Christian mental health professionals are frequently asked to comment on the
issue of homosexuality and the church, and yet few are up-to-date on the
current research concerning the questions they are asked. We raise four
basic questions which might be asked of the Christian psychologist by the
church and discuss the best answers to those questions available from the
behavioral science literature. The major questions examined are: (a) Is
homosexuality an intrinsically psychopathological condition? (b) Is the
homosexual orientation caused by factors beyond a person's voluntary control?
(c) Is change to heterosexuality impossible for the homosexual? (d) Is the
expression of erotic sexuality essential to psychological wholeness?
Christian psychologists are urged to exercise caution when they attempt to
articulate "consensus views" on any of these questions, as the current state
of our knowlege about homosexuality is much more rudimentary than is usually
acknowledged, and may have less proper impact on the ethical deliberations
of the church than may be commonly thought.
© 1989. Rosemeade School of Psychology, Biola
University.
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