Note: long reply.
Cpt Jagdish wrote: …If current trends continue, will this happen in regards to homosexuality?
It’s a good question. Your previous points aren’t without merit but they are a bit one sided. It can be shown that many used the Bible to condemn slavery and mixed marriages as well. Some who opposed those positions were extreme Biblicists and devout Christians. You will always have outliers that rip texts out of context (mostly the OT) to prove a point or pet a peeve. But generally, those are aberrant views within what is generally held as orthoodox Christianity.
Homosexuality is an interesting one because unlike race, it is not as easy to separate the sin from the sinner. Is it a choice (nature vs. nurture)? I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to say absolutely. Whereas black skin is not nurture. This is where many get tripped up over homosexuality. Side note: I find it amusing how many people claim a 5 year olds knowledge of his sexual orientation compelling, dare I say unassailable, when we wouldn’t take a 5 year olds perspective on anything as absolute or informed. It’s just hard.
I do wonder what I would have thought about racism if I was born 50 years ago. It seem so easy to dismiss and I’m ashamed people of faith did what they did in the name of God, but they still did it. Me thinks those people are still alive and well today and equate homosexuality with bestiality, etc. I do wonder if my kids’ kids will look at homosexuality the way I look as racism of the 60s.
Cpt Jagdish wrote: Now that public sentiment is changing, I have noticed cracks in Christian theology about supporting gay people.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiani ... able_views Much of that revolves around mistranslating the bible, making the excuse that being homosexual is not a sin but the act itself is (equating it to gossping, lying, etc), that are laws supersede others (Golden Rule), and so forth.
Those cracks have been there for a long, long time. The PCA and PCUSA splint, in part, over this issue decades ago. It was part of the conversation and how the church was dealing with it. Anglican/Episcopalians have discussed/battled it as well. What you are seeing is the more neutral, non-denominational churches shifting their perspective. This is a relatively new phenomenon. Under the Charismatic movement, “independent” churches began to spring up everywhere - Community churches, Bible Churches, Assemblies, etc. In the 50’s and before MOST churches were denominationally aligned and the denomination spoke as “one voice.” Now you have a bunch of independent churches, some quite large, speaking individually. Couple that with the SBC churches taking on a more autonomous ether that they are speaking almost as independents (Saddle Back – for example).
Those churches, while popular, can hardly be equated with Christianity as a monolith. It most of those churches you’ll hear little more than self-help on a Sunday. See Joel Osteen. They make their business to NOT be about doctrine or dogma. They are attractive to many, but not for reasons of wanting to know and life the Bible. I think those churches will move to embrace homosexuality under the banners of love and “not judging.” How much they make up “Christianity” is not clear to me.
So when you say Christianity, it’s important what you mean. And yes, I’m using the “No True Scottsman” here but it’s applicable. The more liberal, mainline denominations (already mentioned in this thread) are likely going to fully accommodate homosexuality. It won’t even be the act vs. the attraction. It will follow the “God is Love” lines and since they are in love… you get the point.
However, there are many conservative denominations (SBC, PCA, EFree, EPC, GARB, etc.) that will hold course with some individual churches within the ranks splitting off (that’s how new denominations start). I think what you will see will look very much like England at the moment (France and Germany to some degree too). This battle was fought there years ago and the larger churches embraced homosexuality, even in their leadership. But there is still a strong, but smaller segment of churches that do not endorse it. I would say that those churches are “generally” more conservative and consistent in their commitment to and belief in a literal, infallible Bible. I don’t know what the percentages are but I’d guess 20-30% of the churches there support homosexuality.
Ironically, in America, there is a resurgence in young church attendance within groups like Acts 29. There are vibrant, relevant, reformed, orthodox churches that are growing. They are shedding the external patterns of religiosity and embracing a more social aspect to the Gospel. Many are in urban areas meeting real needs. They are also engaging homosexual communities in day to day life. It will be interesting to see how they engage/respond.
I really don’t think this is an “interpretation” issue. Homosexuality falls into the broad category of inappropriate sex (outside of marriage) in the Bible. Lots of things fall into that group. Jesus himself said if you look at a woman in a sexual way (wanting it) you’ve already committed the act in your heart and you’re guilty before God. So there is little room to wiggle with homosexuality and all the Bible (even the NT) says about it. You can’t condone it without giving up a TON of ground. Most importantly, if God really does not care about sex, as between and husband and a wife, Eph 5 falls to pieces and the Gospel itself is decimated. Many churched will kowtow to societal pressure to make room for homosexuality but they will inevitably detonate the very foundation upon which they stand.
So these are interesting days. Our church leadership talks about this almost every week. How do we engage this conversation in a way that is faithful to the Bible and not coming across as bigoted and hateful? This battle seems to have quelled “some” in Europe. People basically ignore each other with opposing views now, as opposed to going pistols at dawn as they are currently doing in the U.S. I wonder if we will get there. There are still some VERY racist churches that exist in the U.S. – as an example of not choosing to go to battle over it.
Lastly, a broad reading of Church history shows that battles like this have raged for centuries. Heresies and doctrinal battles have looked to decimate Christianity (Gnosticism, Arianism, Corrupt Catholicism, Evolution, Battle for the Bible (liberalism). And even when it seems many, if not the majority of mainline groups have given ground towards what is unorthodox, there are always strong remnants that persist in orthodoxy. I think that is what you will see with this issue. How it all unfolds and what it will look like in 20 years is unclear, but there will be a remnant that remains faithful, IMO.
The question in my mind will be, will Christianity look more like the Chinese church or the European church (persecuted and underground or accepted but marginalized).
).......unless you're telling me that pederasty/pedophilia = homosexuality?
