I just finished reading “Redeeming Sex” by Debra Hirsch. I was so excited when I picked this one up and I was hopeful that someone had finally published a book that dared to deconstruct and reconstruct sex from a biblical perspective. And it started out great showing the important and beautiful link between sexuality and spirituality.
It is a good book, Debra Hirsch comes from a very different background than many theologians who write on this subject and lets her life story and personal experience lay foundation for a healthy, compassionate and accepting reflection och sexuality, christianity and the sacred texts. What the book fails doing is properly deconstruct. In the book Hirsch herself states that it is not a theological book, in one sense she is right, the result is not a new theology of sexuality or a new sexual ethic for the church. On the other hand, the book is filled to the brim with theology and pop psychology. Hirsch plays fast and loose with studies on sexuality and when push comes to shove, she falls back on the age-old “Love the sinner hate the sin” or rather a very handy up to date and polished “Love the human, tolerate the sin”.
The book does give a brief overview of different viewpoints on LGBT issues (no room for queer or kink here), she also does a great job of painting a fresh and beautiful vision of a Jesus centered community instead of rules and tradition ruled bounded set church. This is a great book for the traditionalist or fundamentalist who needs to find a compassionate and loving way to relate to sexuality and LGBTQ persons.
In the end the book does not deliver what the title says: Redeeming sex.
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