Opinion: This is not authentic Christianity
Opinion, from Dr. Mark Thompson:
Last night the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (operating as its Supreme Court) voted 326 to 267 to confirm the call of a practicing and openly gay man to be the minister of the congregation of Queen’s Cross in Aberdeen.
The decision comes at a time when the same issue has critically divided the Anglican Communion. A non-celibate gay man is Bishop of New Hampshire in the United States, his appointment confirmed by all but a small minority in The Episcopal Church. His presence at the inauguration of President Obama was nothing less than a presidential imprimatur. The Canadian churches are pushing ahead with the liturgical blessing of same-sex unions. Powerful gay lobbies are operating in many Anglican provinces around the world, including here in Australia. Meanwhile the Archbishop of Canterbury, caught between his published private opinions and the official position of his church, keeps trying to hold everyone together.
Other denominations both in Australia and beyond have also been dealing with various levels of gay activism within their membership.
The statement released by the Fellowship of Confessing Churches states the issue with unusual succinctness: this vote ‘sends a clear signal to the world that our denomination has departed from the teaching of the Christian Scriptures, upon which its very existence depends’. This statement resonates with the stated concerns of orthodox Christians around the world and in various denominations. The written word of God states repeatedly and unambiguously that homosexuality is a contradiction of God’s creational design for human sexual expression; to use the words of the Fellowship’s statement again, ‘the clear Scriptural pattern that recognises the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman as the only proper place for sexual intimacy’.
To acknowledge the Bible’s teaching on this matter as the true expression of God’s mind is not in any way to condone violence against homosexual persons. Such violence is itself a failure to take seriously the teaching of Scripture. Christians completely repudiate any such violence against anyone with whom we might disagree and where violence has been perpetrated in the name of Christ or of his people we need to acknowledge it and genuinely repent of it. What is more, homosexual persons are entitled to certain protections under the law (e.g. the right to live free of a fear of violence, the right to own property, and the right to be paid the same salary for the same work). However, these protections should not extend to insisting that all must agree with their decisions or behaviour. It is not an act of violence to say that something is wrong or morally repugnant.
Nor is this a sign of some psychological weakness, a ‘homophobia’ which is little more than giving way to our own fears and insecurities. This psychologising of dissent or opposition is a common enough tactic in modern debates. In the popular media and in liberal circles, it is used to suggest that there is something seriously deficient in those who disagree with the consensus they are promoting. It can also be a way of avoiding serious engagement with the arguments of your opponents. After all, if their opposition is borne out of pure irrational bigotry then surely it is appropriate just to marginalise and ignore them. However, the Christian opposition to homosexual behaviour over the past two thousand years has not arisen out of fear or ignorance. It arises from God’s clear expression of his mind and purposes for human beings. It is carefully reasoned and grounded firmly in God’s revelation.
The advocates of the right of actively homosexual persons to be recognised as faithful Christians and entrusted with Christian leadership of various kinds have also sometimes argued that their opponents are all captive to naïve and fundamentalist readings of Scripture which cannot be taken seriously in the twenty-first century. They point to other practices condemned in Scripture (almost invariably the Old Testament) which Christians do not take seriously and in fact have not taken seriously for a very long time. The food and clothing laws of Leviticus are often cited in this regard. So too is the insistence in the same Old Testament book that adultery should be punishable by death. Christians once justified slavery on the basis of biblical teaching, so the argument goes, and excluded women from leadership in the Christian congregation.
However, even a basic understanding of biblical theology demonstrates the difference between most of these cases and the issue of homosexual behaviour. The food and clothing laws of the Old Testament relate to the distinct national identity of Israel as God’s chosen people. With the advent of Jesus the situation is quite different. Indeed, it is Jesus himself who declares all foods clean. Adultery, however, is very different, as the repeated denunciations of it in the New Testament testify. It is no less serious an affront to God as it was in the Old Testament, since it still involves the repudiation of God’s intention for a faithful life-long union between a man and woman. Yet the Old Testament demand for judicial execution is replaced by congregational discipline: a call to repent and temporary exclusion with the goal of full restoration. Here is an appropriate analogy with the New Testament perspective on homosexual behaviour.
The appeal to the Christian attitude towards slavery as a precedent is to a certain degree disingenuous. After all, it was evangelical Christianity, motivated by obedience to the Scriptures rather than a desire to set them aside in favour of a contemporary public consensus, which overturned the slave trade in Britain. That abominable trade in human misery had been wrongly equated with the slavery found in Israel under the Old Covenant. Furthermore, the bonds of brotherhood in Christ took precedence over all social station and effectively undermined the practice of slavery as it existed in the first century Mediterranean world (as Paul more than hints to the slave-owner Philemon).
