This is a worthwhile book, though it is guaranteed that no reader can agree with all that they read in it!
In 1995, the Church of England Evangelical Council of the United Kingdom issued a brief theological statement on the question of homosexual behaviour, and especially faithful same-sex partnerships in the church. The St Andrew’s Day Statement, as it was called, led to a book of reactions and contributions, in 1997. Its authors include those behind the statement itself and those who strongly criticise it. The many crises in the Church of England and the Anglican Communion since 1997, the Lambeth Conference of 1998 and more recent events of 2003 have led to this re-issue.
The Way Forward?: Christian Voices on Homosexuality and the Church (2nd edition) is limited insofar as it responds directly to the St Andrew’s Day Statement, and some of the essays are not of great relevance outside that statement. However, the book as a whole deals with a range of very interesting and important issues in the debate, and is well worth selective reading today.
This book helpfully moves beyond exegetical debate. As Oliver O’Donovan in a masterful essay on the issues writes, ‘the theological weight cannot rest wholly upon biblical exegesis’. Some of the interesting sections of the book debate the question of how we understand what homosexual orientation is, and what constitute claims to homosexual identity. How are they related to the gospel, and what does the gospel have to say about such phenomena?
The matter is made more poignant by the fact that, as Rowan Williams points out in his essay, the Christian homosexual person often does not feel that their orientation is a mark of rebellion or confusion but is rather ‘who they are’ before God. John Colwell’s contribution is particularly insightful. He sees homosexual orientation as dissonant with creation, a little like a disability. It is part of a fallen world, destined to be renewed in Christ. To deny that it is fallen would also be, says Colwell, denying its purpose in Christ: “One cannot deny the dissonance of homosexuality without denying the gospel.” Colwell calls for honesty and compassion in dealing with the question.

It is good that this book provides some of the strongest cases for a revisionist acceptance of Christian same-sex partnerships so that their weight can be felt and evaluated.
The article by Elizabeth Stuart, a Roman Catholic and self-confessed lesbian Christian writer, shows what happens when you believe that God’s revelation continues and that its voice is to be heard particularly in the marginal voices in our society. Her argument is not simply that one should tolerate or accept homosexual behaviour among Christians. She believes that (in her own words), ‘in the modern lesbian and gay liberation movement we see the seismic activity of the Spirit unfolding something of the revelation promised by Christ, recalling us to the vocation of friendship and extending it to our sexual relationships.’ I found this essay, with which I profoundly disagreed, presented a valuable insight into a totally alien way of thinking about Christ and Scripture.
One of the great challenges The Way Forward? raises for us is whether it is possible to have a real debate in the church on this matter, or whether we are now reduced to a kind of war between two uncomprehending sides. This book certainly tries to find ways forward in which there can be real debate and dialogue while still, I think, defending and explaining the concerns of those who first wrote the St Andrew’s Day Statement.
Verdict: well worth a read.