SYNOPSIS

Same Sex Unions and Biblical Fidelity: Discerning the Spirit in Text and Context

Rev. Gary Hauch

Introduction

At its core, the debate in the church over same sex unions is about the will of God, about discerning it so that it can be followed and God be honoured. In this debate, as in others before and after it, careful attention to the Bible plays a central role because it is within its pages that we find God’s will most clearly expressed. But attention to Scripture, whether our theological convictions are conservative or liberal, or whether our exegetical practices are sophisticated or simple, is not in itself a guarantee that what we find in the Bible is indeed God’s will for us. Scripture has been used to underwrite our broken and sinful practices and world-views; it has also been used to transform them into something holy and life-giving. Which texts and which traditions and trajectories within the biblical text do we draw upon for guidance in our present situation?

Synopsis

In the first part of this paper, Gary Hauch outlines, citing a number of examples from Scripture, how being faithful to God requires tradition to be altered, that how sometimes what had once been explicitly forbidden was later explicitly approved, citing examples from the Hebrew Scriptures and from the ministry of Jesus. Particular attention is paid to the narrative of Acts 10-15 on how the early church deliberately overruled the commandments of the Hebrew Law in its ministry to the Gentiles.

The second part of the paper outlines the process of discernment, again paying attention to the experience recounted in Scripture.

The paper concludes by noting that there are different understandings of marriage (and divorce) in different parts of the Bible; and that our current practice of recognizing marriage as a union of equal partners is not the norm most often encountered in the Bible. He concludes by noting that the Gospel upholds marriage, and celibacy, as means of enacting holiness in our bodies and relations; and asks why gay and lesbian Christians who are also called to such holiness should be denied the same options.