The case of women and Christian leadership is nowhere near as straightforward. It is certainly a matter of demonstrable fact that there is no universal Christian consensus on what kinds of leadership are appropriately exercised by women and what are not. There are many who insist that women are to be considered in every way equal to men and yet that this equality is not at all compromised by recognising men and women as complements of one another rather than duplicates. Yet others prefer an undifferentiated egalitarianism. The New Testament clearly considers gender an important issue when it comes to how we should behave within the Christian congregation. Yet debate continues as to how giftedness and opportunity are related to the very few restrictions on the appropriate ministry of women in the apostolic writings.
The push for what is euphemistically called ‘homosexual inclusion’ is sometimes portrayed as the next chapter in the history of enlightenment and emancipation. The prejudices of the past and the morally bankrupt practices which arose from them have one by one been overturned as knowledge replaced ignorance and freedom overcame oppression. The mistreatment of those who were different in race or gender to those with power was rightly exposed and action was rightly taken to eliminate it. Now, we are told, there is one further kind of discrimination which needs to be overcome: discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Yet such a picture cloaks a raft of differences.
Most important of these is the simple fact that the Christian objection focuses on behaviour rather than the inward struggle with temptation. Each of us is tempted to seek fulfilment, pleasure or meaning apart from God and his good word to us. We could rightly speak about our orientation or attraction to selfishness, pride, greed, anger, promiscuity and so forth, and of our responsibility to seek God’s help to resist that orientation. Those troubled with homosexual temptation need support and care rather than repudiation. And part of that support may well be to help such people avoid circumstances which would provide opportunity to surrender to that temptation.
Nevertheless, the issue in New Hampshire, Canada, Scotland and elsewhere is homosexual activity, indeed the embrace of an actively homosexual lifestyle while claiming to submit to the Lordship of Christ.
The sad but unavoidable truth is that any Christianity which endorses homosexual activity is not authentic Christianity. It cannot appeal to the universal teaching of the Christian churches over the past two thousand years. It can lay no claim to the mandate of Scripture. It cannot legitimately suggest that Jesus overturned the teaching of the Old Testament on this issue. Indeed, when speaking to the Pharisees about divorce he explicitly reiterated God’s creational intention: ‘Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.’ (Matt. 19:4–6)
It is important for Christians to be vocal in their opposition to moves such as that just made in Aberdeen. We need to insist that this is an aberration which is inauthentic. The lobbyists will certainly try to use it as evidence that there is no Christian consensus on this issue. This will no doubt be part of the debate in the House of Lords this week as activists try to wind back religious exemptions to the laws which prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Yet we continue to say ‘no’ and to argue that homosexual practice is morally repugnant because God has made this clear in the Scriptures. And the good word of the good God who made us all is always worth living by.
Christ’s Victory over Evil — coming soon!
“Forgive me for shamelessly plugging a book to which I have contributed, but Peter Bolt has edited the papers delivered at the 2008 Moore College School of Theology on the theme of Christ’s victory over the powers and the book is now available.
Contributions from Tony Payne, Peter Bolt, Bill Salier, Matthew Jensen, Con Campbell, Greg Anderson, Jonathan Lilley and Don West make this a very worthwhile volume indeed. An official launch of the book is scheduled for Thursday 28 May at Moore College.…”
– ACL President Mark Thompson writes on his blog about Christ’s Victory over Evil.
(Oh yes, you can order the book now – from Moore Books.)
Fraud upon the Communion
“The AAC has on file most, but not all, of the incredible number of suits by TEC leadership against parishes, and now against dioceses that are leaving. The rate of litigation is actually increasing, and that was why it was so important for the 4th Moratorium to be included in the Covenant Draft, and why TEC worked so hard to make sure it didn’t get included. ”
– American Anglican Council President, David Anderson, writes in his regular commentary – at Anglican-Mainstream. (Photo: The Common Cause Partnership.)
One day, there’ll be a knock on the door…
“Reading the Religious Intelligence report on the recent conference in the UK, Faith, Homophobia, Transphobia, & Human Rights — building positive alliances for equality and sexual diversity, I have no doubt that if not for me, then for other Christians soon, the knock will come on the door, and I will need to make sure I’ve got my toothbrush and some sugar cubes in my pocket. …”
– John Richardson on what seems to be coming – soon. At the Ugley Vicar.
