Author Daniel Helminiak is both a Catholic priest and a Theologian, who believes that no one group has the right to impose an injustice on society. Concerned that a lack of personal acceptance is holding people back from spirituality, he has written a number of books on religion. His book, ‘What the Bible Really Says’ is solely concerned with the treatment of homosexuality in the bible. Not surprisingly it’s not a long book.
He starts by explaining the difficulties in interpreting the bible. It was a long time ago and both language and social norms were very different. Life was tough, many died young, women were the property of men, adultery was theft, slavery was acceptable, and while same-sex genital activity was known to occur, homosexual relationships were not. The Hebrews didn't even have a word for male-male homosexual behaviour, while lesbians failed to get a mention at all.
If your knowledge of the bible is weak, this book could be a good place to start. Mostly it is easy to read, though some of his explanations can be hard to follow at times. Still, by the end of you should have learned something about history, whether you are interested in religion or not. After all, this was a world where Jesus healed the same-sex lover of a Centurion without a thought, while educated men despaired over angel-human sex. Ultimately, Daniel Helminiak wants to spread the word that an ancient Christian God preached love, and question why the modern day Church doesn’t teach the same.
Review by Ida Raine
No comments:
Post a Comment