andygoodliff

A reading list on theology and homosexuality

(Updated March 2016)

1. Theology and Sexuality: Classic and Contemporary Readings edited by Eugene Rogers (Wiley-Blackwell, 2001) with contemporary essays by Robert Jenson, Stanley Hauerwas, David Matzko McCarthy, Rowan Williams, Marilyn McCord Adams and James Alison and others

2. A Conversation Waiting to Begin by Oliver O'Donovan (SCM, 2009)

3. The Way Forward? Christian Voices on Homosexuality and the Church edited by Timothy Bradshaw (SCM, 2003 [1997]) with essays by Jeffrey John, Oliver O'Donovan, Anthony Thistleton and Rowan Williams and others

4. More Than a Single Issue edited by Murray Rae and Graham Redding (ATF, 2000) with essays by Douglas Campbell, Ray Anderson, Alan Torrance and Murray Rae and others

5. An Acceptable Sacrifice? edited by Duncan Dormor and Jeremy Morris (SPCK, 2007) 

6. The Bible, Homosexuality and the Church edited by Nicholas Coulton (DLT, 2005) with essays by Christopher Rowland, Marilyn McCord Adams and Jane Shaw and others

7. Homosexuality in the Church edited by Jeffrey Siker (Westminster John Knox, 1994) with essays by Richard B. Hays, Victor Paul Furnish, Lisa Sowle Cahill and others

8. Welcoming but not Affirming by Stanley Grenz (Westminister John Knox, 1998)

9. Homosexuality, Science and the 'Plain Sense' of Scripture edited by David L. Balch (Eerdmans, 2000) with essays by Robert Jewett, Phyllis A. Bird, Christopher Seitz and others

10. Sexuality and the Christian Body by Eugene Rogers (Wiley-Blackwell, 1999)

10. Creation and Covenant: The Significance of Sexual Difference in the Moral Theology of Marriage by Christopher C. Roberts (T & T Clark, 2007) 

11. Queer Theology: Rethinking the Western Body edited by Gerald Loughlin (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007) with essays by James Alison, Graham Ward, David Matzko McCarthy, Linda Woodhead, Gavin D'Costa and Tina Beattie and others

12. 'Permanent, Stable, Faithful': Christian Same-Sex Partnerships by Jeffrey John (2012, [2000])

13. God, Sex and Gender: An Introduction by Adrain Thatcher (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011)

To this list I would now want to add:

14. Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality (2010) and Spirituality Friendship: Finding Love in the Church as a Celibate Gay Christian (Brazos, 2015) by Wesley Hill

15. Covenant and Calling by Robert Song (SCM, 2014)

16. Changing our Mind by David P. Gushee (2014)

 

Baptists, Ministerial Rules and Interpreting Scripture

The conversation around Steve Chalke's article shows no sign of abating. Various comments can be found in the comments section of the relevant Baptist Times articles (here and here) and Malcolm Duncan has suggested in a new post that this might be the beginnings of a new Downgrade controversy. 

Most of the conversation on the BT website is around the issue of the clause in ministerial rules for accredited Baptist ministers that says

Ministers are expected not to advocate homosexual or lesbian gential relationships as acceptable alternatives to male/female partnership in marriage.

The claim by some (many?) Baptist ministers (and others) is that is un-Baptist because it is only ministers who are bound by this rule. Local churches through the church meeting can discern differently to this position, but ministers themselves cannot.

A few comments in relation to this:

1. This clause is not as recent an addition as it seems to be inferred by some. It has been present in the ministerial rules since the late 1980s/early 1990s according to Ian Randall's The English Baptists of the 20th Century (p.515). The current rules were adopted in 2001.

2. The inclusion of this rule, rightly or wrongly, is much harder to remove. This must be acknowledged and recognised.

3. Ministerial rules in general are a positive feature of our life. Ministry in the Baptist Union is something that has validity beyond just the local church and therefore it is to be in a different kind of relationship. Accredited ministers represent the Baptist Union. Here the stumbling block is our impoverished theology of ministry.

Malcom Duncan's post and other comments point us to the issue of hermeneutics. The cry from some (many?) is 'Surely scripture is clear on the matter of homosexual relationships. There is no discussion to be hard. Attempts to justify otherwise have all been found wanting.'

A few comments in relation to this:

1. The recent collection of essays on Baptist hermeneutics, especially the contributions by Helen Dare and Sean Winter (see also his earlier 2007 Whitley Lecture), I think can be of some help, as this debate/conversation continues. If you've not read it, I highly recommend it.

Helen Dare, argues that Baptists always read scripture 'in the fray' (the phrase comes from Walter Brueggemann, with whom the paper is in dialogue with), with 'a constant stream of discernments and negotiations to be made'. This is because there is no higher authority, apart from Jesus Christ, to refer to. This involves risk, but also opportunity.

Sean Winter similarly argues that all interpretation of the bible involves disagreement. Winter develops an understanding of the church as a community of friends (grounded in an understanding of covenant), which gives space for the church to read and interpret scripture and find disagreement, and diversity, but which need not be destructive.

