Scripture & homosexuality

THE CENTURY'S editors suggest that the prisms of "the holiness of God" and "the justice of God" give different readings on an issue like homosexuality ("The Bible in first person," April 3). But what if Jesus' teaching is both holy and just?

Let me also ask William Stacy Johnson ("A way forward?" April 3): What if Jesus were authoritative in both his example of celibacy and his teachings on marriage? And what if his example and teaching are seen as forming the unique messianic (not just traditional) ethic among the communities of the apostles? As a part of the very last "renewal of all things," the Messiah's renewal of conjugality authoritatively reinterprets an indulgent Mosaic concession to human hardness of heart. This might be another way forward, one that is not our own. A community embracing this ethic would be neither traditionalist nor progressive but simply messianic, in view of the coming kingdom.

Despite Pentecost, the simplicity of the messianic ethic appears too difficult--even inhuman--for segments of the Western church. The messianic prism minimizes the functional authority of powerful, parochial, cultural accretions determined by Freud, Jung, Kinsey, Foucault and others outside the messianic circle. Indeed, these not only contest the Messiah's word but have helped create a provincial Western ethos which mocks it. After all, who is capable of taking on the omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence of an ethos oriented by desire and eros? The Messiah and his word do, just as they did in the homoerotic Mediterranean cultures of the days of his flesh.

David Shank

Goshen, Ind.

Many Christians quote a verse from Leviticus and a few sentences from St. Paul on the subject of homosexuality. I find these passages less than authoritative. How many early Jewish prohibitions do we now observe? And we are not sure what kind of homosexuality St. Paul was addressing.

I have found more inspiration and much direction in the book of Acts. Peter at Pentecost seems radically inclusive. Philip baptizes a eunuch and receives him into the church. Eunuchs were excluded from worship in the old order for sexual reasons. In chapter 10 Peter says, "I should not call anyone profane or unclean." In chapter 15 the church decides to accept people on the basis of faith, not heritage or behavior. My sense is that we will need to return to an original authoritative resource if we are ever going to resolve this issue.

Richard M. Royalty

Berea, Ky.

William Stacy Johnson replies:

I certainly agree with David Shank that God is both holy and just--as well as gracious, merciful, righteous, eternal, etc. I also share with him, if I understand his meaning, the belief that New Testament ethics includes a commitment to monogamous marriage. However, the question before the churches is whether, by grace, the lives of exclusively committed gay and lesbian couples are able to bear an authentic Christian witness. I strongly believe that they are. On this score, the biblical passages cited by Richard M. Royalty, as well as many others I deal with in my recent book, demonstrate that the grounds for this conviction are strong--and growing stronger in the churches every day.

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