Last Thursday the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. voted to redefine marriage as "a union between two persons." This new definition opened the door to ecclesiastical endorsement of same-sex marriage. The Presbyterian Church, U.SA. becomes the second Protestant denomination to go this route through its highest court. The United Church of Christ had taken a similar action in previous years.
The purpose of this essay is not to speak for or against this latest action, but rather to present some of the challenges and opportunities, not only for the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A and other denominations, but rather for the Church of Jesus Christ as a whole. There is no doubt that this action will have various results, including dissension and division along biblical hermeneutical and theological grounds, but also in relation to long standing traditions and customs of Christ's Church. This action will not doubt result in the following:
1. Members who oppose this action on biblical grounds will right away go to the Bible and quote a plethora of Scripture passages (taking the "quick to verse" approach) that in their belief speak against same-sex marriage. The major problem with this is the following:
a. The Bible nowhere speaks against same-sex marriage for the simple reason that same-sex marriage, to the best of our knowledge, was not a widespread practice in the society of biblical times. The Bible has various passages which speak against same-sex relations, and one would then have to determine if the biblical injunction against same-sex relations applies by implication to same-sex marriage.
b. The "quick to verse" approach (quoting Scripture passages without making any mention of the cultural, linguistic, and social origins of the Bible) has never solved any theological problem. If anything, the "quick to verse" approach has just resulted in individual Christians and churches disagreeing with each other because of different biblical hermeneutics (principles of interpretation) and also "hair splitting" over the meaning of different passages of "what the Bible says." People who use the "quick to verse" approach are rather allergic to going through the trouble of doing the necessary research to establish the intended definition of those passages. They prefer the comfortable short-cut route of just citing the passages in order to "proof-text" their position, as if just merely quoting the particular passages prove anything. Their attitude is "the Bible says so, end of story."
c. Quoting the Bible as if in and of itself, the Bible has a life of its own, complicates the problem. This approach results in what Karl Barth, a Swiss pastor and theologian referred to as "bibliolatry," i.e. worship of the Bible. If the Bible is not Christ-centered, i.e. if the Bible does not play the role of witnessing to the Word, which is none other than Jesus the Christ, it is a book like any other. Thank God that the Scriptures do, indeed, play that role.
2. Many (both lay people and ordained clergy) who believe that this latest action is a reflection of the Church's abandoning and twisting the Word of God found in Scripture, will leave to other churches, or perhaps start their own new churches. What else is new? Since the beginning of time, the Church of Jesus the Christ has undergone division. The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century accompanied by the subsequent emergence of different denominations quoting the same Bible is a witness to this ongoing thing with people being dissatisfied with things "as they are," vs. "how they should be."
3. Those who are open to a wide variety of hermeneutical perspectives will probably remain within their churches, while at the same time experiencing the "growing pains" of Scripture as historically understood vs. tradition. They will feel uncomfortable with the action taken, but at the same time trusting that the Holy Spirit will continue to guide the Church as it examines and reexamines its biblical hermeneutics and theological presuppositions. This does not mean that they will blindly and uncritically accept and be in agreement with everything that the leadership of the Church decides, but they will trust that the Holy Spirit will guide the Church's leadership as the leadership submits itself to constant study of the Scriptures and of the Christian tradition, revising wherever and whenever revision is needed. They will accept the notion of "Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda (The Church reformed, always reforming)."
I invite you, the reader to evaluate the latest action in the light of the following:
1. The need to engage in honest and ongoing biblical hermeneutics (principles of interpretation). This involves moving away from the tendency to quote Scripture in an impulsive, mechanical, and robotically-programmed manner. If and when you quote and utilize the Scripture as a frame of reference, make sure that you have gone through the rigorous task of examining the Scriptures in their original context, and at the same time do everything to avoid the infantile approach of just quoting them. Remember, anyone, including a child, can quote Scripture. Cliches and slogans about "what the Bible says," are not helpful.
2. The need for the Church to determine if its position on marriage and other moral issues should be exclusively based on ancient texts such as the Bible, or whether it is desirable for the Church to adopt pragmatic models which are based on the reality of life as we know it today.
3. The need for us to ask ourselves honestly, openly, and sincerely, if the latest action is reflective of the Church's accommodation to secular social mores and norms in order to make itself and the message of the Gospel "relevant" to our age, and also whether it reflects the Church preferring to find favor with society rather than favor with God.
Your comments on and reactions to this presentation are highly desired and most welcome. I trust that you will take the time to contribute to this ongoing discussion.
In the Name of the Creator, and of the Redeemer, and of the Sustainer. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Juan A. Ayala-Carmona
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