[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”default” align=”left” asin=”1625649762″ cloaking=”default” height=”160″ localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511A6jQ2hLL._SL160_.jpg” tag=”douloschristo-20″ width=”107″]Page 2: Tim Otto – Oriented to Faith
Otto examines the prevailing hermeneutic principles of both liberal and conservative streams of Christianity. Liberal Christianity is guided by the four principles of freedom, individualism, rights and equality; Conservative Christianity is guided by biblicism, the idea that the Bible is the source of all knowledge. Otto recognizes some merits in each of these approaches, but offers some pointed critiques that ultimately call both hermeneutical approaches into question. Instead, Otto calls us to apply our hermeneutics – liberal, conservative or otherwise – with humility.
Near the end of the book, Otto calls both traditionalists and affirming Christians to the table for conversation, sketching what both a “compassionate traditionalism” and a “committed affirmation” might look like, devoting a chapter to speaking to those on each side of the conversation. Each of these chapters begins with a section emphasizing the ways in which that group is reading scripture with integrity. To the traditionalists, he offers five important suggestions that would help their churches be more hospitable to the LGBT community:
- Affirm LGBT people as body members
- Distinguish between orientation and behavior
- Think carefully about identity labels
- Celebrate celibacy
- Support heterosexual marriage for LGBT people
These suggestions will undoubtedly be challenging for many traditionalist churches, but they map out a journey–rooted in Otto’s experience–that is both theologically attentive and compassionate. Addressing affirming Christians, Otto calls into question the sort of sexual permissiveness that characterizes many affirming congregations, a road that often leads to “loneliness, self-absorption, and alienation” (99). He challenges affirming Christians to remember that the church lies at the heart of Jesus’s revolutionary vision and particularly that the way of Jesus is defined by a committed, self-sacrificing ethic of love. This two-fold challenge is deeply rooted in Christian theology and offers a pointed critique of a permissive sexual ethic, which is often rooted more in self-gratification than in the way of Jesus.
Tim Otto’s compassionate work in Oriented to Faith is a gracious and much-needed peacemaking effort amidst the volatility that surrounds sexuality in many churches today. I pray that it will be received by both traditionalist and affirming Christians with as much grace as it has been offered. At the end of his life, Jesus’s prayer for his followers was that they might be one (John 17:20-23), and Oriented to Faith is a challenging reminder of this prayer, that our first and primary call is to a deep unity that bears witness to God’s love for all humanity. May we hear its call and have the courage to follow in this way of life and peace.
C. Christopher Smith is the editor of The Englewood Review of Books and co-author of the new book Slow Church: Cultivating Community in the Patient Way of Jesus. He is currently at work on a new book with the tentative title Reading for the Common Good.
C. Christopher Smith is the founding editor of The Englewood Review of Books. He is also author of a number of books, including most recently How the Body of Christ Talks: Recovering the Practice of Conversation in the Church (Brazos Press, 2019). Connect with him online at: C-Christopher-Smith.com
 Reading for the Common Good From ERB Editor Christopher Smith "This book will inspire, motivate and challenge anyone who cares a whit about the written word, the world of ideas, the shape of our communities and the life of the church." -Karen Swallow Prior Enter your email below to sign up for our weekly newsletter & download your FREE copy of this ebook! |
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Great review Chris. The middle way advocated in this book needs to be explored by all people that care about the Gospel.
Thanks, Jeff!