Building a Bridge by Father James Martin has received a lot of criticism. I myself have been leery of his writing, and actually criticized other pieces of his in the past, especially his LGBT parable article which is an excerpt from the revised edition of this book. However, I felt it wasn’t fair to criticize the book without first reading it myself, so I set out to read the original edition.
To be honest, there were a lot of things I liked about this book. I think he articulated the desire for pastoral care well, and I admire that he emphasized that the bridge goes both ways. I felt he clearly defined the terms he used in most cases. Fr. Martin gave some fair criticism of where we as a Church have failed in the past without being unnecessarily harsh. I also appreciated that he called out the LGBT community for some hurtful language they use about clergy and/or the Church and/or Catholicism.
The second part of the book had some interesting passages for reflection, and I thought some of the questions were good. I’m also glad he essentially recommended Ignatian meditation.
This book had a lot of potential, but its quality was greatly diminished by some of the flaws.
I take huge issue with a Catholic priest praising organizations that are supposed to minister to LGBT Christians while disregarding or outright rejecting the truth God has revealed to us about marriage. I was also disappointed that he praised a same-sex union. Though both these were small sections, it is concerning they were in this book at all.
There were also several sections that I felt could easily be misinterpreted as support for same-sex relationships or a celebration of sin. Perhaps that wasn’t his intent, but I feel like that is harmful for Christians who are seeking the truth.
My biggest issue with this book, however, was his insistence on conflating sexuality and identity. As a Christian, he should be reminding the baptized that their most important identity – the only identity that matters – is that they are children of God. People are not their disordered desires. Avera Maria Santo addresses this issue well in her post “You’re Hurting Me, Fr. James Martin.”
My final criticism is that the left a lot of unanswered questions. I know there is only so much you can put in a book, but I think what we really need as Catholics is guidance on how we can better articulate the truth with love. I think it’s fair to criticize our failings and point out where language we use is harmful, but he should’ve also given advice on what to do instead. We can’t build a bridge if we don’t have the right tools.
There are parts of this book I really appreciated, but there are parts of this book that range from annoying to outright spiritually dangerous. I think this book could be beneficial to Christians if they read it with the understanding that there are some major flaws. However, if there was a Christian who was lost and seeking the truth about marriage and trying to understand what to do, I would advise them not to read this book.
Finally, a balanced review. I really appreciate your integrity in 1) reading the book yourself 2) acknowledging what is useful 3) charitably critiquing what is potentially harmful.
Fr. Martin has clarified his stance a bit more, and published an article in America Magazine earlier this month stating Church teaching, directing people to the Catechism and quoting it, and saying he does not and will not challenge that teaching, explaining even why it makes sense. I wondered if perhaps people in certain camps were villifying him somewhat unnecessarily, when really it was a problem of needing clarification. From what I’ve read, he pushes a lot, just up to the edge, but left his stance ambiguous, so it was good to see him actually make some statements on his position. He’s also released another edition of his book, and i wonder if he corrected some things that you noted were wrong the first time around. I don’t know him, so maybe he is the snake in the grass some people take him for, but on the other hand, maybe he isn’t the poster child for changing Church teaching that others have taken him for. You charitably gave him the benefit of the doubt, which is the opposite of the sensationalism we see on both ends of the spectrum of Catholic news and commentary. Excellent!
Your review is what i hope to see more of in Catholic media/new evangelization/blogs: thoughtful, charitable, orthodox. Too often, the orthodox are uncharitable and the charitable are unorthodox, when really, true charity requires orthodoxy and true orthodoxy is charitable. I worked at one Catholic college in my city which prided themselves as “in accordance with the Magisterium” but were truly awful people, and i also worked at the other Catholic university in my city, where the people were kind, thoughtful, but largely lost as regards Church teaching. The ultra-orthodox theology professor at the one place had a conversation outside my office with the president/founder about how stupid the students studying media were (it was a “new evangelization” media/business school). The president told us staff that people who were poor were lazy or stupid and people who do social justice activities are just avoiding pursuing personal holiness. He and his wife, who also worked there, did nothing to hide their distate for Mexicans (and we’re in a heavily Latino area). At the hippie Catholic University, i heard the lesbian, boundary-pushing, drag-show organizing professor tell other professors what wonderful work her students would do when encouraged and expected to. It is a toss up which does the most harm. What we need is charitable, orthodox, reasonable people. So, thank you!
Thank you so much for your kind words! I am so glad you enjoyed the review.