On Satan’s accusations
“So friend, when Satan attacks you as a great sinner – admit the truth of his charges. But then assert that you have a great Saviour – that Christ is that Saviour – and that He is your hope.”
– Mark Dever in a sermon on Revelation 12–14.
Resources for discipling children
The Praise Factory is a website run by Connie Dever at Capitol Hill Baptist. It’s aim is to provide quality resources for parents and churches – to help teach systematic theology to kids from 2 years old through to 5th class.
She writes (with reference to Psalm 100) –
It is my hope and prayer that this curriculum might help children to be manufacturers of noisy joy (v.1) unto the Lord, to sing (v. 2), to know (v.3), & to worship Him with thanksgiving and praise (v.4), that the witness of His great faithfulness might continue through all generations (v.5).
With some sections still under construction, it appears to be well worth checking out! The price? Free – although you can make a donation to 9Marks. (h/t Tim Challies.)
Canada case concerns us all
“Last week I attended a fascinating talk given at St Andrew’s, Roseville by Mrs Lesley Bentley, a churchwarden at St John’s, Shaughnessy in Vancouver. Sydney Anglicans have a greater interest in St John’s than most Canadian churches because Canon David Short, a Sydney-trained minister, is the rector…”
– Bishop Glenn Davies writes at SydneyAnglicans.net. (Photo: Russell Powell.)
Carl Trueman on Luther
Carl R. Trueman of Westminster Seminary gave a series of talks on ‘Luther and the Reformation’ – at the 2007 Reformation Heritage Conference run by Grace Presbyterian Church in Douglasville, Georgia.
Grace Presbyterian has kindly made the audio files available – here. (h/t Faith by Hearing.) Photo: Westminster Seminary.
Australia’s first parish clergyman
Peter Bolt’s second book in the Studies in Australian Colonial History series is now available for pre-order.
“William Cowper arrived in NSW in August 1809 to become the minister at St Phillip’s Sydney. Across 49 years of ministry he must have baptised, married or buried, most of the population! Cowper was instrumental in setting up many of the social institutions that helped to establish a more wholesome society as NSW moved from penal colony to nationhood. His children were also pioneers, each in their own way, in building our nation. It is a gauge of the significance of his influence in the colony that when he died, Sydney closed down and 25,000 people lined the streets for his funeral. His impact had been strongly felt in NSW.”
– William Cowper (1778-1858): The Indispensable Parson. The Life and Influence of Australia’s First Parish Clergyman.
Details on how to pre-order the book here (PDF file).
Why Johnny Can’t Preach
In a recent edition of The White Horse Inn broadcast, Michael Horton spoke with T. David Gordon, author of Why Johnny Can’t Preach: The Media Have Shaped The Messengers.
The programme may be heard at OnePlace – and the book is available at Reformers’ Bookshop.
Monday morning encouragement
At Desiring God, Bill Walsh writes briefly on ‘The Main Thing to Rejoice About in Ministry’ –
‘Praise God for the times of effective ministry that he allows us to experience. If you’re like me you get excited when you see the fruitfulness of any ministry that God calls you to do. It is a thrill to see him at work, putting to use the gifts and callings that he has granted to us for the cause of the Kingdom.
But in Luke 10 Christ challenges us to test our own hearts, by examining what we rejoice in most.’
– Food for thought at the Desiring God blog.
The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory
“Jesus Christ calls his ministers from the ranks of the incompetent, so that He will show his singular competence through them. He uses earthen vessels to demonstrate his own life in us. He confounds the wisdom of the wise by using the unworthy to demonstrate his worth.”
– Albert Mohler at today’s commencement address at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Why should Christians be interested in Ethics in Medicine?
Dr Andrew Cole spoke at the recent CASE conference on ‘Medical Ethics: Christian Perspectives on Life and Death’. His topic was Why should Christians be interested in Ethics in Medicine?
The audio of his talk is now online (45 min /5.2MB mp3 direct link) – with details of the other audio coming soon. As always: simple, clear and Biblical. (Photo: ISPRM.)
No, Mr. President
Taken from an address by John Piper in January, this hard-hitting video on the President’s support on abortion is worth watching.
It runs for three and a half minutes – at YouTube. (h/t Justin Taylor.) Original message here.
A grubby little incident
“In a naked display of political power, the American Episcopal Church leadership stopped the Rev Philip Ashey, the clergy representative of the Province of Uganda, from taking his place at the 14th meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council held in Jamaica, because he has been among the strongest critics of their pro-homosexual policies. …”
– Over at SydneyAnglicans.net, ACL Chairman Robert Tong writes on ACC-14.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…