Saturday, July 20, 2013

Is God Anti-Gay? Review

When I asked to review the book "Is God anti-gay?" I had a few thoughts running through my head. First of all, right after I got approved for the blog tour I wondered what I had just done. I wondered what author Sam Allberry would be saying. How strongly would I agree or disagree with what he said? How would I be able to review this book if I felt awkward simply reading it, or if he was judgmental throughout the entire text?

I read the entire book in one night if that tells you anything.

Never before have I read something that so closely related to my feelings on homosexuality. I don't suggest at all that my feelings are correct, or Allberry's feelings are correct. I absolutely would never say that I know 100% what God's thoughts are toward everything. I am human and so is Allberry. But I do know this - he uses scripture to back up every one of his opinions. Oh, and also - Allberry is a single pastor who struggles with same-sex attraction. So if you think that he is being biased in the writing of this book, you're wrong.

Allberry basically states that homosexuality is biblically wrong. BUT this is what I really love about this book. He points out that there are multitudes of things that are biblically wrong - pride, murder, and even lying. And yet Christians all struggle with these things on different levels, just like the sin of same-sex attraction.

In the book, some of the most famous "anti-homosexuality" passages are used. But Allberry thoroughly explains these passages without taking them out of context as many Christians and non-Christians do today.

I think my favorite part of this book is Allberry's call to us as Christians. As a committed Christian, should I love my gay friends less? Should I shun my family members who are gay? Should I run around waving a sign that screams, "God hates fags!" Without a doubt, the obvious (I hope) answer is NO. The church is the pillar of truth in today's society and part of that, the author explains, is being an effective family. So that whole thing about loving one another? It was pretty important to Jesus and should be pretty important to us.

I highly, highly recommend this book. Particularly to Christians who label themselves as homosexual or have same-sex attraction tendencies. Or also to Christians who act like homosexuality is the unforgivable sin.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews and The Good Book Company for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

You can buy your own copy here.

1 comment:

Shaun Tabatt said...

Great review Amanda! I'm so glad you enjoyed the book.

Shaun Tabatt
Cross Focused Reviews