Book Review

 

Two Roads Diverged:  Homosexuality and the Church

A Treatise in Response to:  “Journey Together Faithfully,”

 ELCA Studies on Sexuality - Part II

Pastor Arndt F. Braaten, PhD, and Evangeline L. Braaten

 

Decorah, IA;  54 pages.  Soft Cover  $5.00

 

 

Pastor Arndt F. Braaten, and his daughter, Evangeline, have written a book entitled, Two Roads Diverged.  Their book is designed to serve as a resource for individuals and groups that are planning to study the ELCA’s Journey Together Faithfully, Part II. 

 

After identifying many of the dangers associated with the ‘gay’ lifestyle, in the 1^st chapter, the Braatens offer a number of testimonials supporting their claim that Reparative Therapies have helped thousands of  ‘ex-gays’ enter into new and fulfilling heterosexual lives.  The authors argue that the ELCA has willfully skirted this reality in the course of its long and expensive study, and the result of this neglect could be disastrous.  

 

In Chapter II, the Braatens demonstrate how church-wide leadership has acted decisively, for years, to move the ELCA toward the ordination of practicing gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender persons and the blessing of GLBT unions.  

  

According to the Braatens, a fundamental error in the ELCA’s approach to its study of homosexuality is the study’s underlying acceptance, as fact, that gays and lesbians are  ‘born that way and cannot change,’ (see note at right).  The authors point out that scientists and gay activists, like Simon LaVay, whose studies are often held up as proving that homosexuals are ‘born that way and cannot change,’ admit that they have failed to prove any such claims. 

 

Perhaps the most serious flaw in the ELCA’s study is the way its supporters have sought to create an extra-biblical, theological justification for behaviors the Bible clearly condemns.  The attitude of those who dismiss Biblical authority, in favor of contemporary and subjective experience, can be summed up best in the words of Walter Wink (Professor of Biblical Interpretation at Auburn Theological Seminary):  “Where the Bible mentions homosexual behavior at all, it condemns it. I freely grant that.  The issue is precisely whether that biblical judgment is correct,” (Homosexuality and Christian Faith, p. 47; Two Roads, p. 46).  It would appear that this is, indeed, the issue.

   

In Chapter III, the Braatens present a series of questions that are posed in the ELCA’s study, in relation to Biblical texts, and then they articulate the “Revisionist” position and the “Classic Rebuttal”.  

  

If your church is going to study these issues, I would heartily recommend bringing Two Roads Diverged into your discussion.  It is heartfelt, informative, non-judgmental, and it points the way toward hope and healing – at least for many, if not for all.

 

Reviewed by:  Curt Tilleraas, pastor at North Immanuel Lutheran Church,

   Rural Pelican Rapids

Endnote 

"‘This idea of homosexuality being a 'given' appears in many places in the publication (ELCA Studies, Part II).  It reads as though the author wishes to convince all readers that homosexuality is a 'fixed given' - something over which a person has no more control than being left handed…’  Simon LeVay is one of a number of scientists who set out to prove the theory that homosexuality is inborn and immutable. Though each and every one of these scientists has admitted that the facts thus far have proved their theory incorrect, the myth of the "gay gene" continues to spread unchecked and unabated - continues to be used as a rationale for the assertion that change is impossible - that sexual orientation is as immutable as color or gender. Not so." (Two Roads Diverged, p. 9)