Taking Sides on Gossip - Recap

In July and August, we embarked on a long (33 posts!) series about the various things people have said about gossip (both for and against).

This post is an index page to the whole series which was drawn from the pages of my doctoral project on the problem of gossip.

I ended that section of the project with this paragraph:

In this chapter, we have learned that, throughout history, many confusing and contradictory things have been said on the topic of gossip. Gossip’s proponents have argued for its inherent goodness and obvious usefulness. Gossip’s opponents have contended that it is wicked and destructive. While both cannot be right, there are things to be learned from both sides. Others have been coy about or unsure if gossip is either good or bad. The ongoing problem of definition, the dynamic expansion of technological means for gossip’s dissemination, and the profitability of gossip as entertainment have only exacerbated the confusion. Even those who are correctly positioned against sinful gossip have struggled to define it clearly or to provide consistently helpful teaching on how to resist it. This is the cultural milieu into which the ministry model described in the next chapter attempts to speak.

That "ministry model in the next chapter" is what is now the book Resisting Gossip: Winning the War of the Wagging Tongue.

Here are all of the posts in this series:

New Series: Taking Sides on Gossip

Evolutionary Scientists and Gossip

Philosophers and Ethicists on Gossip

Literary Scholars and Gossips

Exacerbating the Problem of Gossip

Exploiting Gossip

Ambiguity and Ambivalence about Gossip #1

How to Gossip - by the British Association of Gossipmongers

Gossip and Pastoral Counseling

"The No Gossip Zone" - Business Leaders and Gossip

Educators and Social Workers on Gossip

Jewish Moral Teaching Against Gossip #1: "Lashon Hora"

Jewish Moral Teaching Against Gossip #2: Rules, Rules, Rules

Jewish Moral Teaching Against Gossip #3: Where Forgiveness Comes From

Martin Luther on Gossip

Richard Baxter on Gossip

Jonathan Edwards on Gossip

Charles Simeon on Gossip

Charles Spurgeon on Gossip

Ken Sande on Gossip

Joe Stowell on Gossip

Franklyn Wise on Gossip

Deborah Smith Pegues on Gossip

Jerry Bridges on Gossip

Martha Peace on Gossip

Ray Ortlund Versus Gossip

Brenda Payne Versus Gossip

Rounding Up "Taking Sides on Gossip"

Book Review -- "Grapevine: The Spirituality of Gossip"

Book Review -- "Overcoming Gossips" by David Kamara

Book Review -- "A Bible Handbook on Slander and Gossip" by Robert Morey

Book Review -- "Gossip and the Gospel" by Timothy Williams

Book Review -- "Stop the Runaway Conversation" by Michael Sedler