STRAIGHT AND NARROW
COMPASSION AND CLARITY
IN THE HOMOSEXUAL DEBATE
by Thomas Schmidt
InterVarsity Press, 240 pages, $11.95

Can Christians really insist on straight behavior without being narrow-minded? This fine book examines that question from a number of perspectives. Having read many books on this topic, this reviewer finds Schmidt’s to be the finest, most scholarly and most sympathetic to date.

Thomas Schmidt teaches New Testament and Greek at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, Calif., so he is qualified to address all the revisionist histories that are changing the historical biblical view of homosexuality. Many may not be aware that there are groups that are actually defending homosexual practice using the Bible or that is, careful rewritings of biblical interpretation and history. The delusion and brainwashing of this kind of revisionism is somewhat akin to cultic practice.

Schmidt has not missed a thing. He carefully works through all the pertinent scriptural passages and as well has all kinds of medical information and an analysis of the so-called genetic “proof” for sexual orientation. The book has 55 pages of endnotes and documentation but can be grasped by scholar and layman alike.

Again, this volume is well-researched, empathetic, practical, and must reading for anyone interested in understanding and being equipped to address our times. This reviewer hopes that every believer reads this book and digests its contents.

—GRF

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