As members of the church universal and as professors of Scripture
in our Presbyterian seminaries, we affirm that the Bible is
an indispensable means of God's communication, especially
in a time when the church is urgently seeking to clarify its message
and mission in the world. The question of whether gay or lesbian
Christians should be ordained to the offices of deacon, elder,
and minister of the word and Sacrament arises at such a time.
We observe that this debate often revolves around six passages
that refer to same-sex relationships. We would first of all caution
the church against wresting these passages out of context
and pressing them into service in our debate. On careful reading,
these messages seem to be advocating values such as hospitality
to strangers, ritual purity, or the sinfulness of all human beings
before God. Before we can hear their meaning for our time, we
must first understand their meaning in their own time.
Secondly, we would caution the church against any hasty conclusion
that these passages present instructions for us on what we know
as homosexuality today. In important sections of the Bible --
the Ten Commandments, the prophets, the teaching of Jesus -- this
issue does not arise. Indeed the concept of homosexuality as
now understood may not appear at all in the Bible. It is likely
that the biblical authors never contemplated the phenomenon that
we have been able to name and describe for only a little over
a hundred years, a sexual orientation which is integral to the
identity of a small minority of the human family.
Thirdly, we caution the church against an interpretation of the
Bible that leads the church into pronouncing judgment upon a specific
behavior of a whole category of persons in the human community.
As the 1985 General Assembly observed in its Guidelines for the
Interpretation of Scripture in Times of Controversy, "Let
all interpretations be in accord with the rule of love, the
twofold commandment to love God and to love our neighbor."
We would encourage the church at this time to interpret particular
passages of the Bible in the light of the whole Bible, and in
the recognition that Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, is the living
Word of God. It is the gospel of Jesus that invites gay and
lesbian brothers and sisters to full communion in the church;
it is the Spirit of Jesus that calls and equips Christians for
ministry; and it is the justice of Jesus that calls us to insure
that those who are invited, called, and equipped are free to fulfill
their ministries among us with the full recognition and support
of the church.
June, 2001
(Cover letter to the above statement)
June 201
Dear Commissioner:
We, the undersigned, earnestly request that you will read the
attached statement and consider it carefully. We are all professors
of either Old Testament or New Testament. We represent over
half of the Faculty in Bible in our Presbyterian seminaries at
the present.
We hope that the attached statement "The Whole Bible for
the Whole Human Family" will assist you as you wrestle with
some of the issues of this Assembly. We are greatly concerned
that the Bible be heard, interpreted appropriately, and continue
to guide us all in our quest for understanding, reconciliation,
and justice.
| Brian K. Blount | Johanna W. H. Bos | James A. Brashler |
| Robert Brawley | Carson E. Brisson, Jr. | William P. Brown |
| Walter Brueggemann | John T. Carroll | Marvin Chaney |
| Robert B. Coote | Charles B. Cousar | Linda Day |
| Lewis R. Donelson | Susan R. Garrett | Beverly Roberts Gaventa |
| Frances Taylor Gench | Theodore Hiebert | Elizabeth Johnson |
| Jaqueline F. Lapsley | W. Eugene March | Patrick D. Miller |
| Cyris Hee-Suk Moon | Kathleen M. O'Connor | Dennis T. Olson |
| Eung Chun Park | Katharine Doob Sakenfield | Stanley P. Saunders |
| Choon Leong Seow | Sibley Towner | Patricia Kathleen Tull |
| Paul W. Walaskay | Antoinette Clark Wire | Christine Roy Yoder |