Robert A. J. Gagnon

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Obama

Obama to the "Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender 'Pride' Month Reception" hosted by the White House  on June 29, 2009:

"Welcome to your White House."

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If you have any residual doubts about Obama's full commitment to a homosexualist agenda for this country read these excerpts from his speech before a homosexual-transgendered reception "celebrating" the Stonewall riot 40 years ago. Obama assures those gathered that "by the time this administration is over, I think you guys will have pretty good feelings about the Obama administration." O

 

 

Why a Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity “Hate Crimes” Law Is Bad for You

 May 28, 2009; June 17, 2009

Part 1: Promoting hatred of people opposed to homosexual practice and transgenderism          PDF     HTML

Part 2: The irrelevant and inaccurate claim that this bill will not abridge your freedom of speech     PDF     HTML

Part 3: Inroads against personal freedom already made in the United States by homosexual and transsexual political activism      PDF     HTML

For all four parts in a single PDF document click here.

 

 

 

 

Why Homosexual Behavior Is More like Consensual Incest and Polyamory than Race or Gender 

A Reasoned and Reasonable Case for Secular Society

May 18-20, 2009

Part 1: The Initial Case      PDF     HTML

Part 2: What Disproportionately High Rates of Harm Mean    PDF     HTML

Part 3: The Illogic of Homosexual Unions      PDF     HTML

Part 4: Responses to Counterarguments       PDF     HTML

For all four parts in a single PDF document click here.

 

The attempt of recent "hate crime" legislation to place "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" alongside race and gender is logically misguided and dangerous. A much closer analogy is one between homosexual practice on the one hand and consensual (adult-committed) incest and polyamory on the other.

 

What the Evidence Really Says about Scripture and Homosexual Practice: Five Issues

Mar. 14, 2009

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This was written as a resource for presbyteries to use in the current discussions about the proposed amendment to remove the male-female sexuality standard in the PCUSA (though it is also applicable to the discussions in the ELCA and elsewhere). The five issues are: Jesus, Eunuchs, Romans 1:24-27 and the Erroneous Exploitation Argument, Analogies, and Significance.

 

 

Statement to the Allegheny County Council in Opposition to the Homosexual “Non-Discrimination” Bill No. 4201-08 

Jan. 16, 2008

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More than “Mutual Joy”: Lisa Miller of Newsweek against Scripture and Jesus

Dec. 10, 2008

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Lisa Miller, Religion Editor, Newsweek

Jon Meacham, Managing Editor, Newsweek

 

Religious proponents of gay marriage routinely ignore or twist the major arguments in Scripture and philosophy against homosexual practice. The cover story by Religion Editor Lisa Miller in the Dec. 15, 2008 issue of Newsweek, wholeheartedly endorsed by Managing Editor Jon Meacham, is a perfect case in point.

Also posted (and nicely formatted) at OrthodoxyToday.org

 

 

What Does the Bible Say about Homosexuality?

A 28-Minute video presentation produced on Apr. 11, 2008 by Mastering Life Ministries for the Pure Passion television series, available for viewing online at http://www.vimeo.com/2126309

Also available for purchase as a 16:9 Widescreen, High-Definition DVD here at www.purepassion.us for $15 plus $5 shipping and handling. Or call 1-615-507-4166 to order.

If you live outside the U.S. you must order by phone. Note that the DVD set is in NTSC form, which works in North America and a few other regions.  I believe that Europe uses PAL format and this DVD set won't work on that format. However, Europeans who have DVD machines that will play both formats can play these DVDs.

The DVD also contains a 28-minute presentation by Jayson Graves, a Christian Psychotherapist specializing in Sexual Addictions Recovery and unwanted Same-Gender Attractions; co-producer of the Pure Passion series.

Also available for purchase from Mastering Life Ministries is a 4-hour 3 DVD presentation (not HD) by Dr. Gagnon entitled "Love, the Bible, and Homosexual Practice" ($35 plus $7 shipping and handling). Order here or call 615-507-4166.

(Note that Dr. Gagnon does not receive any remuneration from the sale of these DVDs; profits go to Mastering Life Ministries)

 

 

Obama

Obama's Coming War on Historic Christianity over Homosexual Practice and Abortion

Nov. 2, 2008

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Or for a real html version, minus a few minor updates and corrections, go to the Orthodoxy Today site here.
 

