Eric Reitan

author of "The Triumph of Love: Same-Sex Marriage and the Christian Love Ethic"

January 24, 2018

Eric Reitan, a Professor of Philosophy at Oklahoma State University, specializes in philosophy of religion and
ethics. He is the author of numerous articles and book chapters as well as three books: Is God a Delusion? A
Reply to Religion's Cultured Despisers (Wiley-Blackwell 2009, named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title),
God's Final Victory: A Comparative Philosophical Case for Universalism (Bloomsbury-Continuum 2011, coauthored
with John Kronen) and The Triumph of Love: Same-Sex Marriage and the Christian Love Ethic
(Cascade Books 2017).

Recent years have witnessed an astonishing cultural and legal shift when it comes to homosexuality and
same-sex marriage. Many Christians see these changes as a defeat for Christian values, often painting
Christian opponents as sell-outs to secular culture. But can there be a genuinely Christian case for same-sex
marriage? This book makes that case. While sensitive to scriptural issues, it focuses on a question that cannot
be answered by Scripture alone: What does love for our gay and lesbian neighbors demand? This question
calls us to pair theological, philosophical, and scriptural reflection with something else: attention to gay and
lesbian lives. We must attend to the psychological research and, more importantly, to the stories our gay and
lesbian neighbors tell us about themselves and their experience. Love does not permit us to plug our ears with
Bible verses. While this book argues that Christian love calls us to make same-sex marriage available, the
deeper conclusion is that Christian values prevail when we wrestle with these questions in a spirit of love: love
for those with whom we disagree, and love for those most affected by the decisions we reach.

URL: https://library.okstate.edu/news/celebratingbooks/2018-honorees/eric-reitan

Last Updated: 19 January 2021