With no serious rivals to its comprehensive treatment, this major work contains a clear account of the development of medical and psychological view; an exceptionally thorough review of the biblical texts and their interpretation both past and present; a historical survey of Christian attitudes including the notable contribution to welfare and law reform; and an account of the shift in the Christian ethical judgement from hostility to tolerance and towards acceptance.

Peter Coleman, who trained first for the Bar and then as a priest, is married with four children. Mush of his ministry has been among students, and he is now a Residentiary Canon and Director of the Bristol School for Ministry. He teaches Christian Ethics at Bristol University, and has been a member of the General Synod working party on Homosexuality of 1979.

This detailed un-polemical study of the wide range of Christian attitudes towards homosexuality is an important contribution to the present debate in all the Christian Churshes. It sets out fully and ecumenically, the biblical, historical and legal background to what has become a test case for modern Christian ethics.