Click here for a response to an evangelical British biblical scholar who had strong reactions against the article.

Even though the Iraq War and the economy are often cited as the main issues in this election the only assured, long-term "sea changes" that will arise from this election involve homosexual practice and abortion and then only if Obama is elected. If the latter happens, the outcome will be a national policy of persecution against persons who believe that homosexual practice and abortion are immoral acts.

 

audacity-of-hope.jpg

Barack Obama’s Disturbing Misreading of the Sermon on the Mount as Support for Homosexual Sex

Oct. 23, 2008

Click here for article

Published on the Republicans for Family Values website.

 

Regardless of how one votes on election day, it is important to be aware of how this presidential candidate interprets Scripture to fit his political views and what kind of impact this will have on his policies regarding government endorsement of, and incentives for, homosexual practice should he become president. For Obama's policy objectives on these issues see the article just above this one.

 

Photo: Stacy Johnson

 

A Book Not To Be Embraced:

A Critical Review Essay on Stacy Johnson’s A Time to Embrace

 

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completed Mar. 2008; posted online Sept. 30, 2008

 

This essay will appear in a very slightly revised form in Scottish Journal of Theology (Cambridge University Press), likely in vol. 62:1 in Feb. 2009; © 2008 Scottish Journal of Theology Ltd.

 

Also:

 

More Reasons Why Stacy Johnson’s A Time to Embrace Should Not Be Embraced: Part II: Sodom, Leviticus, and More on Jesus and Paul

 

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completed Mar. 2008; posted online Sept. 30, 2008

 

The material in this essay could not be included in the Scottish Journal of Theology article, owing to word count limitations; but it shows how poorly conceived Johnson's arguments are in a range of other biblical texts not covered in the SJT article.

 

 

More Reasons . . . : Part III: Science, Nature, History, and Logic

 

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completed Mar. 2008; posted online Sept. 30, 2008

 

 

 

The mean-spirited homosexualist website, boxturtlebulletin.com, is aptly named, for the box turtle is easily confused and frightened by reality (though I don't attribute meanness to the poor box turtle). A main writer for the site, Timothy Kincaid,  underscores his own difficulties with logic, truth, and civil discourse in his multiple caustic postings regarding me. The more that I show, through rational argument, that his claims are baseless, the more he lashes out with bitter ad hominem attacks, referring falsely to my alleged "anti-gay" bigotry, "frothing indignation," "homophobia" and "rants," "laughable proclamations," "pomposity,"  "tortured logic," "wacky way of thinking," "wild presumptions," and "blatherings on." In puerile fashion he asks where I went "to grammar school," and what "junior high writing class" I had. Then he whines that he is a victim of "personal insults and hostility" simply because I patiently show why every one of his claims is without merit. Remarkable stuff.

 

 

Is Box Turtle Kincaid Logic-Challenged?

A Response to His Claim That I Used "Tortured Logic" in Evaluating the Effect of 2008 PCUSA General Assembly Actions on Ordaining Homosexually Active Candidates

July 30, 2008

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Why Box Turtle Kincaid Continues to Be Logic-Challenged and Now Also Principle-Challenged

On the High Court’s Role in Interpreting the Actions of the 2008 PCUSA General Assembly regarding Homosexually Active Candidates

Aug. 3, 2008

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Box Turtle Kincaid Peddles Distorted Orthodoxy Test While Promoting Immorality

Part 1: The Problem with the Call for Retranslating the Heidelberg Catechism

July 31, 2008

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Part 2: Jesus’ Distance Healing of an Official’s “Boy”

Aug. 2, 2008

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Box Turtle Kincaid Continues to Attack with All Heat, No Light on the New “Authoritative Interpretation”

Aug. 11, 2008

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Box Turtle Kincaid's Failure to Address Arguments on the Heidelberg Catechism and the Centurion Story

Aug. 12, 2008

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Note: Compare Kincaid's regular vitriol with his website's "principles": 1. "We are compassionate." 2. "We are tolerant." 3. "We are civil." 4. "We are honest." 5. "We are hopeful" (honest, I'm not making this up). Based on the kind of remarks noted in the left column and their regular insults  of others (to name just a few, "nutbaggery," "frothing lunacy," "lunatic ranting," "despicable coward," "bigot," "incoherent," and "paranoid"), apparently the only things that they left out of their "principles" are: 6. "We are modest"; and 7. "We are self-deceived." Kincaid and other similarly abusive proponents of homosexual practice should be loved while not tolerating their abusive ways and deliberate distortions.

