I am making my way through reading this paper: The Institute for Progressive Christianity - The Kingdom of God and the Witness of Gay Marriage.
I think the idea for the paper is a good one. Basically, it starts with an assumption that gay marriage should be accepted by the Church. Then it looks in detail at what such gay marriages might mean in terms of the Kingdom of God.
That sounds a sensible approach to me and it is a useful plan for both those who are against gay marriage and those who are for it. Why? Well the arguments usually focus on "This is wrong" or "This is right". By refocusing the argument on what gay marriage would look like and whether this would be a sign of the Kingdom of God we move to focusing on the fruits. Judging by the fruits may give us different insights.
It would be good to have a similar approach take to the alternative. If gay marriage were to be banned (ie in the UK Civil Partnerships to be cancelled, in the US President Bush to manage to overrule the courts and make gay marriage illegal) then what would be the fruits and would they point towards the Kingdom of God?
One of the early arguments (remember I am only part way through the paper) is to compare the Bible is used in this issue to the way it was used in the slavery debate. I do not have enough knowledge or time to do a full analysis of these arguments, however, they are very interesting and rather compelling at first sight. I would be interested to know what someone with more knowledge of that period in Church history thinks.
Anyway, whatever your personal views on the issue of gay marriage I think this paper is well worth reading (download the word version as the pdf one has no formatting and is therefore almost unreadable). Personally I am very much in favour of reading things from viewpoints that may differ from my own and which will challenge me - otherwise where does growth and understanding come from?
Hat tip: Straight, Not Narrow: Christian Researchers Call Gay Marriage "a moral good".
This: How the Bible was used to justify slavery | Ekklesia gives some support to the slavery arguments in the above paper.
PS Actually Wrestling biblically with the changing shape of family | Ekklesia seems pretty relevant as well. "a New Testament scholar explains why simplistic appeals to scripture distort its meaning, and why for the Gospel family is built on magnanimity not exclusion"
Comments