The Bible and Homosexuality and the Church
This predicament has led some to believe that a schism within the Anglican Church is inevitable; with the traditionalists who oppose homosexuality, based on the Bible, on one side, and the liberals who believe the Bible should be reinterpreted in the light of modern wisdom, on the other side.
The linked article is specifically about the Anglican Church, but I don’t feel it is too big of a stretch to generalize these attitudes as representing Christianity overall. The choices: hold to a more literal reading of the Holy Bible or reinterpret the Bible “in the light of modern wisdom.” At times like this I wish I was more of (or had been more of) a lover of History. The above quote got me thinking about the the Dark Ages and the Renaissance. Even when removed from a perjorative meaning, the Dark Ages, or Middle Ages were considered as the Age of Faith and a time of Catholic corruption. Wingnuts like Pat Robertson like to suggest that homosexuality led to the decline of the Roman Empire, but in reality, laws condemning and the persecution of homosexuals went on for close to 300 years before the fall of Rome.
Interestingly, the only flashpoint appears to be homosexuality in general, and the acceptance of homosexuals as bishops specifically. Where is the outrage within the African Church against divorce, or adultery, or any number of other issues where socially accepted standards fall outside a biblical interpretation? This inconsistent position for a literal biblical judgement in one regard, but failure for the same biblical adherence in others, suggests something else at play here.
I wrote yesterday on my other blog, Queer Look at the Bible, about a theological look at transgenderism. Earl, blogging at http://earlbarnett.com/wordpress/ wrote today about a book on theology. There are numerous approaches to theology, and many do not begin with a literal biblical interpretation. These viewpoints may lead to new ways of understanding God and our relationship to the Divine in the light of modern wisdom.
via Monitor Online | Sunday Life | Gay leadership causing a schism in the Anglican Church.
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