 

 

Now available online:

Robert A. J. Gagnon, "Scriptural Perspectives on Homosexuality and Sexual Identity" in Journal of Psychology and Christianity 24:4 (Winter 2005): 293-303.

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Thanks to the editor Prof. Dr. Peter Hill for permission to put the material on my website. I quote here from the introductory paragraph of my article and the conclusion:

"The purpose of this article is to address specific themes from Scripture and theology that might be helpful for Christian psychologists who work with men and women who experience same-sex attractions. I shall begin by first discussing the relationship of Christian identity to biologically based orientations: does the latter necessarily determine the shape of the former? Then I shall look at the implications of this exploration for whether there is justification, or indeed necessity, for Christians who experience same-sex attractions to construct an identity distinct from such attractions. Finally, I shall suggest three additional scriptural principles for Christian psychologists."

 

 

Archbishoparmagh_5

The Faulty Orientation Argument of the Anglican Primate of Ireland

July 6, 2008

Posted on the British-Anglican "Open Evangelical" Website Fulcrum (www.Fulcrum-Anglican.org) here

 

Archbishop Alan Harper, Anglican Primate of Ireland, has produced a paper that misreads the rejection of homosexual practice in Rom 1:24-27 in an effort to promote a “revisionist” interpretation favorable to committed homosexual unions. The paper is entitled, “Holy Scripture and the Law of God in Contemporary Anglicanism in the Light of Richard Hooker’s ‘Lawes’” (online here). My response shows how far off the mark is the Archbishop's "orientation argument," unknowingly a rehash of John Boswell's argument from thirty years ago.

The London Times has given major coverage to Harper’s work, posting his full paper and giving first-article coverage online to it in an article by Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent for the Times, entitled “Archbishop of Armagh invokes scripture in defence of homosexuality” (July 4, 2008 here). Here is an excerpt from Gledhill’s article: "The Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Rev Alan Harper, who is one of 38 primates in the worldwide Anglican Communion, said today that if 'reason' were applied to the Bible texts that seem to condemn homosexuality, a different interpretation would be found. He challenged the intellectual rigour of conservatives who use St Paul's epistles — in particular the first chapter of his Letter to the Romans where the Apostle condemns men who commit 'unnatural' acts with other men — to bolster their argument that homosexuality is wrong." In her blog (here) for July 4, 2008, Gledhill exuberantly states: "Archbishop Alan Harper ... has perhaps not received the attention he has deserved since taking over from the high-profile Robin Eames, lead author of the Windsor Report. My mission today is to change that. He has this morning delivered a powerful and, I have to say, rather convincing address making the intellectual case for a new look at St Paul's texts on homosexuality."

 

Why a New Translation of the Heidelberg Catechism Is Not Needed: 

And Why Homosexualist Forces in the PCUSA Seek It

June 19, 2008

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Advocates of a homosexualist agenda seek a retranslation of the Heidelberg Catechism so that they can remove references to homosexual practice not present in the original German but certainly present in the New Testament text of 1 Cor 6:9 that the Catechism cites. The Reformers would not have omitted the references out of any affirmation for homosexual practice but rather out of a desire to protect naive children from knowledge of what was then viewed universally as "monstrous" behavior. 

 

A Response to the ACC’s Recommendation regarding Item 05-10: The Pittsburgh Presbytery Overture Amending G-6.0108b to Include a Freedom of Ordaining Bodies “within Certain Bounds”

 

June 22, 2008

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The decision of the PCUSA Advisory Committee on the Constitution (ACC) to recommend disapproval of Pittsburgh Presbytery’s Overture 05-10 (“On Amending G-6.0108b Freedom of Conscience ‘Within Certain Bounds,’ to Include a Freedom of Ordaining Bodies within Certain Bounds”) is based on multiple inaccuracies and misunderstandings that suggest systemic advocacy problems with the ACC.

