David Maine is an odd-looking character. I would say he actually resembles someone from the Bible, given his facial hair and long, flowing locks. It's a good thing he re-tells Bible stories, then!

The back of this edition says, "Samson, every Sunday School's favourite mass murderer, wreaks havoc whenever he or his Lord have been challenged." And so on.

Given that I went to both Sunday School and catechism, AND I've seen the Hollywood epic, I should be well-placed to review this book. Hehe. There is no blasphemy in this book, so it should not offend your average Christian, but it does portray Samson as less heroic and more psychopathic who uses his belief (one could say delusion) that the LORD (it is in all caps throughout the book) speaks to him directly to commit his various massacres.

From what I remember (I have not read the story in the Bible in a long time, I'm pretty lapsed is what I am), this re-telling sticks to the main events, but the brutality and almost psychiatric take on the state of our anti-hero's mind puts a new twist on it. The language the author uses (or perhaps I have a vivid imagination) works well to set the scene in my mind's eye - I could see the field and the dead lion, I could definitely picture the various locations where he, er, consummated his relationship with Dalila, and the temple where the climax we are all familiar with? I felt like I was blind, just like Samson. I could almost feel the hair growing back on my head, too.

Seven Protestant authors, five of them scholars from Oxford University, have written a collection of fine theological papers on issues relating to homosexuality in the context of the contemporary debates in the Anglican Church. None of them perceive homosexuality as a problem in itself. They do not defend a particular pro-gay stance, though they are clearly not scandalised by gays’ claims for their own normality and the appropriateness of gays being contributors to the life of the Church. Rather, the authors explore the ways gay people may find and do find themselves at home with scripture and Church tradition.

Christopher Rowland’s paper, ‘The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Giveth Life’, is an exciting polemic addressing the temptation of “slavery to the Book”. In this most enjoyable text, Rowland recalls the 16 cent. German Anabaptist, Hans Denck, whose reaction on literalism in reading the Bible was remarkable for his time and useful for ours: the Bible is the witness to the living Word of God – Jesus Christ. Therefore, a Christian life is one of discernment of the God’s will for here and now, rather than one of uncritical conformity to the rigidly (mis)understood text. Rowling shows how, from the beginning, scriptures were read in the light of the then current experience of the Church and this provided the Church with a realistic vision of humanity and an effective message to the world. He concludes that a debate on homosexuality – as well as any other issue – is pointless unless we are attentive to and appreciative of our own experiences which provide necessary space for scripture and the tradition of the Church to assist us in understanding and embodiment of the “character of Christ”.

Marilyn McCord Adams’s Sexuality without Taboos reminds us how much social discomfort and anxieties contribute to what society denounces as bad, shameful, or unacceptable; and in religious terms – sinful and/ or blasphemous. The author’s judgement is razor-sharp: taboos are enemies of Christian discernment, because they make an idol of the status quo, they employ fear for maintaining the social order and they prevent society from a truly moral reflection. Same-sex attraction has been such a taboo ‘since the foundation of the world’; a proper Christian attitude would be to offer this to God to help us to make a better sense of it. Jane Shaw’s Marriage, Sexuality and the Christian Tradition is particularly interesting now, when registration of same-sex partnerships has become available. The default inclination will be to model our celebrations and partnerships on contemporary marriage and the family. Shaw offers a short historical journey to learn from a diversity of Christian attitudes to and understanding of family and relationships; in its light one may wonder how much  newness God expects from lesbian and gay couples coming together for better, for worse…

This book brings confidence in questioning the unquestionable and valuing one’s own experience of oneself.