Reviewed by: Kelly Spencer

Bibliographic Information: Achtemeier, Mark. The Bible’s Yes to Same-Sex Marriage: An Evangelical’s Change of Heart. Second edition. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015. 184 pages. $18.00. ISBN: 9780664262181.

Summary

Mark Achtemeier walks through his journey from conservative church activist to advocate for same-sex marriage and ordination in his book The Bible’s Yes to Same-Sex Marriage. The book is a clear and accessible take on using the Bible to celebrate same-sex marriages rather than condemn them. Achtemeier combines his scholarship, privilege, and power in the PC(USA) with his personal experiences with members of the LGBTQ+ community to flesh out his theology on queer issues and scripture. Walking through the Bible with personal experience in hand, Achtemeier illuminates his argument with the particular stance that the Bible has nothing to say against mutually self-giving, Christ-like love between two people of the same sex. The Bible speaks against sexual violence, against taking advantage of younger children, against rejecting hospitality, and against idolizing sexual behavior over God. Achtemeier concludes that none of the truths the Bible presents has to be thrown out in order to have an affirming theology.  He says over and over in his book that the change in his theology came from “multiple, biblically grounded arguments: coming to know a number of gay Christian believers…God’s essential purposes for human love, marriage, and sexuality…God’s willingness to bless relationships that departed from the majority pattern of male and female set forth in the Genesis creation accounts…[and] witness to a God who delights in providing blessing outside the bounds of customary ways of doing things” (105).

Analysis

Achtemeier uses traditional exegetical methods, such as diving into the greater historical and cultural context of biblical passages and examining the overall character of God as portrayed in scriptures, to invite readers not only to abandon condemning theologies but also to affirm and celebrate same-sex marriages with biblical backing. I worried at first about the book being written by a non-queer person championing his journey to an affirming theology, but I found his approach to be respectful, faithful, and rather complete. He mentioned early on in the book the privileges he has, while balancing that with the strong conviction that he had to use that privilege to open the minds of people fragmenting the Bible. Achtemeier uses a structure for the book that does not start with breaking down the “clobber passages,” and instead highlights the personal side, including the harmful side, of why condemnations of gay relationships cannot work. He holds in tension the lives of faithful queer believers whose full acceptance of themselves helps them to live more fully into God’s love with the dangerous reality that non-affirming, homophobic theologies can kill. He continues from there on a thread of faithfulness to acknowledge how we can faithfully read the Bible: interpretations that make good, coherent sense, interpretations based on Christ, interpretations that do not throw out truths from other parts of the Bible, and interpretations that respect the context within which the Bible was written.  

Still from here, Achtemeier tactfully does not jump to the expected conclusions of throwing out conservative scriptural viewpoints. He ends each chapter by summing up that section’s argument and leading with a question that brought him to the next chapter. He normally says something to the order of, “in order to fully embrace the hopeful conclusions I had turned up about God’s blessing of same-sex relationships, I would need to find a way to positively incorporate…This is the task we will turn to in the next chapter” (73). Achtemeier flows then from faithful reading of scripture to God’s plan for love, marriage, and sexuality. He honors that God is loving and therefore that God created marriage to “support the growth of two people together into the image of Christ’s complete, self-giving love…[and that] does not depend in any essential way on the gender of the partners” (73). From here, the author dives deeply into the Old and New Testaments, shedding light on their contexts, and ultimately agreeing with the intent of the scriptures (not at all agreeing with the harmful way some in the Church use them as weapons). Achtemeier found that God imposed judgment when relationships were not self-giving and/or mutual. Consequently, the places where “a same-gender relationship appears fully capable of nurturing participants in self-giving love, no judgment appears” (85).

I find it noble that Achtemeier does not simply quit here, after successfully shutting down any potential for claiming that all same-sex relationships are sinful and condemnable. He continues his journey by checking for movement of the Spirit, checking that the interpretations are making sense, grounded in scripture, and centered in Christ. He also includes the history of the Church changing its mind on issues previously “defended” by the Bible, such as interest payments on loans and slavery. He wraps up with the honest and convicting conclusion that simply having an affirming theology is not enough. There is a big difference between biblical ideals and real life. We must do the work to overcome “all or nothing” mentalities, leaving room for God to work and for our understanding to grow (119). Throughout the book, Achtemeier gracefully unites personal experience, scriptural context, and God’s loving character to triumphantly proclaim the Bible’s “yes” to same-sex marriage. Though I am sure there are conservatives who would like to push back on his radical inclusion, I personally find no major flaws in his evidence. He acknowledges his weaknesses, asks good questions, and shows humility as he writes, which helps give credit to the fullness of the argument.  

Assessment and Influence

As mentioned above, I find Achtemeier’s argument very successful. He brings forth such a diversity of evidence and backing with scripture, reason, and experience. I agree with his conclusions that same-sex marriages are within the realm of God’s design and are blessed by God. I agree that recognizing context and studying scripture in a bigger picture is both helpful and necessary. I agree that the Bible highlights relationships of mutuality and Christ-centered love; of heterosexual or same-sex orientation. Instead, we get a lot of examples of how not to do it, with multiple partner relationships, idolatrous relationships, violent and non-consensual relationships, and relationships that do not allow us to be our full selves. Though it’s not specifically in the realm of this book’s scope, I see a necessity to expand the perspective of this book to also include the greater LGBTQ+ community, not just same-sex couples. Achtemeier leaves ample space for this conversation to include bisexual folks, transgender individuals, people who are questioning, and non-binary siblings with his argument on God’s support for the road less traveled and “situations that stand outside the bounds of traditional, majority patterns of life” (72). It must also be noted that there is potential that the “norm” is changing, as society opens itself up to acknowledging more queer identities and becomes a safer place for all people to be fully themselves. One must wonder if heterosexuality will always be the majority, and, if that shifts, what that may look like in the world and in the Church. 

Reflection and Recommendation

This book is incredibly helpful for those looking to better define marriage, for those seeking more biblical basis for their affirmation of same-sex relationships, and for those members of the LGBTQ+ community who strive to connect their faith and their love. Regardless of the reader’s orientation, Achtemeier’s approach is faithful, honest, scriptural, and hopeful. As a woman who just got engaged to a woman, I found his assessments of what marriage and family should and could be, inspiring. There were a number of quotes I sent to my fiancé and our wedding officiant. Luckily, this is a book that could be recommended to queer readers and allies, as well as conservative people. Achtemeier brilliantly focuses on the affirming side of this conversation, acknowledging briefly conservative viewpoints before spending much more time debunking those points and celebrating queer love instead. He navigates around the sharing of harmful stories, while not belittling the suffering and pain the queer community experiences. I found even his discussion of the “clobber passages” to be tasteful and helpful in discussing the contexts and correlation to the biblical narrative and God’s character instead of focusing on the single-line fragments that conservatives tend to weaponize. Achtemeier’s book expanded my vocabulary, opened my mind, and reduced my anxiety about continued conversation around the Bible and sexuality. His celebration of what marriage can be gave me hope that the Church and the world can get past the barriers of the less-familiar in order to have healthier, happier, and fuller relationships based in God’s love. Though it is not written by a queer person, I highly recommend this book to folks working out their theologies on the Bible and sexuality.