Two Tribes - Midwest Conservative
Two Tribes - Midwest Conservative Journal has an excellent piece on what the Gene Robinson matter means to the Episcopal Church - and liberal Christianity.
CBN reporter Wendy Griffith asked Robinson how he reconciles the gay lifestyle with the Bible.
Griffith asked, "How would you interpret Romans 1:26-'For even the women exchange the natural use for what is against nature, likewise also the men leaving the natural use of the women, burn in their lust for one another; man with man committing what is shameful.' How do you reconcile that?"
Robinson suggested that the Scriptures are out of date.
"Uh, when those Scriptures were written in both the Old and New Testaments, everyone was presumed to be heterosexual, so to act in any other manner would be against one's natural inclinations. The whole notion of sexual orientation is only about a hundred years old. So to take the concept of homosexuality as a sexual orientation and to read it back into an ancient text, uh-is very shaky ground to be on."
Rev. David Anderson of the American Anglican Council blasted that one out of the water:
"Yes, that's the argument they use, which conveniently overlooks the fact that people have had same-gender attractions and Scripture says don't act on them. It would presume that God didn't know about men and women that he created, and now God has somehow got his Masters' degree and now knows more. Both in the Old Testament, in the Book of Leviticus, for example, it's very clear that this is not something you're to do. So, how can someone be a leader in church and function as a bishop, and be living a lifestyle that the Old and the New Testament together say is not permissible?"
I'm not going to say I can't be convinced. I
am going to say that while I still think there's a
secular, legal case to be made for domestic partnerships, the case for full recognition of homosexuality by the church as a valid lifestyle for a Christian seems fuzzier and fuzzier.
Posted by Mitch at
August 12, 2003 01:02 PM
