Journal: Eikon
Volume: EIKON 03:2 (Fall 2021)
Article: Marriage, Scripture, And The Church: Theological Discernment On The Question Of Same-Sex Union
Author: Josh Blount

Eikon 3.2 (Fall 2021) p. 120

Marriage, Scripture, And The Church: Theological Discernment On The Question Of Same-Sex Union

REVIEWED BY

Josh Blount

Josh Blount is Pastor at Living Faith Church in Franklin, West Virginia, and is a PhD candidate at Westminster Theological Seminary.

Darrin W. Snyder Belousek. Marriage, Scripture, and the Church: Theological Discernment on the Question of Same-Sex Union. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2021.

Darrin Belousek’s Marriage, Scripture, and the Church cannot not be quickly dismissed. His volume is well researched, historically informed, and logically rigorous. Belousek, professor of philosophy and religion at Ohio Northern University, examines the question of whether the church should reassess its view of marriage and bless same-sex unions, and builds a Scriptural, doctrinal, and historical argument that it should not do so. Yet, despite this strong stance, there is a deeply concerning flaw woven into Belousek’s language that, I fear, will make the book significantly harmful to the church and the cause of biblical marriage. The combination of Belousek’s strong argument for traditional marriage and his devastating concession to contemporary ideologies makes this book worthy of attention.

Summary

Belousek’s book is structured in four parts. Part One assesses the current landscape and lays out Belousek’s own commitments, Part Two lays out a biblical and historical case for traditional marriage, Part Three considers various “innovationist” (Belousek’s term) proposals for blessing same-sex marriage, and Part Four suggests Belousek’s way forward. The book also contains an afterword by Wesley Hill (to be considered below). Due to the limitations of this review, I cannot do justice to the middle two sections of Belousek’s book. Let me simply say that they mount a very rigorous defense of traditional marriage based on the “form, figure, and function” (those terms occur repeatedly) of marriage in Scripture

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and theology. Among these chapters, “Admiring Virginity, Honoring Marriage,” was especially helpful. Belousek surveys different views of marriage throughout church history, especially early debates about marriage, asceticism, and celibacy. Belousek makes clear that while there have historically been debates regarding whether marriage or celibacy represented the more desirable state, or how marriage related to God’s providential plans in the new era initiated by Christ, the church has always taught that marriage is between one man and one woman and that procreation is one of the intrinsic goods of marriage. This point shou...