Thursday, April 24, 2014

Pro-gay book departs from Christian tradition


A new book arguing that Christianity is compatible with homosexuality represents a line of biblical interpretation that has only emerged in the last 60 years and conflicts with practically all Christian and Jewish teaching on homosexuality before the mid-20th century, a Southern Baptist ethicist is noting.

Pro-gay critique of Scripture is but a recent aberration, Southern Baptist ethicist Daniel Heimbach said in assessing Matthew Vines' "God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships," released yesterday (April 22) by Convergent Books.

Vines' book argues that the Bible does not forbid committed, monogamous, same-sex relationships. (For Baptist Press' story yesterday on the book, click here.)

"There is no textual basis for reinterpreting Bible passages that reveal God our Creator very clearly and directly declares homosexual desires and behavior to be immoral for everyone without exception," Heimbach, senior professor of Christian ethics at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, told Baptist Press in written comments.

"There is no valid reason for doubting either the plain reading of the relevant biblical passages or for changing the long-held interpretation and moral teaching of both Jewish and Christian scholars for the entire history of the Bible until modern liberal scholars came along," he said. Keep reading

See also
Church doctrine evolves to meet the demands of culture, Archbishop states
The liberal views of the Church in Wales' primate on homosexual activity stand in sharp contrast to those of denominational leaders of North America's largest Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention. Compare Archbishop Barry Morgan's views with those of the God and the Gay Christian's author, Matthew Vines. Morgan's argument is identical to one of the arguments that Vines makes in his book.

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