Letter to the Editor

[insanetimbo]

Dear Southern Cross (the newsletter of the Sydney Anglican Diocese)

The real issue at stake regarding sexual ethics, according to Dr Jensen's article " Why I am going to Israel", is the preservation of reverence for "Biblical authority". When will he acknowledge that those on the other side of the divide actually share this concern? In a spirit far

Comments

[menwhowontsmile]

Oh, interesting. Good luck with that, Timbo!

[insanetimbo]

thanks! bit of an uphill battle, but we'll see :)

[beatnikbetty]

most excellent, and well written.

[insanetimbo]

that's kind, thankyou for commenting!

[zcatcurious]

I agree with the general point which you are making, but I have to query one part of it: "we deceive ourselves if we take on a belief that the Bible gives an unambiguous prohibition of loving same-sex relationships". 1 Timothy 1:10 and 1 Corinthians 6:9 present an unambiguous, unmitigated demonisation of male homosexual intercourse. If Paul's word is 'taken as Gospel', then the only acceptable "loving same-sex relationships" are between women or between celibate men, and that is only by taking the letter of the text at the expense of its spirit. I would further suggest that, while Romans 1:26-7 could be argued to be a contextually-dependent reference, such an argument would not be a good one.

While I believe that Paul was utterly wrong in his viewpoint, I would not say that his viewpoint on this matter is at all ambiguous (or polite).

[insanetimbo]

Ah yes. As per my usual way, I wrote and sent the opinionated piece, then went out and revisited my notes.. My intended meaning wasn't best conveyed with the word 'unambiguous'.. what i sort of meant was 'crystal clear', 'free from questionability' - seems to me that the progression of translation, which has morphed from "those who abuse themselves with mankind" to the more broad "homosexuals" - a definition that encompasses such a broad range of real-world expressions from nastily perverted to respectful, loving and committed relationships - seems to me to be a process riddled with ambiguity and guesswork

[zcatcurious]

I like some of the things which Wink has to say: the condemnation regarding Sodom would apply if the strangers were women, and thus has nothing to do with same-sex intercourse.

Regarding Paul's words, however, he is making it out to be far more ambiguous than it ought to be. The resource which I would recommend is the Greek text of 1 Co 6:9-10 and 1 Tim 1:10. You can click on each of the words there, and it will tell you the form: click on "LSJ" in the popup box, and it will take you to the entry in the Liddell-Scott-Jones lexicon, the most thorough and compendious lexicon of Greek ever produced.

So, click on "arsenokoitai(s)" in either of those locations, and follow the LSJ links to αρρενοκοιτης, a compound of αρσην, 'male', and κοιτη, 'bed' (in all senses of the term). These are the terms used in the Septuagint in Leviticus 20:13, banning male-male sex ('ος αν κοιμηθη μετα αρσενος κοιτην γυναικος, 'whichever man might go to bed with a man in the bed (i.e. manner) of a woman'). What would any reader of Greek think upon

[insanetimbo]

I always found the surmised link between the Sodom and Gomorrah story and homosexuality odd. The Ezekiel 16 passage which lists the sins of Sodom, renders the connection even more tenuous

still on the theme of sorry day kind of ;)

[anonymous]

this is interesting, timbo.

I've been having heated debates with my intern lately, who despite being an absolutely lovely, gentle guy, cannot get his head around the idea of gay relationships, especially those wanting to bring up a child.

this is a bit off topic, but I have many gay friends whom I believe would make wonderful parents.

It seems there are many levels of acceptance amongst the straight/observant/lax religious, and even those within gay society itself.

to me it's about equality and being able to have equal rights.

To be vehemently opposed to something like the mardi gras because it is 'loud and proud' is like saying to immigrants 'well, sorry, you can't speak your language here.'

I know my comments are a bit oblique compared to the content of your post, but I think they're important. The theological debate goes way over my head but the principle is the same.

Picking the world up and moving towards a warmer, more accepting place :)

x nicole