…A couple of years ago I saw a video by Joseph Small and Charles Wiley of the PC(USA)’s Theology and Worship Office in Louisville. The video talked about how when we read difficult Bible passages, it is helpful to look at the interpretative witnesses both of the worldwide church and of the Christian Church throughout history.

Small and Wiley noted that this hermeneutic corresponds to two affirmations in the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe in the holy catholic church,” and “I believe in the communion of the saints.” If we were to apply these principles to the reading of important Bible passages relating to human sexuality (like Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:10; Jude 7; cf. Matthew 19:4-6), we would note that the witness of the church for almost two thousand years is that scripture prohibits same gender sexual relations.

(This is abundantly clear in the writings of John Calvin, but to cite just two PC(USA) confessional documents, the Westminster Confession cites Romans 1:26-7 as authority for the assertion that the seventh commandment prohibits “sodomy and un-natural lusts,” and section 9.47 of the Confession of 1967 reflects much of the basic teaching of Jesus on marriage between a man and a woman at Matthew 19:4-6 and parallel passages and also cites as characteristics of our culture “anarchy in sexual relationships” and “confusion about the meaning of sex..”)

Returning to the second of the interpretative principles mentioned above, we would also find that the overwhelming witness of the worldwide church in our own day is that God’s plan as revealed in scripture is for human sexuality to be limited to marriage between a man and a woman.
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One of the uninformed myths surrounding the sexuality debate, at least in the Presbyterian Church (USA), is that those who favor the ordination of practicing homosexuals are somehow more thoughtful and more compassionate than their opponents. My own impression, after listening to these debates for years, is the exact opposite.

Winfield Casey Jones, D. Min. is a PC(USA) pastor in Pearland, Texas. He was a candidate for PC(USA) stated clerk in 2000 and 2008. A few of these remarks were also made in debate on Amendment 10-A in a recent meeting of the Presbytery of New Covenant in Houston. Jones can be reached at [email protected]