Recommended

I have to admit, this book wasn't exactly what I expected it to be. Not that that's a bad thing, of course. I had anticipated a thorough exegetical treatment of, say, various biblical passages dealing with homosexuality, for instance. That was fairly minimal. Exegesis wasn't the primary subject of this work; fortunately, we have folks like J. P. Holding and Glenn Miller who have admirably dealt with the three main contentious issues of slavery, women, and homosexuality (here, here, and here). Instead, William Webb's Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals ('SWH' for short) deals chiefly in the realm of application. For that, of course, he has to lay out a hermeneutic (which is not, in Webb's usage, to be confused with an exegetical method, as a number of Amazon reviewers have done with respect to SWH). In brief, Webb focuses on the 'redemptive spirit' to be found within the text. By viewing the larger context of Scripture and though a great deal of careful thought, Webb says, one can discern a direction in which God is slowly prodding His people in terms of ethics, and perhaps also catch a glimpse of the end destination, what Webb calls the 'ultimate ethic'. In some cases, says Webb -- and this is where SWH becomes rather controversial -- our culture may have progressed further in the direction of the 'ultimate ethic' than the biblical text itself has traveled. While I'm inclined to think that Webb has given short shrift in certain places to the relativity of practices to the needs of the environment, this really doesn't make a substantial difference to his argumentation. (Some may wonder why God wouldn't have simply presented the ultimate ethic itself to the ancient Israelites or to the early church. I had this question myself, but Webb engages it rather well, pointing to the pastoral nature of Scripture among other considerations.)

In order to evaluate the cultural or transcultural status of biblical passages and overall themes, SWH lays out eighteen criteria of admittedly varying usefulness and value:

1. Preliminary Movement - The text should be examined for the direction of movement from the background culture. If it appears that further movement is possible and advantageous in subsequent cultures, then this criterion favors the cultural basis of the specific Scriptural stance and urges continued progress in the direction of motion already begun.
2. Seed Ideas - If certain portions of Scripture contain hints, in "seedling form", that the ultimate ethic lies beyond the explicit Scriptural stance, then this should be used to guide further development. 1 Corinthians 7:21 serves as an example in SWH [84].
3. Breakouts - On occasion, Scripture relays episodes in which characters favorably violate what would otherwise seem to be the norm, such as female leaders such as Deborah or the triumph of the left-handed Ehud. These indicate that the norm is probably not absolutely binding and transcultural.
4. Purpose/Intent Statements - If the current static application of a text would undermine the stated purpose of the injunction, the text itself is more inclined to be cultural. For example, Webb cites the practice of exchanging a "holy kiss", which today in the North American church would be more likely to introduce alienation or abuse than to draw believers closer together in spiritual intimacy [105].
5. Basis in Fall and/or Curse - Texts may exhibit transcultural character insofar as they tie their contents into a universal event, such as the Fall/Curse. However, there is also an underlying principle by which Christians are to fight the effects of the Curse, and so this matter must be weighed carefully.
6. Original Creation, I: Patterns - If patterns in the original creation are used as legitimation for components of a text, then it is somewhat more likely to be transcultural. But, even more so than with criterion 5, this is a criterion subject to many subtle nuances.
7. Original Creation, II: Primogeniture - A text is deemed more likely to be transcultural if the chronological order of events in the original creation is invoked. However, as Webb's subsequent discussion bears out, this can have a substantial cultural component when people are involved.
8. New Creation - If a text is rooted in the theme of new creation, it is more likely to be transcultural. This is considered a generally stronger criterion than either of those referencing the original Edenic order.
9. Competing Options - If the culture in which the biblical authors wrote had several differing options of thought, such that the authors would have needed to actually consider multiple options, the judgments passed in Scripture are more likely to be transcultural.
10. Opposition to Original Culture - A text is more likely to be transcultural if it goes against the grain of what is common in the surrounding culture.
11. Closely Related Issues - If matters deemed "closely related" to a given judgment are culturally bound, then that judgment may also be more likely to be cultural in nature, so long as a logical relationship or link exists.
12. Penal Code - If the punishment for an act is either light or barely even mentioned, its condemnation is more likely to be cultural.
13. Specific Versus General - If the specific instructions of a text seem at odds with the larger, more general principles of Scripture, there is an increased likelihood that the text is culturally relative.
14. Basis in Theological Analogy - A text is more likely to be transcultural if it is rooted in an analogy to God and/or Christ. (This and the next two are generally weaker criteria.)
15. Contextual Comparisons - A text is more likely to be transcultural if other elements in the very specific context involved are transcultural. Webb cites mixture laws in Deuteronomy 22 and various NT lists of virtues and vices as examples [192ff.].
16. Appeal to Old Testament - Discontinuity between the OT and the NT on an issue is a likely indicator of cultural aspects in the issue. Continuity is far less helpful for making any such judgments.
17. Pragmatics Between Two Cultures - If the practical basis for an instruction cannot be sustained from one culture to another, then the specific instruction is likely to be culturally bound. As an excellent example, Webb cites Leviticus 19:10, noting that while it would have assisted the poor in ancient Israel, application of the isolated text in modern American agriculture would probably help no one and simply waste crops [210].
18. Scientific Evidence - Finally, if modern scientific evidence seems contrary to some component of a text, this is grounds for investigating the possibility of a culturally bound nature. Aside from the issue of geocentrism and heliocentrism, Webb chiefly cites some Scriptural references to women before tackling considerations of homosexuality.

Webb applies each of these, insofar as possible, to the three thorny issues of slavery, the status of women, and the appropriate Christian stance on homosexuality, from which SWH derives its title. (Only in such a book as this could slavery ever be termed the "neutral example"!) When the smoke clears, it can be seen that what Webb set forth at the beginning looks to be correct: that a redemptive-movement hermeneutic leads us in the direction of abolitionism and beyond with respect to slavery, and to complementary egalitarianism or "ultra-soft patriarchy" with respect to women, but still compels the Scripture-honoring Christian to assess homosexual activity in a negative light, while displaying a spirit of love and graciousness to all. While the redemptive spirit of the text moved in the direction, from the original cultural background, of improving the lot of slaves and women, it moved also from permissibility of homosexuality to explicit divine statements against it.

Throughout the course of SWH, Webb shows a willingness to grapple with some of the most difficult and controversial issues in the interaction between biblical ethics and modern culture. He spends a great deal of time analyzing 1 Timothy 2, and of the four appendixes, two are explicitly related to it, while the third ("Research on Detecting Deception") applies to the same passage in terms of Criterion 18. The fourth appendix deals with 1 Corinthians 11:8-9 and women.

SWH comes with recommendations from Craig Evans, Craig Keener, and Darrell Bock. I see no reason not to echo their judgment: this book is a great contribution to the specific topic it was written to treat. It's certainly thought-provoking, and I can safely say that ideas gleaned from this book are bound to toss certain anti-Bible crusaders for a loop.

See a Q and A by Webb here.