Classical christians in mainline churches are accustomed to feeling mortified by their titular leaders. They know that many church bureaucrats and pastors reject the biblical truths summarized in the Nicene Creed. Many such believers persevere by remembering that no church is pure and that mainline churches’ central texts affirm orthodox faith.
Like other people, however, orthodox believers pay attention when they feel cognitive dissonance. A church’s actions can be in conflict with its professed faith only so long before faithful Christians wonder how much hypocrisy they can stand.
Accordingly, when the Anglican Church of Canada’s Diocese of New Westminster voted on June 15 to provide church blessings for homosexual couples, representatives from eight orthodox congregations left the meeting in silent protest (see “Anglican Liberals Endorse Same-sex Unions,” p. 18). That protest is poignant testimony to the contempt that Bishop Michael Ingham and the voting majority of his Vancouver-based diocese have shown for the classical orthodoxy affirmed by the majority of the world’s Anglicans.
Whether the church should bless active homosexuality has been a crucial issue in mainline churches at least since the 1980s. It most likely will retain this place of central importance so long as bishops and church conventions treat Scripture’s moral guidance as subject to debate and revision. Sex stays at center stage for two other reasons: such debates are lively (in a prurient manner), and they have become shorthand for much broader debates about central Christian doctrines.
Consider how the sexuality debate manifests itself on four crucial doctrinal matters:
- The Creation—Classical Christians: The created order, as described in Genesis, tells us of God’s purposes for marriage and sexuality. Revisionists: Because so many educated people consider Genesis a mere creation myth, it is irrelevant to the sexuality debate.
- The Fall—Classical Christians: Human beings, while made in God’s image, are fallen creatures, and sin affects all of creation. Despite our sinfulness, Christians are called to grow in holiness. Revisionists: Human beings are inherently good, though sometimes misguided by prejudices or phobias. God calls us to self-acceptance more than to behavior codes.
- The Redemption—Classical Christians: Jesus reconciled sinners to God by his death on the cross. Through his cross, we claim God’s forgiveness of our sins. Revisionists: Jesus died on the cross because he was a threat to Pharisees (the “fundamentalists” of their day). His example of God’s all-inclusive love calls us all to be our best selves.
- The authority of Scripture—Classical Christians: Scripture is the final authority for Christians’ moral and theological decisions. Revisionists: When Scripture conflicts with human experience, Christians must interpret Scripture through that experience.
Of all mainline Protestant churches, only the United Church of Christ has officially agreed to bless gay unions and ordain gay clergy. As churches with deeper loyalties to Reformation doctrine toy with similar innovations, they should realize that many Christians might feel obliged to find more faithful churches. If liberal churches think their march toward heterodoxy is worth that price, they often have the raw legislative power to make it happen. May God move amid the resulting chaos to reform, purify, and renew his church.
Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
Related Elsewhere
The New Westminster Diocese has written a series of questions and answers on the current debate. The Anglican Church of Canada has an archive of reaction statements.
Previous Christianity Today articles include:
Anglican Diocese Endorses Same-Sex UnionsTraditionalists walk out, issue global call for outside intervention. (July 12, 2002)
Vancouver Anglicans Approve Same-Sex UnionsConservatives walk out after synod vote to bless gay couples. (June 17, 2002)
Other news coverage includes:
Dispute gives rise to licensing, property questions—Anglican Journal (July 16, 2002)
Same-sex blessings a reality after vote: Members of nine parishes walk out in protest—Anglican Journal (June 16, 2002)
Synod members react to vote result—Anglican Journal (June 15, 2002)
B.C. Anglican diocese approves blessing for same-sex unions—CBC News (June 15, 2002)
