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| In the Eye of the Storm: Swept to the Center by God | 
 enlarge | Author: Gene Robinson
Publisher: Seabury Books
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
Buy New: $14.76
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Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 6263
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 192
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 1596270888
Dewey Decimal Number: 283.092
EAN: 9781596270886
ASIN: 1596270888
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New with Dust Jacket, Never Been Read, Pristine Condition, Delivery Confirmation, NOT A REMAINDER
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Product Description
Gene Robinson is bishop of the tiny, rural Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, but he's at the center of a storm of controversy raging in the Episcopal Church and throughout the worldwide Anglican Communion involving homosexuality, the priesthood, and the future of the Communion. This book offers an honest, thoughtful portrait of Robinson, the faith that has informed his life, and the controversy that continues to rock his Church.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 An Exasperating Read May 16, 2008
17 out of 45 found this review helpful
In 2003 Gene Robinson was elected bishop of the tiny Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire after having served as assistant to the previous bishop for almost eighteen years. Robinson's profile, both within the Episcopal Church and outside of it, is completely out of proportion to the size of his charge. He is, after all, the first practicing homosexual to be elected as a bishop within that church body. His story has been told widely within the media and he is regarded as a hero and leader to many within the homosexual community. In the Eye of the Storm is his first book. Where I had been expecting an autobiography, that is only partially the case. While the book does deal with the events surrounding Robinson's rise to the international spotlight, the book's five parts contains essays and reflections on a variety of themes. He begins with homosexuality and the church and then moves to everyday Christianity, "notes from the margins," building the body of Christ and issues related particularly to the Anglican communion.
As the reader might expect, there is much in this book that will be at odds with classic understandings of the Christian faith, and particularly as the church has interpreted the Bible's teaching on human sexuality. Needless to say, Robinson's interpretation of the Bible's position on homosexuality is hardly traditional. We receive a hint of what is to come in Archbishop Desmond Tutu's Foreword to the book where he writes, "For me, the question of human sexuality is really a matter of justice; of course I would be willing to show that my beliefs are not inconsistent with how we have come to understand the scriptures. It is not enough to say the `Bible says ... ,' for the Bible says many things that I find totally unacceptable and indeed abhorrent. I accept the authority of the Bible as the Word of God, but I remember that the Bible has been used to justify racism, slavery, and the humiliation of women, etc. Apartheid was supported by the white Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa, which claimed that there was biblical sanction for that vicious system."
In the book's first section Robinson provides a defense for homosexuality within the Christian faith. His arguments are the ones we've come to expect, and ones that are incompatible with a proper understanding of Scripture. He attributes much of the Bible's teaching about homosexuality either to a misunderstanding on our part or on a misunderstanding on the heart of human sexuality on the part of those who wrote Scripture. His understanding of Scripture as being somewhat less than free from error shows up in the statements like this one: "Though I believe the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, that doesn't mean they are literally the `words' of God, virtually dictated by God through human media. And let's not forget that the real `Word' of God is Jesus himself." Later, in a chapter affirming his love for the Bible, he flatly denies the doctrine of inerrancy. He downplays the uniqueness of Scripture by saying "The Bible is the best and most trustworthy witness [to Jesus] but it neither replaces Jesus as the Word not takes precedence over Christ's continuing action in the world through the Holy Spirit. To elevate the words of scripture to a place higher than the revealed Word of God in Jesus Christ is an act of idolatry." When a person has relegated the Bible to a place lower than ongoing revelation in other forms, the Bible becomes subject to our every whim. Either the Bible has full authority or it has none.
Once the Bible's authority has been discarded, we can redraw the faith as we see fit. And this, unfortunately, is precisely what Robinson does. For example, he appears to draw much of his justification for homosexuality from extra-biblical revelation, including a vision experienced by John Fortunato. Never minding what Scripture says, Fortunato and Robinson claim that visions from God trump the revelation of Scripture. He looks outside the Bible to support a doctrine of open theism, denying God's omniscience and even declaring that before the creation of man God was lonely, desiring a creation to relate to. He declares the biblical account of the fall into sin a myth and denounces the view that celibacy is a moral requirement of God (saying that the better reasons to avoid premarital sex is that it is just too risky physically and emotionally). He declares the Exodus story "one of the greatest coming-out stories in the history of the world" and turns up his nose at a view of humans that could state we are "merely sinners in the hands of an angry God." He declares that Christian is only one way and not the way to God by saying "I respect and revere all those who have come to know God through other faith journeys. I can only speak out of my own context as a Christian, and I trust others to make the connections and translations into the understanding of their own faith communities." Ironically, at the beginning of the book Robinson affirms that he is very conservative in his theology; yet he spends the rest of the book proving that statement patently false. No biblical teaching is sacred.
