Book Review: “Blame It on the Brain?: Distinguishing Chemical Imbalances, Brain Disorders, and Disobedience (2nd Edition)”

Edward T. Welch. Blame It on the Brain?: Distinguishing Chemical Imbalances, Brain Disorders, and Disobedience. 2nd ed., P&R Publishing, 2024.

Praise for the First Edition 

I read the first edition of Blame it on the Brain by Ed Welch over a decade ago. I hung on every word. I found it gripping, thoughtful, and packed with relevance for ministry. I specifically remember the chapter on homosexuality and read it with anticipation. How would Welch deal with the theory that our genetic makeup determined “sexual orientation”? Welch wrote with refreshing clarity in 1998: 

Homosexuality is the hot issue in the church and society. Even more than abortion, it will confront the church throughout this generation. Political sanctions will be imposed on institutions that refuse to hire homosexuals. Homosexuals will probably have their “place at the table” with civil recognition of same-sex marriages. Under the heading of “pluralism,” all forms of sexual expression will be considered equally valid. Church leaders will continue to be “outed.” More denominations will revise their exegesis of biblical passages to allow for homosexual relationships. And people who otherwise take the Bible seriously will leave churches that call homosexuality “sin.” Certainly, throughout its history the church has faced persecution and criticism from the world, but at no time has the church so routinely been denounced as evil for upholding what appear to be biblical principles. (First edition, 152, emphasis original)

I was relieved and pleased to read such a strong stand from Welch. He spoke with conviction as someone who prized the Bible more than the consensus of the day. Welch was a man like Issachar, who understood the times and knew what God’s people should do (1 Chr 12:32). 

Welch was correct about what “the” hot issue would be in the years ahead. His prophetic voice predicted truth, but unfortunately that prophetic voice is now missing — along with the above quotation from the first edition. 

A Change in Ethics

The second edition alters the book in significant ways. There are many revisions that could be addressed, but this review will focus only on the changes related to homosexual orientation. While there are other concerning edits, the change in ethics ranks the highest in my view. 

I don’t believe Welch has changed his view on the morality of the act of homosexual intercourse (Second Edition, 150–151). A fundamental shift takes place in the second edition regarding his views of homosexual “orientation.” The change in ethics is obvious and notable. 

In 1998, Welch wrote, “An artificial distinction between (sinful) homosexual practice and (justifiable) homosexual orientation contradicts the Scripture’s constant connection of desire, orientation, and deed. If the deed was prohibited in Scripture, the desire was too” (First Edition, 160). Welch was correct that to desire a sinful object is sin. Welch could not have been clearer. He said, 

The biblical position is that there is a creation order for human sexuality. God’s ordained design for sexual relationships is male-female. Homosexual acts and homosexual desires, male or female, violate this creation ordinance and are thus sinful. The church must therefore warn and rebuke those who call themselves Christians but persist in homosexual practice. And the church must actively teach that homosexual affection is sinful. It can never suggest that there is a morally neutral, constitutional, homosexual orientation. (First Edition, 165)

Welch even believed that to simply counsel someone to contain their homosexual desires was a sin itself. He wrote,“To urge those struggling with homosexual desire simply to refrain from acting on their desire is to sin against these brothers and sisters” (First Edition, 165, emphasis mine). Welch wanted to get at the heart of the issue in counseling, and to be a faithful counselor meant addressing homosexual orientation as sinful: “This means that our sinful orientation has innumerable expressions in our lives. With some people it is greed or jealousy, with others it is sinful anger, and with others it can be expressed in homosexual desire” (First Edition, 173).

This was a clear and biblical position. Why might Christians and biblical counselors be tempted to compromise on the ethics of homosexual orientation? Welch was concerned that the wisdom of the world could taint believers. He wrote, “Although most Christians don’t condone homosexual activity, they have been affected by the homosexual agenda enough to believe that there is some sort of homosexual orientation” (First Edition, 157). 

