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.