You Can, If You Want To

Navigating Christian Faith, Conscience, and matters LGBTQ+

By: Rev James Alison

Narrated by: Rev James Alison

Bloomsbury presents You Can, If You Want To: Navigating Christian Faith, Conscience, and matters LGBTQ+, written and read by James Alison

What if Christianity was far more liberating than the culture wars suggest? Can the conflict concerning Christianity and homosexuality be viewed from a more interpretative lens? James Alison, a Catholic priest who is also a gay man, has been wrestling with the matter for over forty years.

This luminous and rigorous book dismantles the fear-based binaries which have dominated conversations in the Church. Striving to address potential concerns about accepting LGBTQ+ individuals within the church, James draws on scripture, tradition and his lived experience to form a broader understanding of faith and humanity.©2025 James Alison (P)2025 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

An invitation inside Christianity

Deserves to become a cult classic, an Introduction to Christianity for our time. How do you describe something that feels new and insightful but also deeply rooted in tradition and the ancient sources? Like a successful archaeological dig, it uncovers "new" things that change the way we think, but the finds have ancient origins--they are not mere modern forgeries.

Most Excellent

The explanation of Genesis 19 (Sodom and Gomorrah) was particularly enlightening, but the whole book was full of consolation… and some challenge.

I think the most interesting point for me was the definition of authority in Christianity being basically empirical: see what’s beneficial and what isn’t. I’d like to read more about how science requires the undoing of a sacrificial mentality.

I like the narrator’s voice, but I was listening at 2x speed.