Freedom, Glorious Freedom

About this book

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.