The Same Sex Controversy: Defending and Clarifying the Bible's Message about Homosexuality

by Jeff Niell, James R. White, Jeffrey D. Niell

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0764225243
• ISBN13: 9780764225246
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
• Length: 254 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Good rebuttals to the homosexual arguments

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.

White is right!

Dr. White has done a superb job with his book "The Same-Sex controversy". I would definitely recommend this book. As a comment to the person from Canada, I don't believe he read Dr. White's book at all because the book wasn't intended to give scientific research on the issue of homosexuality. So the accusation that Dr. White is allowing the ideas of scientific research to influence his ideas and evidentally committing the falacy of eisegesis (putting one's ideas into the text of scripture) is completely refuted. 99% of the book is based on solid biblical interpretation of the text especially what the greek and hebrew words mean. This book was written to show what God's inspired-infallible-inerrant-plenary word has to say about homosexuality. After coming to faith in Christ finding a book that would teach me what the Bible has to say about my homosexual sin wasn't easy but thank God I found this book. Dr. White's book has made all the difference in my life. Another thing that is wonderful about the book is that he gives a list of recommended books to read that include the scientific and social issues pertaining to the Homosexual Agenda. I read all the books that he suggested and what a mountain of knowledge that was! I will say this again to ALL Bible Believing Christians who truly love the word of God READ Dr. White's book. If you are a parent who has a son or daughter caught in homosexuality may I suggest you read this book with them. This will tell them honestly what God's word says. If you are a person who is struggling with homosexuality read this book! God's word changes a person and to read it with understanding is very important. Don't pass this book up.

A GREAT BOOK--WITH ONE ESPECIALLY ENLIGHTENING SECTON!

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.

This is an excellent Biblical analysis of Homosexuality

This recent (2002) paperback is a very good, comprehensive and comprehensible review of biblical texts and interpretations concerning homosexuality.The authors conclude that the traditional position of the church, that homosexual behavior is contrary to scripture, is supported by scripture and that contrary recent "revisionist" views are not supportable. All the relevant biblical texts are addressed and explicated, and all major objections to the traditional interpretations of these texts are carefully examined and refuted.This book is readable, scholarly, and comprehensive. I heartily recommend it to all persons who want to understand the scriptural teaching on this matter.

old sin, new arguments

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....