 

Going in the Wrong Direction:

A Response to David Atkinson

June 14, 2008

Available at Fulcrum, an online British Evangelical-Center Anglican website here (as pdf here)

Extensive interaction about the article between Dr. Gagnon and others at Fulcrum Forum here

For just Dr. Gagnon's comments on the Fulcrum Forum go here

Bishop Atkinson's comments can be viewed here

 

David Atkinson is an evangelical scholar-cleric in England who in 2006 contributed an article entitled "The Church of England and Homosexuality: How Did We Get Here? Where Do We Go Now?" for the apparently one-sided book Other Voices, Other Worlds: The Global Church Speaks Out on Homosexuality (ed. Terry Brown; Church Publishing, 2006), 298-313. In the article Atkinson briefly critiques my first book. A leader in the Episcopal Church informed me that the book may have been sent to all Episcopal bishops as "preparation" for the upcoming 2008 Lambeth Conference--part of a plan by the left to make their stance on homosexual practice look centrist. The leader asked me to do a response, which I here supply.

 

 

Did the Archbishop of Canterbury's Remarks on Romans 1:24-27 Undercut Somewhat the Historic Christian Teaching on Homosexual Practice?

A Friendly Dialogue with Prof. Ephraim Radner Fulcrum Article "The Present Purpose of the One Anglican Communion"

June 2008

See my postings on June 19 and June 30, and Radner's response on June 20 here

For Radner's original article go here

Prof. Dr. Ephraim Radner (Professor of Historical Theology at Wycliffe College, Toronto), who is of solid faith, argued in a recent Fulcrum essay that the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams in his 2007 Stuart-Larkin Lecture in Toronto did nothing to "undercut the overall reality of the Scriptural prohibition" against homosexual practice in Rom 1:24-27. He found my argument in a previous article ("Rowan Williams' Wrong Reading of Romans" [below]), which made the opposite point, "unconvincing." I wrote a response on the Fulcrum Forum on June 19; Radner responded on June 20; and I offered a rejoinder on June 30.

 

Ms. Crystal Dixon, Associate Vice President of Human Resources, University of Toledo

President Lloyd Jacobs, University of Toledo

An Open Letter to a University President regarding the Suspension of a Black Female Administrator Who Challenged a Comparison between Homosexual Practice and Being Black

May 6, 2008

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Plus see my response to a critic of my letter, along with the critic's change of heart here

Also my comments to a WorldNetDaily reporter here

... and my response to another critic who charged that Dixon had to be fired because of conflict between her position and the goals of the school here

Note that Dixon was fired on May 9.

 

 

Update: Jacobs later fired Ms. Dixon (go here). She is being legally represented by the Thomas Moore Law Center in Ann Arbor, Mich. Ms. Dixon was apparently offered a reassignment out of Human Resources that involved both a demotion and a pay cut (May 5). She refused on the grounds that she had done nothing wrong. On May 9 she was notified of her termination (go here). For those who argue that the termination was justified on the grounds that she could not do her job properly in Human Resources see my response here.

Ms. Dixon needs your financial support. I received the following message from her:

I am represented by local counsel at my own expense on several elements and the Thomas More Law Center on the constitutional front. Please take a moment to visit my website – your support is greatly needed for this cause:
http://www.crystaldixon.com There are two ways that you can help. 
 
To contribute to help defray our survival expenses while engaged in this fight, you may send contributions to:
 
Crystal Dixon
P.O. Box 140062
Toledo, OH  43614
 
Or to make a tax-deductible contribution to our 501(C)(3) legal defense fund, you may send contributions to:
 
Grace In Action
Crystal Dixon Defense Fund
2902 Auburn Avenue
Toledo, OH  43606
(You will receive a tax-deductible receipt from Grace In Action for contributions to this defense fund).
 

 

 

New Book with an article by Robert Gagnon:

God, Gays and the Church: Human Sexuality and Experience in Christian Thinking

eds. Lisa Nolland, Chris Sugden & Sarah Finch (London: Latimer Trust, 2008), 249 pp.

