Wilson, senior pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) of Los Angeles, takes the Bible back from fundamentalists and the Christian right and gives her own interpretation of the text that embraces queer believers. A self-described ecu-terrorist, Wilson is on a mission to invite gay, lesbian, and bisexual people into a church that affirms their sexuality. The MCC was born out of a desperate need to provide its members with a safe place to worship; it serves a diverse congregation from all denominations and lifestylesan inclusive community in terms of sexual preference, race, and class. (Wilson is particularly savvy about race and class and calls comparisons of oppression ``odious.'') She identifies herself as a ``queer millennialist'' who won't accept the promise of heaven as a substitute for justice on earthand reassures others of ``gays goin' to heaven.'' As she once told Jerry Falwell: ``Jerry, the only reason I would want to die before you is that I want to be on heaven's welcome wagon and see the look on your face when you get there.'' Wilson feels it part of her ministry to try heal others of the pain that can come from being closeted and rejected by mainstream biblical interpretations. She urges others to read the Bible through their own lens; here she examines how she believes the Bible has been misused to oppress the gay community. ``Expanding'' the silence found in the Bible, Wilson proposes that Jesus was bisexual; Lazarus was his ``beloved disciple''; and the tales of Jonathan and David and Ruth and Naomi are heterosexually coopted homoerotic texts. Often funny and irreverent, Wilson makes theology personal and readable while bravely pushing the limits of religion and sexuality.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-06-069396-7
Page Count: 272
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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