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An encyclopedic, densely footnoted, analysis of texts related to homosexuality that expands on this understanding can be found in Robert A. J. Gagnon's recent work, The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics (Abingdon, 2001). While showing that the Bible consistently and universally condemns homosexual practice, both Gagnon and Webb call for compassion toward homosexual people.

What if Webb's theory of interpretation is wrong? He is humble enough to devote a chapter to this possibility. It is here that he considers the likelihood that Pauline injunctions about women transcend the cultures of its primary readers. Complementarians, who hold this position, will respect Webb for it.

Egalitarians, on the other hand, may wonder what Webb would think about the work of such biblical scholars as Joy Elasky Fleming. She argues that in telling the first woman "he will rule over you," God is not uttering a curse, but describing consequences of the Fall. Webb seems to see God's declaration as part of a curse. But even so, Webb insists that Christians must work against the curse.

The major accomplishment of Webb's book is one honest realization. While it was fine for the primary readers of the Scriptures to apply the biblical mandates literally, we don't always have to do it. It's okay for us in the twenty-first century to wear stretch pants, gold, and braided hair, and refuse to give beer to the perishing—but not because we're relativists or revisionists.

It's okay because, as Webb puts it, "we must journey beyond any surface-level appropriation to an application of the text that captures its meaning in cultural and canonical context—an application that honors its underlying spirit."

Agnieszka Tennant is an associate editor of Christianity Today.

Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Slaves, Women & Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis and The Bible and Homosexual Practice are available at Christianbook.com.

InterVarsity's site for Slaves, Women, & Homosexuals includes the table of contents and PDF excerpts.

Webb's hermeneutics class syllabus is available online.

Christians for Biblical Equality and The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood both have essays on hermeneutics. Tennant profiled these two groups earlier this year.

For more book reviews, see our Books archive.

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July 8 2002, Vol. 46, No. 8