Wednesday, February 21, 2007

1 Corinthians 6:9-12
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

This passage shows that homosexual behavior is not a matter of indifference in the New Testament. It is not like the issue of eating meat sacrificed to idols in Romans 14 or 1 Cor. 8 where Paul urges 'strong' Christians to refrain from eating such meat (even though an idol, he says is nothing) if it might weaken the resolve of 'weak' Christians.

Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori, using the issue of the strong and weak Christians as an analogy to the issue of homosexual practice, suggests that it might be appropriate to meet the conditions of the Windsor Report and the Primates Communique so as not to cause our (weaker) brethren to stumble.

Thus, homosexual practice and eating meat dedicated to idols are equivalent moral concerns.

Is there something wrong here?

Here is what Bishop Jefferts Schori said:

A parallel to this situation in our tradition might be seen in the controversy over eating meat in early Christian communities, mentioned both in the letter to the Romans and the first letter to the Corinthians. In those early communities, the meat available for purchase in the public market was often part of an animal that had been offered (in whole or in part) in sacrifice in various pagan religious rites. The troubling question in the Christian community was whether or not it was appropriate to eat such meat - was it tainted by its involvement in pagan religion? Did one participate in that religion (and thus commit apostasy) by eating it? Paul encourages the Christians in Rome and Corinth to recall that, while there may be no specific prohibition about eating such meat, the sensitive in the community might refrain if others would be offended. The needs of the weaker members, and the real possibility that their faith may be injured, are an important consideration in making the dietary decision.

The key word is "parallel." Meat offered to idols is parallel to homosexual practice.







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