God Believes in Love: Straight Talk about Gay Marriage

From the Bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire in the Episcopal Church, the first openly gay person elected (in 2003) to the historic episcopate and the world's leading religious spokesperson for gay rights and gay marriage—a groundbreaking book that lovingly and persuasively makes the case for same-sex marriage using a commonsense, reasoned, religious argument, made by someone who holds the religious text of the Bible to be holy and sacred and the ensuing two millennia of church history to be relevant to the discussion, equally familiar with the secular and political debate going on in America today, and for whom same-sex marriage is a personal issue; Robinson was married to a woman for two decades and is a father of two children and has been married to a man for the last four years of a twenty-three-year relationship.

"Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, refutes the arguments against same-sex marriage in a straightforward and simple but never condescending manner. Each of the 10 chapters answers one question, covering topics such as why heterosexuals should care about gay marriage, biblical teachings on homosexuality, the definition of marriage, and the claim children need two opposite-sex parents. These answers are designed for believing, religious individuals who may be undecided on the issue. Robinson's mix of reasoned logic, personal experiences, church teachings, and social science research may not convince the most ardent opponents, but it will provide proponents convenient, compact ways of addressing challenges. Each chapter stands independently, thus allowing readers to choose topics of most importance to them, but also leading to some repetition. Some answers also arrive more obliquely than others, answering both the main question and a related but unstated objection. The underlying tone is one of compassion and genuine hope for meaningful shift toward acceptance of same-sex unions. Robinson' s case is not radical but rather gentle with moments of humor. Such an approach seeks to defuse the debate and provide readers a solid entrance into the LGBT-affirming worldview of liberal Protestantism. Agent: Doug Abrams. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

GENE ROBINSON was born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, and graduated from the University of the South with a B.A. in American studies and history. He completed the MDiv degree in 1973 at the General Theological Seminary in New York, and was ordained deacon and then priest, serving as curate at Christ Church, Ridgewood, NJ. Robinson is a Senior Fellow at American Progress. He was elected bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire in 2003, having served as Canon to the Ordinary (assistant to the bishop) for nearly eighteen years.