Research Catalog
Freedom, glorious freedom : the spiritual journey to the fullness of life for gays, lesbians, and everybody else
- Title
- Freedom, glorious freedom : the spiritual journey to the fullness of life for gays, lesbians, and everybody else / John J. McNeill.
- Author
- McNeill, John J.
- Publication
- Boston : Beacon Press, [1995]
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| Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Text | Use in library | BV4596.G38 M65 1995 | Off-site |
Details
- Description
- xiv, 232 pages; 22 cm
- Summary
- Freedom, Glorious Freedom is the third volume in John McNeill's landmark trilogy on gay and lesbian spirituality. It deals with the presence of the Spirit of God, the Spirit of love in our daily experiences, and how to arrive at the glorious freedom of the children of God. "When we gays and lesbians discover that we cannot follow the fallible teachings of our religious authorities without destroying ourselves," McNeill explains, "then we are forced to search out what God is saying to us through our experience and take personal responsibility for the choices we make." The first part of the book deals with freedom of conscience and discernment of spirits. These ancient teachings of the Christian church have a special urgency for lesbian and gay people who need to free themselves from all the homophobic authorities and deal with God on a direct and personal basis. The second part deals with the liberating process of coming out of the closet seen as a spirit-filled effort to achieve the glory of God by becoming fully alive as gay and lesbian people. The third part deals with twelve-step spirituality as a spiritual process of liberation from all addictions in order to experience the love of God in its fullness. The fourth part deals with the problems that gay and lesbian persons have in becoming aware of God's special love for them and also the unique qualities present in a gay person's love for God. In the epilogue, McNeill expresses in detail a philosophical vision, looking both to the past and to the future, of how gay liberation fits into the Spirit-directed evolution of human history and its role in the ongoing struggle for human liberation.
- Subject
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 219-232).
- Contents
- Part 1. Gay spiritual maturity. Introduction: the gay spiritual journey -- Freedom of conscience and gay maturity -- Freedom of conscience and the Catholic church -- Discernment of spirits -- A case history of discernment of spirits -- My personal experience of discernment -- Part 2. Coming out: the three stages of homosexual hierarchy. Creating the authentic gay self: the three-stage process -- The second passage into intimacy with another -- A public passage -- Coming out through a public rite of covenanted union.
- Part 3. Twelve-step spirituality. Introduction: a means of liberation for lesbians and gay men -- Intimacy with God -- Opening a dialogue between the feminist and the masculine understandings of twelve-step spirituality -- Part 4. The gay love of God and God's love of gays. Introduction: homosexuality and the New Testament -- God's love of gays -- The special nature of the gay and lesbian love of God -- Epilogue: Emerging from the heart of the world -- Appendix 1. Maurice Blondel: the philosopher of freedom -- Appendix 2. The church and the homosexual: its condemnation and my response -- Appendix 3. The authoritarian personality.
- ISBN
- 0807079367
- 9780807079362
- 0807079375
- 9780807079379
- LCCN
- 94015723
- OCLC
- ocm30358598
- 30358598
- SCSB-2051459
- Owning Institutions
- Princeton University Library