Reasoning Together: A Conversation on Homosexuality

By Mark Thiessen Nation and Ted Grimsrud

Book Overview

Two theologians, Ted Grimsrud and Mark Thiessen Nation, argue both sides of an issue that is vexing the postmodern church: homosexuality. This book develops the give-and-take over the differences between the two scholars, but it also offers areas of agreement and consensus.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0836194306
• ISBN13: 9780836194302
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: Herald Press (VA)
• Length: 318 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

The Faith of the Cross and The Virtue of Dialogue

[ This review originally appeared on englewoodreview.org ] "[T]he kingdom of God is... in the faith of the cross and in the virtue of dialogue." - St. Cyprian (c. 200-258) Here at Englewood Christian Church, one of the Christian practices that has been most formational for our life together is dialogue. For the last thirteen years or so, since we nixed our Sunday evening service and began to circle up chairs and to talk together about the nature of our faith, conversation has become increasingly important in our relationships with one another and in our relationships with others outside our church. Sometimes we reach the point of intense disagreements in our conversations, but in these times we are reminded that the uniting work of the Spirit is stronger than the forces of our disagreements. I was therefore very excited when I heard about Herald Press's release of Reasoning Together: A Conversation on Homosexuality, and its promise of dialogue on one of the most emotional and divisive issues in the Church today. My experience has been that calm, thoughtful and respectful dialogue on this issue is almost non-existent. Reasoning Together is an excellent book that captures the conversations between two Mennonite scholars: Ted Grimsrud, a professor of theology and peace studies at Eastern Mennonite University and Mark Thiessen Nation, a professor of theology at Eastern Mennonite Seminary. Over the course of the book, Nation argues for the "restrictive" position, which extends a loving welcome to all regardless of sexual orientation, but restricts "the church participation of gay and lesbian Christians who are in intimate relationships" (21). On the other hand, Grimsrud defends the "inclusive" position, which makes no restrictions based solely on a person's homosexuality; however, Grimsrud does believe that in order to maintain full participation in the church community, a practicing homosexual needs to be in a committed marriage-type relationship. The authors therefore agree that within the Church, the only place for sexual intercourse is within such a covenanted relationship. As a result of this shared boundary, readers will find that many contentious questions about sexual identity, practice and politics are outside the scope of this conversation. The conversation unfolds over the course of the book in the following format: an introductory essay by each scholar, a lengthy essay from both authors defending their position with response and counter-response, followed by two rounds of questions from each author with responses by the other author, and the conversation concludes with a chapter describes the "common ground" that the authors share. I will not recount for you here all the twists and turns that this dialogue takes, but perhaps it will be beneficial to summarize the authors' points of agreement, as named in the final chapter, because these points provide a framework for the shape of this conversation: 1) Th