holistic approach, studying the views of Jesus towards marginalized people in general, Jesus' distrust of patriarchal system and the "family values" it held sacrosanct, the general evangelical egalitarianism of the Gospels, and the implicit approval of same-sex love in many Gospel narratives. Those who make the effort to read this scholarly yet readable book will find their understanding of Jesus and his teachings enriched. Jim Marion, author of "Putting on the Mind of Christ, The Inner Work of Christian Spirituality."