{"id":155,"date":"2012-04-18T16:00:16","date_gmt":"2012-04-18T23:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/gc2012\/?p=155"},"modified":"2012-04-18T23:31:44","modified_gmt":"2012-04-19T06:31:44","slug":"gc2012-where-views-on-marriage-differ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/gc2012-where-views-on-marriage-differ\/","title":{"rendered":"GC2012: Where views on marriage differ"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo:\u00a0Julie Bruno (left) and Susan Laurie lead a procession through the Fort Worth Convention Center, site of the 2008 United Methodist General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, on the way to their marriage ceremony in this May 2008 file photograph.<\/em><\/p>\n

A UMNS Report by Kathy L. Gilbert*<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

During a lecture at Emory University, a scholar told a group of young students, \u201cJesus doesn\u2019t say a lot positive about marriage. In fact he seems to suggest we might be better off without it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luke Timothy Johnson, the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at United Methodist-related Candler School of Theology, was examining the Gospel of Matthew in his lecture on \u201cJesus and the Law of Marriage and Divorce\u201d last February.<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus said sometimes you have to become a eunuch for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. I think that advocating celibacy was something of a shock to my young listeners,\u201d he said. \u201cBy trying to be an advocate for Matthew\u2019s text, I tried to say that this Christian thing is not just a matter of domestic tranquility or keeping the law. It\u2019s pretty risky business. It\u2019s pretty demanding. And pretty shocking.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Jesus didn\u2019t have a lot to say on the issue of marriage or sexual orientation, United Methodists have said volumes. Throughout church history, delegates to the denomination\u2019s top lawmaking body have always ended their quadrennial assembly leaving intact the statement \u201cmarriage is between one man and one woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the 2012 global meeting April 24-May 4 in Tampa, Fla., the question will be asked and decided once again.<\/p>\n

What does Scripture say?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are conflicting opinions over what the Bible teaches about sexual orientation.<\/p>\n

Matthew Vines, a 21-year-old gay college student, recently delivered a speech at College Hill United Methodist Church, Wichita, Kan., on his \u201cthousands of hours of research and study\u201d on what the Bible says about homosexuality.<\/p>\n

He examines six verses in the Bible: Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13, Romans 1:26-27, Genesis 19:5, 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10<\/a>. Vines said those verses have proven to be the end of the road for many gays trying to gain acceptance from Christian parents, friends and pastors.<\/p>\n

The Rev. Karen Booth, author of\u00a0\u201cForgetting How to Blush: United Methodism\u2019s Compromise with the Sexual Revolution,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0said people in favor of same-sex marriage refer to those scriptures as \u201cclobber passages.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that they mostly contain very good news, especially 1 Cor. 6,\u201d she said. In her book, Booth writes what constitutes God-honored sex and sexuality is not based on a \u201chandful of negative restrictions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough the stories of the creation of humankind, God\u2019s original intention for human sexual relations is revealed: a loving, sacrificial and potentially procreational expression of the \u2018one flesh\u2019 male\/female marital bond.<\/p>\n

\u201cSexual acts that occur outside that sacred boundary, whether same-sex or opposite-sex, are immoral\u2014grievous to God and detrimental to human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vines\u2019 research leads him to believe God would not deny him or any other gay person the possibility of a loving relationship and a family.\u00a0In his remarks to the congregation at College Hill<\/a>, he examines each scripture in great detail.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Bible does not condemn loving gay relationships,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is not opposed to justice and equality for gay people, and, in fact, it supports their equal right to marry. Scripture can prove to be one of our greatest allies, if only we\u2019re reading it correctly.\u201d<\/p>\n

[toggle title=”More UMNS articles on gay rights”]<\/p>\n