Customer Reviews

What God Has Joined Together?: A Christian Case for Gay Marriage

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Myers & Scanzoni have written a solid middle-ground book that builds lots of bridges. I hope that folks on different sides of the chasm will use this book to heal the terrible divide on gay marriage. Well written, easy to read, clear arguments, lots of information. Glad to read such a carefully balanced book; wonderful alternative to the angry bombast coming from both sides of the argument. - Tom Eggebeen

This is an excellent book for those interested in learning about Gay Rights, Gay Marriage, and the alienation of Gays from traditional Religion. I was impressed with the chapter on What the Bible Does and Doesn't Say. It corrects mis-translations and points out that "the word Homosexuality is never used in Scripture" and didn't exist until the late 19th century. This is an a good resource for Bible students as well.

The authors do a wonderful job bridging the gap between those that try and differentiate between Traditional Marriage and Gay Marriage. They make the point that marriage, as defined in the bible, is about the qualities that make marriage important to society (i.e. love, willing to sacrifice for each other, someone to share your dreams with, etc) and not simply about gender.

I know that for myself I used to believe that Traditional Marriage was being threatened by Gay Marriage. After finding out that I had close family members that were gay, I learned that their hopes and dreams are the same as mine. The authors make the point that as we come to know those who are LGBT people we come to know them as humans and not simply as the "other".

There is a Jewish proverb that states, "An enemy is someone whose story we don't know." Books like this, if read with an open heart, can help us to understand that our LGBT family members and neighbors are not perverts that are just looking for sex with anyone, but, if given the opportunity, most want stable, loving, committed and legal relationships as defined by marriage.

I've read several other good books on this subject, but if you only read one, this one should be at the top of the list.

Quiet, thoughtful and well grounded commentary. Must reading for any discussion.
Will give "both sides of the issue" a civil and well-researched platform to hold a meaningful discussion,
which seems long over-due in the world of Christian scholarship

I saw this while browsing a local bookstore and picked it up, and I'm glad I did. Myers and Scanzoni make a very convincing case that A) marriage is good for both individuals and society and should therefor be protected, and that B) the best way to protect marriage and promote a healthy society is to allow gays to marry as well. They contend that the battle against gay marriage serves to support the alternatives to marriage movement (for straights as well as gays) which harms society and is bad for individuals. Myers and Scanzoni also give good summaries of related issues such as apparent condemnations of homosexuality in the bible, and sexual reorientation training (it doesn't work).

Ok, if you are going to read a book on the gay marriage debate, this seems like a good one. If you are reading this review, you should know that I did not support gay marriage before nor do I now. This book is basically divided into three divisions.
Section 1: Promotes the value of marriage
Section 2: Describes what science can or cannot tell us about homosexuality
Section 3: Describes what the bible does or does not say about homosexuality
If you want a lot of specifics, I recommend reading the book. I was pretty impressed with Section 1 & 2. Ok, so what is my complaint about Section 3? Well, I find it mysterious that scholars are "all of a sudden" reinterpreting verses to say they are not referring to homosexuality. Also, the church history section is rather scarce. What has the church historically thought of homosexuality? If the conservative church takes the authors advice, I have a feeling there will be a lot more empty pews.

This thoughtful and objective essay on a very "hot topic" should be required reading for all people who have something to say on the subject and especially policy makers and religious leaders.

This book is insidious. It lures you into its web by starting with principles people on all sides of the issue share. Before you know it, you are so used to nodding in agreement that you continue nodding when the arguments become weaker, and soon you are nodding at arguments that most of us would never accept if we stopped and thought about it.

And the authors are trying to answer the wrong question. This book is written for a Christian audience, among whom homosexual marriage is a small part of a much more critical issue. The debate isn't about marriage; it is about sin. If practicing homosexuality is not sin, then there is no reason to prohibit same-sex marriages. But if practicing homosexuality is sin, then even all the worldly benefits that Myers and Scanzoni predict (from lower depression and suicide rates to more stable relationships) cannot justify supporting those marriages or taking any other actions that condone that sin. This is the same principle that applies to all sin, including adultery and hate and gossip and even breaking the traffic laws. As a Christian, I am responsible for my homosexual brothers and sisters just as I am for other sinners, and I am accountable if my actions lead someone else to fall.

So the first, and possibly only, question a Christian needs to ask is: how does the Bible treat homosexual acts? Although Myers and Scanzoni do address that question, their arguments get mixed in with other issues while creating a surface appeal that sucumbs to the head-nodding process discussed above.

I'm not suggesting that you avoid this book. The only way to understand any issue is to know the arguments on both sides. But if you do read it you should also read the counterpoint in Straight & Narrow by Thomas E. Schmidt. Straight & Narrow?: Compassion & Clarity in the Homosexuality Debate Schmidt's book preceeded Myers and Scanzoni's book by a decade and does not cover some of the more recent research they discuss. But that research is inconclusive and/or unreplicated, and it does not make Schmidt's arguments any less valid.

I'm also not questioning the sincerity of the authors' Christian beliefs. On the contrary, David Myers was one of my favorite professors in college, and I always thought he was a strong Christian. (And although that was many years ago, I have no reason to believe it has changed.) But, as the authors readily admit, Christians aren't God, and some of our beliefs will inevitably contain error. So don't take their book (or Schmidt's) as gospel.

What God Has Joined Together is well-written and easy to read. It is even well-reasoned on the surface. But it is not what it seems.