The Third Sex? by Kent Philpott (Logos International, 1975, 208 pp.)
The Sexual Revolution by J. Rinzema (Eerdmans, 1974, 107 pp.)
by Dr. Ralph Blair
The Charismatic publisher identifies Philpott as president of “a conglomerate” which includes book stores, halfway houses, high school Bible studies and a Christian counseling center. Philpott presents stories of six homosexuals he advised to “die to sex because to stop homosexual acts is to cut off all sex”, since he acknowledges that homosexuals are “not interested in sex with the opposite sex”. Philpott thus partly avoids a common error of many who would otherwise agree with him and who urge homosexuals into heterosexual marriage. Philpott demands total celibacy but he also envisions a slow and gradual move toward heterosexuality on the part of his clients. Unfortunately, readers are likely to get the impression that the six people on whom he reports have continued in their celibacy and/or heterosexual journey. Indeed, the book is used by desperate pastors to show that such celibacy and movement toward heterosexuality is taking place in ministries such as Philpott’s. However, the author is at least honest enough to admit: “Neither experience – deliverance or Spirit baptism – ends the battle the homosexual faces. This is evident in the interviews. Every one of the six experienced the need to wage a day-by-day fight against the temptations of homosexuality”. From his use of the past tense, it could be inferred that they finally arrived at his goal for them. They did not.
Not surprisingly, I can report that none of these homosexuals has moved on to heterosexuality. Since the publication of the book, several of them have accepted their homosexuality realistically and are trying to live their lives as responsible gay Christians in the company of others. Tragically, one has killed himself.
Philpott holds to a curiously simplistic etiology that includes the influence of Satan. He views each homosexual’s dilemma as a direct result of the homosexual’s own sin and rebellion. He assumes that “no one is a homosexual since God mad us all heterosexual”. Thus, in order to move to heterosexual expression, Philpott argues that, “the homosexual would have to experience a resurrection of his basic sexuality”. He not only holds this belief about everyone’s basic heterosexuality theologically, he holds it from what he naively calls a “clinical point of view”.
As we turn to Rinzema’s book, we find a truly refreshing change in both theoretical and practical terms. The Sexual Revolution is a significant contribution by a Reformed pastor in the Netherlands. The direct and simple style of Rinzema’s writing can be mistaken for simplistic thought, but such is not the case. One could wish for a more detailed explanation for some of Rinzema’s positions, e.g., his emphasis on the second table of the Decalogue as one of “the three fixed principles of Christian morality”. One of the best points Rinzema makes is his convincing argument that our anti-sexual attitudes derive from Greek philosophy and Eastern dualism rather than from Hebrew naturalism and the Bible.
Rinzema’s specific attention to homosexuality is fairly brief, but what there is, is quite good. His conclusion is that, “the Bible is not dealing with confirmed homosexuals” but with what “the Bible writers assumed” were heterosexuals who “did some strange and unnatural things with each other”. He calls upon Christian moralists, “in consultation with homosexual people”, to “dedicate themselves to a viable homosexual ethic”.