Welch again references the homosexual agenda’s power and influence when he later states, 

The issue of homosexual orientation is where the church must engage the homosexual community in biblical discussion. The problem, however, is that the idea of homosexual orientation does not rest on any foundation that can be discussed. It relies on neither biblical data nor medical research. Instead, it is a political premise for gaining homosexual rights and is rooted in personal experience. (First Edition, 158, emphasis mine)

Not only did Welch believe there was no biblical data to support a morally neutral “orientation,” but he also continued to warn about the dangers of believing in a “sinless homosexual orientation” for pastoral ministry. He wrote, 

Even well-known evangelicals have been sympathetic to this idea. But we must be very careful at this point because the consequences are profound. For example, if you permit the idea of sinless homosexual orientation, you will encourage the church to look constantly for loopholes in the biblical data. After all, how can God hold people responsible who never choose to be homosexuals? Isn’t homosexuality God’s decision? (First Edition, 158, emphasis mine)

Welch was correct that a compromise on this ethic leads to “profound” consequences in the counseling room. 

These quotations (and many more) have been deleted in the second edition; instead, “homosexual orientation” is no longer sinful. In 2024, Welch writes, “Yet the biblical command against covetousness does not immediately speak to attraction. If attraction is equal to lust, then the discussion is over. But I propose that attraction is not the same as lust or nonstop fantasies of a sexual event” (Second Edition, 155). This is a shift compared to the first edition in which he said to desire sin is itself sinful. He now writes, 

If same-sex orientation or attraction were the same as lust, it would be sinful and treated by confession and repentance. Such a life would be complicated, however. You would need to confess constantly and would never be quite right with God, as if you were repenting of a preference for left-handedness or for bearing the name that your parents gave you. You would repent, and nothing would change. (Second Edition, 156, emphasis mine)

Welch no longer sees the need to repent for homosexual orientation. He is now making a distinction between same-sex lust and same-sex attraction. In fact, he goes so far as to say it is equivalent to being left-handed. 

Is same-sex attraction just like writing with your left hand? God made some people to prefer being a lefty. Sinistrality is not sinful. But to compare hand dominance with the man-made concept (or “myth” as Welch used to say) of sexual orientation is, at the very least, to compare apples to oranges. 

The irony is not lost on careful readers. We were once told not to blame homosexual orientation on the brain, but now we are encouraged to blame the body for it. This is a significant change indeed. 

Profound Consequences 

This is related to a further irony which affects ministry. The counseling Welch recommends today does not focus on the heart of the matter as once recommended in 1998. It is no longer a “priority” to address the sin of same-sex orientation because it wouldn’t do any good. He writes, 

If perfection were a heterosexual orientation, a change in orientation would take priority. But our destiny is something more akin to friendship, as we are joined to Christ and the triune God. In that shared unity with God, we are united to all God’s people, male and female. Homosexual orientation is mysterious. Clear causes are elusive. If we agree that orientation itself is not equivalent to immorality, the focus of our pastoral care will not rest there. (Second Edition, 158, emphasis mine) 

There are more quotations to note, but perhaps one of the more telling is found in a counseling case Welch promotes about a man named John. In this story, John is married with kids and same-sex attracted. John is now viewing his wife as a roommate and wishes he had never taken his wedding vows. He is reading literature from “Gay Christians” and wants to pursue homosexuality. 

Welch endorses the counselor finding the idols of the heart, but the idols are not the ones noted in the first edition. The idol of trying “to make things right through confrontation” is found, but the idol of a sexually immoral orientation is overlooked. Instead of putting same-sex attraction to death, he writes, 

John, let’s bring Scripture more specifically into your same-sex attraction. Your attraction to other men is hard to understand. Its impact has affected everything in your life, but we will not discover its causes, and we don’t have to. Scripture tells us there are endless mysteries around and in us, but our insights into them are not necessary for us to grow in Christ and find contentment in him. What we know is that attractions are best contained. Left to themselves, they can entice us, lie to us about the nature of true life, and become idols. This happens, of course, with both same-sex and heterosexual desire. Attraction can take hold of our imaginations, and our imaginations begin to demand and grasp for what will soon control us (Second Edition, 168, emphasis mine). 

