Covenant and Calling

Reviews / Votes

Robert Song knows he has written a book that will make no one or any side of the debates about gay marriage happy. But then, that is why this is such a good and necessary book. Song will make you happy because drawing on the wisdom of the Christian tradition he frames the arguments about gay relationships in a way that makes us think hard about why, for example, Christians do not have to have children to be Christian. Song, with wit and clarity, has opened up a new space for discussions and questions surrounding the erotic that we so sorely need. Hopefully, after reading Song, those who are sure they know what side they are on will be a little less sure. -- Stanley Hauerwas Robert Song's timely and helpful contribution to ecclesial discernment about faithful, lifelong relationships is truly scholarly in that it brings into the room a cloud of witnesses that offer light and hope, deeply pastoral in that it never loses the good shepherd's heart for those in danger of being lost, rejected, or consumed by their own righteousness, appropriately prophetic in that it believes the question is not what scripture says but what scripture requires us now to say, and wonderfully wise in its judgements and proposals. If our prayer in the midst of conflict is not that 'our' side will 'win,' but that articulating tensions thoughtfully will bring out the best in all of us, then that prayer has been answered in this reverent, responsible and seriously thoughtful book. -- Sam Wells This is a rare phenomenon: a genuinely fresh contribution to a well-worn debate. With rich theological insight, Robert Song reframes the issues, placing the key Christian distinction not between heterosexual and homosexual but between procreative and non-procreative relationships. This is provocative, beautifully argued, and a must-read for all seeking a way out of our present theological quagmire. -- John Barclay Song comes to support same-sex marriage but by a rather complicated route. Readers who follow his argument will find it intellectually stimulating. -- Paul Richardson * Church Newspaper * Whether one agrees with Song's argument or not, this volume is an elegant irenic, creative, and accessible work that is as valuable for the way it addresses its issues as much as, if not more than, for its specific conclusions. it is a model of how such debates should be carried out. -- Robert MacSwain * Anglican Theological Review, 98.2 *