Despite the quantity of poor logic and poor use of Scripture within it, the book proved a valuable read to me on a few levels. First, it helped me understand the arguments made by those who feel that homosexuality can be supported by the Christian faith. This is an increasingly common position and Robinson lays out quite clearly how he feels homosexuality can be not just justified but celebrated as being in every way equal to heterosexual marriage relationships. Second, it served almost as a textbook to the relativistic postmodern mind. A logical mind and a biblical worldview will quickly cut through many of this book's arguments. I would almost recommend this as a book a person could read to help him sharpen his ability to think critically. Finally, the book showed me that a person cannot simply add homosexuality to the faith without adding and deducting many other tenets of Christianity. I would like to think that there may be Christians who are orthodox in their faith but who have somehow accepted homosexuality as a valid lifestyle. But reading this book shows that many doctrines have to fall before a person can proceed this far. The walls have to have cracked in many places before a person can argue against something taught so plainly within the pages of Scripture. Once those walls have cracked, the whole edifice soon comes falling down to the ground.
This is a book that, sadly, does much more harm than good to the Christian faith. Replete with emotional appeals and charges but devoid of sound biblical argumentation, I hope it will be read with care and discernment. How sad it is when those charged with the church's growth and protection are the ones taking the lead in leading her away from God as He has revealed Himself in the Holy Scriptures.
 missed opportunity May 16, 2008
12 out of 15 found this review helpful
When the openly gay priest Gene Robinson consented to his election as the ninth Anglican bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire in 2003, he chose to become both the lightening rod and the standard bearer of the most controversial issue in Christianity today. That's why he wore a bullet-proof vest at the ceremony and why bomb-sniffing dogs cleared the building. Never again will he be just another bishop or a mere private citizen, despite his complaints about being labeled a single-issue priest. He knows that he will "never again be in a 'small room.' Because of the high level of media attention, followed by the close scrutiny of those who oppose me, I'm never in a trusting, safe environment where I can let my guard down. Someone is always watching and will use anything I say against me" (46).
Whether by Robinson's choice or unfortunate necessity, in this book you learn precious little of the personal from this very public figure. He does mention in passing his roots in a poor, uneducated, and deeply Christian family in rural Kentucky where his parents were tenant farmers; his first marriage by which he had two children; his treatment for alcohol dependence; and his twenty-year commitment with his current partner Mark Andrews. But all these are brief mentions. True to his word, he never lets his guard down. If you want to learn more about Gene Robinson the man you'll do better starting at the Wikipedia article. Perhaps my expectations before reading this book were misplaced, but in my own experience the power of personal story far surpasses the tedium of theological wrangling. I wanted to learn more about Gene Robinson's personal story.
The twenty-three short chapters in 175 pages treat a broad panoply of Christian themes, many of which read more like unedited sermons than successive chapters in a book. For example, a chapter on the Good Samaritan is followed by a four-page chapter on why for Christians "religion and politics must mix," which is followed by an anecdotal chapter about a trip to Hong Kong. Even when he speaks about gays in the church the treatment is so short for such complex issues that I found it frustrating. Just what, for example, are the implications pro and con of separating the civil rights of marriage by the state and the Christian rites of blessing a marriage by the church?
This book and Robinson's many public interviews about it were timed to coincide with and maximize exposure of the global Anglican church's summer 2008 Lambeth Conference that gathers all its bishops every ten years -- and from which Robinson has been excluded as an official participant but invited in a "diminished status" (168); and his decision to marry his partner Mark Andrews in a June 2008 civil union that will then be blessed in his church. That's not a bad thing for a person who's leading an important cause. But this book will attract readers more because of who wrote it than what he says. In my own reflections of Christian gays I was more deeply influenced by Mel White's Stranger at the Gate; To Be Gay and Christian in America (New York: Plume, 1994); Carol Curoe and Robert Curoe, Are There Closets in Heaven? A Catholic Father and a Lesbian Daughter Share Their Story (Minneapolis: Syren Book Company, 2007); and then the documentary film For the Bible Tells Me So (2007) about five Christian families whose gay children went public -- one of whom is none other than Gene Robinson.
 In the eye of the storm May 17, 2008
10 out of 16 found this review helpful
Excellent!! I have new eyes to see persons who have different life styles. Book written with compassion. I recommend it to anyone who is seeking to understand and desires to be accepting and compassionate.
Mediocre book from a great man May 20, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
In the Eye of the Storm is a worthwhile read, but it is too broad on many topics. I realize that Robinson does not want to be pegged as the "gay bishop", but y'ar, my dear, but y'ar. I found his discussions of full inclusion for all to be good, but there was little new that I hadn't been exposed to before. For me, the most powerful part of the book was the last chapters, where Robinson talks about the need to live in communion with all those who agree and disagree. That is reinvigorating for those who have to face "the enemy" on a regular basis. But there is little new.
On the plus side, I feel that Robinson uses this book to explain who he is and what the stuff is that he is made of. After reading In the Eye of the Storm, I have gained respect for a man who has to fight for all that he has. I don't agree with him on all points, but I do very deeply respect him.
A Leader in the Church May 24, 2008
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
Gene Robinson's book answers many questions about his life and his calling as a bishop in the Episcopal Church. He is a gentle man with a rare sense of humor. I was present (and voted for him) at General Convention. I recommend this short book (it's only 174 pages!) to those who are willing to listen to what it is like for a gay man in a monogamous relationship in the church.
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