Notes from the AGM at Hatherton on Tuesday 5 June

Group Report - 19 January 2005 - Homosexuality and the Bible

A meeting of "Changing Attitude" was held at 61 Richmond Road, Wolverhampton, home of Bishop Michael, on Wednesday, January 19, 2005. It discussed those chapters in the Church of England Bishops' report on Sexuality which refer specifically to homosexuality.

There were about 25 people present from all parts of the Diocese, who were not necessarily members of the Changing Attitude group.

Bishop Michael led the discussion. It was in two parts; the first part concerned the use of the Bible in regard to sexual ethics. The bishop said that when we refer to any Biblical text we should (1) look carefully at the historical context in which it was written, even if this seems alien and strange to us in the 21st. century. (2) Try to work out its meaning within the community of the time. (3) Be aware of our own mindset, prejudices and preconceptions as interpreters, which are different from those of the Bible. Our present context, for instance, is of a pluralistic society.

He said that there are 4 'benchmarks' according to which we should look at any text - reason, tradition, coherence and performance. Under reason, he said that we need to ask whether a command or prohibition is reasonable for us now, e.g. on the position of women. We need to have a “dialogue with the 'secular conscience’”: what is the world saying?

Under tradition, it was suggested that some of the early fathers, especially Saint Augustine, had muddied the waters by interpreting the Bible metaphorically. Under coherence, we must try to avoid taking texts out of context. We need to look at the larger perspective. Where does this or that text fit with the general teaching? The Bible is not just a series of 'do's' and 'don'ts'; it provides us with guidelines, not proof texts. Under performance, we need to see how the Biblical guidelines work out, "by their fruits you shall know them." The Bishop added that the ultimate authority for Anglicans is scripture.

The point was raised "What if Scripture is wrong?" This led to a lot of discussion.

The second part of the discussion then focussed on the particular issue of homosexuality in the Bible; that is, an examination of specific Bible texts on homosexuality. Genesis 19, for instance: the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is really a story about the abuse of the laws of hospitality and it is this abuse which is being condemned. Various references in Leviticus are part of the Holiness Code in the ancient Hebrew Law: this code set Israel apart from other nations and there are condemnations of many sexual practices. It was pointed out that Israel was a small nation, surrounded by larger hostile nations and therefore there were two necessities - to keep the bloodline pure and to produce as many children as possible. These considerations do not apply in our world of to-day.

In the New Testament, we find that Jesus had nothing to say about same sex relationships because this was not something relevant to the society of his time. Later on in the New Testament, Saint Paul had some pretty fierce things to say about homosexuality but apparently he was reiterating the Holiness Code from Leviticus because he felt that it should still apply to Christians, even though in other places he is clear that the Law has been superseded by the Spirit. In the Epistle to the Romans Paul's main point is that it is the worship of idols instead of the worship of God which is the paramount evil.

The important thing for us is to realise that we live in a changing society and that we must re-think our attitude to many ethical questions.

Finally, there was a discussion about our response to the Biblical material. The Bishop made it clear that there are numerous possible responses.

(1) to say that all homosexual behaviour is 'disordered'. But, if we take that position, how do we speak a "word of grace" to gay people?

(2) to say that gay sexual activity is unacceptable but there is nothing wrong with a gay 'orientation'.

(3) to say that the Biblical world is so different from ours that Bible texts do not accord with our understanding of our world. We need to do a lot of re-thinking e.g. of our interpretation of Jesus' teaching on marriage. The Bishop said that he personally had far more difficulty with modern attitudes to divorce than with modern attitudes to homosexuality.

(4) to say that the revelation of God is not something static and fixed for all time, e.g. we can no longer accept the traditional Biblical attitude to slavery or to the position of women. We consider that we have new God-given insights which are valid for our time. A similar breakthrough is possible with regard to homosexuality. We are a pilgrim people, moving forward in the light of the central teaching of Jesus Christ, the word of God.

(5) to say that it is important to interpret individual texts in the light of what we believe to be the central thrust of Scripture.

It was a good discussion, with many people having the chance to express their views.