 

A good new book has come out in England on the subject of the church and homosexuality. It contains narratives, including a philosophical piece by J. Budziszewski, personal testimonies by those coming out of the homosexual life, and a personal testimony about male homosexual promiscuity by someone who has come out of the homosexual life (Dr. Ronald Lee); articles on how homosexuality develops (by Neil Whitehead, Jeffrey Satinover, and Joseph Nicolosi); biblical theology articles by my colleague Edith Humphrey ("Women's Ordination, Homoeroticism and Faithfulness") and myself ("A Faithful Church: The Bible and Same-Sex Sex," a response to a professor of philosophy [John Thorp] whose article on "Making the Case: The Blessing of Same Sex Unions in the Anglican Church of Canada" was circulated to all the delegates at the 2007 General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada); an article on pastoral care by Mario Bergner; and several articles by Lisa Nolland on the social and medical impact of endorsing homosexual practice. Some of the articles have been previously released (including my response to Thorp, available on this website) but it is convenient to have even these in a single collection.

 

Neglected References for a Forum on Homosexuality and the Church

at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

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Out of a forum on “Homosexuality and the Church” at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary on Apr. 20, 2008 came a two-page bibliography of references that excluded every book defending the scriptural standard of a male-female prerequisite for sexual relations. It contained 13 books and articles, of which 11 works were devoted exclusively to the homosexualist agenda and two books consisted of articles on both sides of the debate but predominantly the homosexualist side. Not a single mention was made of any of my work. This list circulated privately to some people for further suggestions.  

The public revision that has gone out to the LPTS community, which can be viewed here, was allegedly “quite intentional [about] including diverse voices … so that we as a community might begin to dialogue together on this topic wherever we may be theologically and personally” (so the author of the list who emailed me after my initial posting). However, it added only two pieces defending the historic scriptural position (my first book and a book by Marty Soards), but then added also three more books on the homosexualist side (by John Boswell, Jack Rogers, and Letha Scanzoni/Virginia Mollenkott) and another piece by the Campolos that is mostly supportive of the homosexualist side. So the revision which is suppose to be “intentional [about] including diverse voices” now lists 14 works devoted exclusively to the homosexualist line, 3 that are predominantly supportive of that agenda, and only 2 that are exclusively devoted to uphold a two-sexes prerequisite. How can a list like this be “intentionally diverse” when 90% of what is contained therein exclusively or primarily supports only one side?

 

 

Photo: Stacy Johnson

The Bible and Homosexual Practice: A Critique of Stacy Johnson's A Time to Embrace

Three Lectures Delivered at Princeton Theological Seminary (Mar. 4-5, 2008) on CD or through online download

Talk 1: "Did the Apostle Paul Reject Only Hedonistic and Exploitative Forms of Homosexual Practice?"

Talk 2: "Genesis and Jesus on a Male-Female Prerequisite for Sexual Bonds"

Talk 3: "What Nature Arguments and Science Have to Say about Homosexuality"

Each lecture runs about 1 hr. 15 min. plus an additional half hour of questions and answers

Available through Educational Media at Princeton Theological Seminary

Contact: media@ptsem.edu

 

 

Price:  There are two options available to purchase the recordings— 

CD Format

The cost of each recording/lecture is $5.00 in CD format.  Payment can be made by check made payable to “PTS” and mailed to Princeton Theological Seminary, P. O. Box 821, Princeton, NJ 08542-0803; or payment can be made by credit card online via PayPal.  The cost for the three lectures would be $15.00, plus a shipping and handling charge of $7.50 per order, within the U.S.  NJ residents would be subject to a 7% sales tax. 

Downloads

The cost per download is $1.99; for all 3 lectures $5.97.  Downloads are provided in wav, mp3, and wma56k (Windows dial-up) formats.  A “Read This First” is included which provides information about PTS downloads. Once media@ptsem.edu receives your request, Princeton Seminary will initiate an invoice through PayPal. PayPal will forward the invoice to you and request payment, which is made by credit card. PayPal will then notify Princeton Seminary of payment and Princeton Seminary will forward the links for the downloads to you at your email address.  

To download you must first contact media@ptsem.edu. This allows them to process requests and payments.