2. What is scripture? I fear too often we work with a knee-jerk understanding of scripture as similar to a Haynes car manual (the example John Colwell often uses), which suggests scripture is a straight-forward, simple text, which requires no work (the Holy Spirit's or otherwise) to read it. Primary for us is that our trust and authority is in Jesus Christ - which means we need help to read scripture and live according to it and its testimony is one that is not closed, but open and ongoing - 'there more light and truth to break forth from God's word' (see Sean Winter's Whitley Lecture and Anthony R. Cross's paper in the Brian Haymes festschfrit Questions of Identity)

3. As I suggested in my earlier post, I think, most Christians, find themselves at neither extreme of complete affirmation or complete disavowal, but caught in the middle. I said on another occasion that the conversation needs to go beyond the bible - simple exegesis will not get us anywhere - but we need to explore a wider thelogy of personhood, sex, marriage, etc. We need to do more to listen to and understand why those in favour of affirming homosexual relationships have come to this position and in the best cases the argument is more than just one of equality and liberalism (see the likes of Eugene Rogers, Rowan Williams, David Matzko McCarthy) and at the same time, we must pay attention to the work of Oliver O'Donovan and Christopher Roberts, who want to raise concern/questions. To put it another way we need to have a much better informed, open and generous conversation rather than the fairly dismal one we often get.

4.If there was to be a new Downgrade on how we read scripture it would be a failure of relationship and trust in our being Baptist (and probably because we given not enough time to theological reflection that is worthy of the name 'theological')

Steve Chalke's 'A Matter of Integrity' and its responses

So this week Steve Chalke has published an article arguing for the inclusion and welcome of those in committed, stable homosexual relationships in the church. He argues in favour of civil partnerships and church involvement in their blessing, but is not convinced for the need for 'gay marriage'. (Chalke is no strange to controversy, the first Chalke-gate was in 2004 over his views on penal substitution). Chalke is the founder and director of the Christian charity Oasis, a high-profile Evangelical leader, and also a Baptist minister. 

The Evangelical Alliance has been quick to respond (possibly too quick!) with comments from Steve Clifford (EA director) and Steve Holmes (chair of the EA theology committee) appearing on the same day as Steve's article.

Malcolm Duncan, a former colloborator with Chalke in Faithworks and also David Kerrigan, director of BMS World Mission have also offered responses. 

Today the Baptist Union have published a response by the Head of Faith & Unity and Head of Ministry via the Baptist Times,

There are probably lots of other responses (many more hostile!), but these have been the ones shared in my networks.

Clifford's response is what you would expect from the director of EA, that is, the matter is settled, Chalke's position is not an 'evangelical' one. 

Holmes' response is better - more open to discussion - and offers some critique of Chalke's argument, specifically around the trajectory of his hermeneutics.

Duncan's response is around timing of Chalke's announcement and the politics and theology of the inclusive agenda. 

Kerrigan offers, for my mind, the best response so far and I think is actually more helpful than Chalke's own piece, in terms of recognising that the majority of Christians - I would venture to suggest - find themselves neither in the 'affirming' camp or the 'excluding' camp, but caught in the middle of these extremes and finding themselves pulled in both directions. Kerrigan offers a somewhat middle ground, which I think as some merit.

The Baptist Union response wants to affirm the ministry of Chalke, but at the same time, continue to affirm its position with regard to Baptist ministers refraining from advocating practising homosexual relationships and involvement in civil partnerships. Baptist ministers are bound by a set of 'ministerial rules' because their position as ministers goes beyond just the local, they are representatives of the union and so in a different relationship to those not in ordained accredited ministry. (This is a sticking point for a significant number of Baptist ministers).

The conversation with regard to homosexuality amongst Evangelicals and Baptists has been fairly conservative and marginal. Time will tell, whether Chalke's interruption will shift the debate/conversation into a wider and more open and more radical direction. My concern is that the debate is always one where minds are already made up, rather than those open to change.

A few comments:

1. I don't think scripture can help us much by itself. This is not a matter of exegesis, but of theology. This is a matter we can proof-text, by either 'side'.

2. For Baptists a Core Value is being an 'inclusive community' - but what does being inclusive mean? What happens when 'inclusion' becomes the only value. If it is a core value, what does it mean in relation to the other four (worshipping, prophetic, sacrifical, missional)? As fairly common for Baptists, there is a theological-thinness to or understanding of these Core Values.

3. While the comparison is made to slavery and to women in ministry, I'm not sure it is as easy as that. There is a unamious view that the practice of slavery is wrong. There is a significant view that women can be ordained and practice ministry. Christians are more divided with regard to homosexuality.

4. Holmes is right I think when he suggests that Jesus and Paul don't ground the pinnacle of human relationships in a marriage (i.e sexual) or familial direction. Yet we live in a culture, and one that the church largely supports, which places the romantic and sexual relationship as of most value. Here I'm not sure I agree with Kerrigan who says Holmes is idealistic, the danger is we say that about most of Jesus' teaching.

Grounded in Grace: Essays to Honour Ian M. Randall

I wasn't there last Friday, but Ian Randall, former Tutor in Church History and Spirituality (and also at different times Chaplain, Vice-Principal, and Director of Research) at Spurgeon's College, London was honoured with a festschfrit representing his contribution to Baptist studies (British and European), church history, Evangelicalism and particularly Evangelical spirituality. Ian Randall is one of the leading Baptist historians of his generation (see also David Bebbington), who has given much of his life teaching, supervising, encouraging and nurturing a generation of Baptist ministers and scholars at both Spurgeon's College, the International Baptist Theological Seminary, Prague (moving to Amsterdam in 2014) and beyond. 

The book titled Grounded in Grace is a collection of eighteen essays from former colleagues, students and friends, including Nigel Wright, Keith Jones, John Colwell, Derek Tidball, Brian Stanley, J. Andrew Kirk and Anthony R. Cross. The essays cover Ian's wide range of interests. The book boasts a great frontcover, a bibliography of Ian's numerous publications and is a joint Spurgeon's and Baptist Historical Society publication.

It costs £20 and is available through the Manna Christian Centre Bookshop, but will hopefully also be found at the Baptist Assembly and other places.