The Reverend Elizabeth M. Edman is an Episcopal priest and a political strategist who has been expanding people's understanding of faith and sexuality for over twenty-five years. She has worked on the most pressing contemporary issues at the intersection of religion and sexuality, serving as an inner-city hospital chaplain to people with HIV/AIDS from 1989 to 1995 and helping to craft political and communications strategies for marriage-equality efforts. She lives in New York City.
“[Edman’s] tone and personal examples are compelling. By turning
the conversation around to show what queerness can tell readers
about Christianity, this work provides a striking road map for
larger, more productive conversations and community building.”
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
“An intellectual and provocative perspective challenging Christians
and others to reconsider the confines of spiritual interconnection,
harmony, and progressive inclusion in modern religion.”
—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
“Edman’s fellow progressive Christians may pay closest attention to
her absorbing argument. Perhaps all Christians ought to.”
—Booklist
“A passionate argument...blend of personal, political, and
theological reflection on the experience of LGBTQ people...reach
LGBTQ readers who find themselves moved by Edman’s case for the
spiritual resonance of queer identities and values...This work will
appeal to those with an interest in the relationship between
queerness and faith, and the thematic chapters are easily adaptable
for group study.”
—Library Journal, Starred Review
“Elizabeth Edman’s Queer Virtue is a powerful work of theological
and autobiographical reflection that illuminates the deep
connections between queerness and Christianity. This book will be a
valuable guide for anyone who navigates the liminal spaces between
these distinct yet mutually reinforcing worlds.”
—Reverend Patrick S. Cheng, author of Radical Love: An Introduction
to Queer Theology
“The once marginalized discipline of gay studies is now decidedly
back in the curriculum and in the intellectual arena. This book is
a sterling example of the best of it, and on a subject—ethics and
morality—that is an emerging area of interest in all fields. It
will be a little classic, and will be read and argued about for a
long time to come.”
—Harvey Cox, author of The Future of Faith and How to Read the
Bible
“Edman writes with the tender hand, approachable intelligence, and
wise humility of that super-smart, big-hearted priest you always
want yet rarely find. Her warm and personal words engage
Judeo-Christian tradition, as well as pop culture. She returns us
to the radical roots of our faith, while showing us how relevant
its teachings still are. She calls us to community—a powerful
message for queer people who have been alienated from the church.
She takes words we think we know—‘scandal,’ ‘pride,’
‘queerness’—and encourages us to consider them in a new light. And
at a time when narratives about Christianity are often
hyperindividualistic and oversimplified, she reminds us of a
vibrant gospel that’s richly relational, comfortingly complex, and
inherently hopeful. A vital read.”
—Jeff Chu, author of Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian’s
Pilgrimage in Search of God in America
“Hot Damn! Rev. Edman’s book is a breath of fresh, queer, air that
scatters away a dusty history of half-assed sexual apologetics with
a invigorating proclamation: that sex is good and queerness is
Godly. Writing from a place of deep love of queer communities,
Edman reveals that, just as in so many biblical stories, the ones
who ‘get’ the Gospel are the ones who have been disregarded,
disparaged or abandoned by the so-called righteous. In pushing
queer folks to the sidelines, the Church has not only damaged God’s
children and failed to live in love, but further, missed a central
lesson about what it means to follow Jesus. Edman shares her
discoveries of the virtue at the heart of queer communities with
vivacious smarts and a wicked sense of humor that compels her
readers to ditch the false binaries that keep us fettered and
instead fully embrace our gloriously multifaceted God-given
identities. If you’ve wondered if you can be fully queer and fully
Christian, the answer is a resounding ‘yes,’ and Edman will show
you the way.”
—Emily Scott, pastor, St. Lydia’s Dinner Church
Ask a Question About this Product More... |