The Bible Says ...

January 27, 1999

“In religion,
What damned error, but some sober brow
Will bless it, and approve it with a text,
Hiding the grossness with fair ornament?”

(Bassanio, meditating on his casket choice, MERCHANT OF VENICE, Act III, Sc. 2)

Since last November, I have saved a news story that told the following:

Columbus, GA – “Saying they didn’t want same-sex marriages performed in their churches, Southern Baptists in Georgia voted Tuesday to exclude congregations that ‘endorse’ homosexuality....”

“‘The unanimous verdict of scriptures is that practicing homosexuality is a sin,’ said the Rev. J. Gerald Harris. ‘Love must not compromise the church’s allegiance to scripture.’”

Quite apart from the “lower” and “higher” criticisms which Bible scholars have been pursuing for more than a century, to proclaim anything in scripture as “unanimous verdict” is to be on multiple layers of shifting sands.

Do believers in Bible inerrancy follow through with actions dictated by scripture? For example, would you have a rebellious son put to death if he doesn’t obey his father and mother? According to Deuteronomy 21-18/21, that is a Bible command.

In those primitive, cultic times it was perilous for a bride not to be a virgin. According to Deuteronomy, 22-20/21, she was to to be stoned to death at her father’s door. How about that, Ladies? Incidentally, I did not locate any text that stated that if the bridegroom was not a virgin he was to be executed, or even reproved.

In Shakespeare’s MEASURE FOR MEASURE, Angelo, the Duke’s deputy, as the play proceeds, becomes a hypocrite and cad. When his illicit sex with Marianna, which he planned, is exposed, he whines, “What’s this? What’s this? Is this her fault or mine? The tempter or the tempted, who sins most?”

The Commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” has many contradictions in scripture. In addition to the examples given, if a son strikes his father or mother, that calls for the death penalty. Many other scriptural commands call for execution. If you doubt that, check out the following:

Leviticus 20/9, 21/9, 24
Exodus 21 28/29, 22-18, 22-20

Being a mean guy at times, here’s an old story. In a small Southern town, waiting for the bus to New Orleans, Sam is all dressed up: his best suit, shoes shined, dress shirt and tie, and carrying his Bible in his hand.

A friend asks where he is going. Sam answers, “N’awlins. I’ll drink in the Bourbon Street saloons where the strippers take off all their clothes; there’s all-night parties; and where the pretty girls make a living off guys like me.”

“But Sam, why are you carrying a Bible?”

Sam: “Oh, I thought I might stay over Sunday.”

In the New Testament, I do not find any passages where Jesus condemns homosexuality. John M. Swomley, Professor Emeritus of Social Ethics, St. Paul School of Theology, calls attention to a statement ascribed to Jesus where he is discussing the coming of the Kingdom, and how some will be saved and some will not. I happen to believe we cannot be certain that Jesus said what he is credited with saying in all the Gospels. But if I were a believer in divine inerrancy, how would I deal with Luke 17:34: “I say unto you, in that night there shall be two men on one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.”

There is no indication that Jesus condemned men sleeping together. Jesus (or the source of that verse) had an appropriate opportunity to forbid homosexuality, but he does not.

In criticizing the action of Georgia Southern Baptists, it is only fair that I state my own position (or bias, if you will).

I am a Life Member of our Unitarian Universalist Ministers’ Association. I have colleagues who are gay, who are lesbian, who are bi-sexual; some serving churches of substantial size or historic note. Our Association has an Office for Gay and Lesbian Concerns.

Like so many of my colleagues, I have officiated at same sex commitment services; and strongly feel that union ceremonies of loving partners merit legal sanction so that such ceremonies can be lawful marriages with all the rights and privileges pertaining thereto.

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) stated, “Mankind have outgrown old institutions and have not yet acquired new ones.” He wrote that in 1831; it could be said today.