Is it enough to say “attractions are best contained”? It is not. Same-sex attraction must be put to death like a venomous snake. Unfortunately, Welch presents this case as an example of good counseling. Welch comments on the story, 

Attraction was not his primary problem. We all say no at times to things that seem attractive to us. This is not a special case in which God gives us desires and then slaps our hands when we try to take the desired object. This is simply a matter of being human and always has been, even before the fall. We, in contrast to the subhuman creation, are called to put attractions (trees, fruit, people) within boundaries. Otherwise, we are ruled by them rather than free to follow who and what is best (Second Edition, 169, emphasis mine).

By the end of the story, it is not surprising that victory is elusive. Real change has not taken place because real repentance has not transpired. Hope has been dimmed. The 1998 Welch called for repentance, but the 2024 Welch calls for containment and “boundaries.” I wish Welch would return to his first edition and reaffirm the hope found in these words: 

But change is certainly possible through progressive sanctification. “Such were some of you” (1 Cor. 6:11) is the crucial reminder that there is hope to vanquish both homosexual acts and homosexual desire. How does this happen? The way of change is familiar. You need no special techniques. It consists of simultaneously juggling two themes: the knowledge of ourselves and the knowledge of God (First Edition, 173, emphasis mine).

Same-sex desire can be “vanquished.”

In the 90s, it was refreshing to hear him write about the “myth” that he exposed. He said, “The flesh does not want to see sin in all its ugliness; it works to keep it covered. What clouds sin even more is the myth that there is, by God’s design, a homosexual orientation. These two factors work violently against the truth about ourselves” (First Edition, 175, emphasis mine). 

Welch was even clear about the role of Satan in homosexual orientation. He said, 

It is too easy to settle for the absence of homosexual behavior and not worry about attitudes. Remember that it is on the question of homosexual orientation that the world, the flesh, and the Devil converge…. And the Devil stands behind both, whispering his murderous deceptions. The deception of homosexual orientation must be exposed and corrected. It is a false teaching that will eventually lead to bad fruit. We truly do have an “orientation,” but it is a spiritual orientation that is against God. It is not a simple physical propensity (First Edition, 175–176, emphasis mine).

Indeed, it is a “false teaching” that leads to bad fruit, and it is sad that Welch has now embraced it. It does not bring me joy to agree with his original words that he “must be exposed and corrected.” Welch has become the very minister he warned us about years ago.

Softening the Scriptures

Much has happened in the culture since the first edition. In 2015, Obergefell altered the political landscape so that, by 2024, the White House declared Easter Sunday to be the Transgender Day of Visibility. A lot can happen in a decade during a sexual revolution, but the Word of the Lord never changes (Isa 40:8; 1 Pet 1:24–25). It is with sadness that we must realize we no longer have a Welch from Issachar. 

The need of the hour is not to lessen our convictions, but to stand strong upon them. We need a robust commitment to the sufficiency of Scripture that speaks the truth in love. What made Blame it on the Brain a wonderful book was its insight from the Bible and its ability to shine hope into a confused culture. The second edition has lost that power. It was once a bright lighthouse; now it is a flickering flashlight that causes confusion. 

The lesson I learned from the first edition is that I cannot blame my body for sinful deeds and desires. The takeaway from the second edition is that anyone can be susceptible to a “false teaching.” We should take heed lest we fall. When the next decade rolls by, will our convictions be stronger, or will they be weaker? Will we be more committed to the Bible or less? 

May we all take heed of the exhortation from Welch in 1998. It is the way he concluded his original chapter on homosexuality: “Be alert, however, to the distinction that some make between homosexual desire and homosexual activity. This is an area where we may have been influenced by the interpretations of the brain research, while Scripture shines a much brighter, clearer light” (First Edition, 181).