 

 

No Ordination Essentials “For All Time and All Persons”? Ten Reasons Why the Achtemeier Overture Is Extremist and Invalid

Feb. 24, 2008

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Do you believe that when presbyteries and sessions examine individual candidates for ordained office they should have a right to declare faith in Christ and abstinence from adultery nonessential requirements? If you are among the overwhelming majority of reasonable persons in the church who think otherwise, you disagree with Mark Achtemeier, a professor of theology at Dubuque Seminary, and the majority of voting members attending the Feb. 16 meeting of the John Knox Presbytery. For such would be the theologically insane effect of the overture that Achtemeier pushed for and the John Knox Presbytery passed, if the overture were interpreted according to its Rationale.

This article previously appeared in installments as a guess Viewpoint on www.presbyweb.com

 

 

General Assembly Court Scraps Scruples on G-6.0106b But Constitutional Amendments Still Needed

Feb. 18, 2008

On the Presbyterian Outlook website here and click "printer friendly version" (where there are fewer errors in formatting)

For properly formatted PDF version click here

 

The high court of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (GAPJC), has rightly struck down attempts to "scruple" the "fidelity and chastity" portion of G-6.0106b in the Book of Order; namely prohibiting to candidates for church office sexual relations outside the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman. But the GAPJC failed to recognize the implications of its own logic, specifically, that the determination of essentials is not limited to ordaining bodies in the act of examining individual candidates for ordained office. Some essentials are already predetermined in the Book of Order and, moreover, presbyteries and sessions have a constitutional right to affirm as essentials standards whose essential status in the Constitution is unclear.

 

Was Jesus in a Sexual Relationship with the Beloved Disciple?

Feb. 10, 2008

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Some homosexualist readers of Scripture are so desperate to find anything supportive of homosexual bonds in the pages of Scripture that they even propose that Jesus was in a sexual relationship with the "disciple whom Jesus loved" mentioned in the Gospel of John. Here are seven arguments why this claim is false.

 

Pittsburgh Presbytery Forwards Overture Defining Some Clear Indicators of Ordination Essentials . . . and Other Overture Results of the Feb. 7 Meeting

Feb. 8, 2008

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A summary of what overtures were passed and what overtures were not passed at the Feb. 7, 2007 meeting of the Pittsburgh Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

 

Three Clear Indicators in the Book of Order regarding Ordination Essentials:

A Plea for Theological Sanity and Constitutional Honesty

A Presbyweb Viewpoint Article

Feb. 5, 2008

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If you can believe it, there are actually a lot of people in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), especially in the leadership, who think that standards in the Book of Order that are put in ordination vows (i.e. confessing Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord) or explicitly singled out from amongst all other confessional standards to stress compliance (i.e. the requirement that ordained officers not have sexual relations outside of marriage between a man and a woman) or repeatedly mentioned in diverse contexts (i.e. the affirmation of women's ordination) are not necessarily being portrayed in the Book of Order as essentials. This is constitutional dishonesty and theological insanity.

 

 

How Bad Is Homosexual Practice According to Scripture and Does Scripture’s Indictment Apply to Committed Homosexual Unions?

January 2007; slightly modified December 2007

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This 11-page essay was previously published online in January 2007 as two appendices to a similarly entitled article responding to some remarks by R. Milton Winter in a Presbyterian journal entitled Perspectives. Because the appendices were self-standing, not making any reference to Winter, and treat two very common questions in the church about homosexual practice, I offer them here as a separate piece so that the arguments therein will not be overlooked.

 

 

Don’t ENDAnger Your Liberties in the Workplace

 Oct. 23, 2007

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Why the so-called "Employment Non-Discrimination Act" should be strongly opposed.

 

Debating Barry Lynn and Jimmy Creech on Barry Lynn's "Culture Shocks" Radio Show

Sept. 28, 2007

Go here to listen

(If this does not work go to http://www.cultureshocks.com/archives.html and scroll down to Sept. 28.)

Go here for a follow-up letter to Barry Lynn

On Sept. 28, 2007 I was invited to speak on the issue of the Bible, Politics, and Homosexuality by Barry Lynn (executive director of "Americans United for the Separation of Church and State") on his radio show, "Culture Shocks" with Jimmy Creech, executive director of the misnamed homosexualist group "Faith in America." Lynn and Creech pushed the homosexualist line. Listen to the talk and read my follow-up letter to Lynn (neither Lynn nor Creech, who was cc'ed, has responded).

 

 

Transsexuality and Ordination

Aug. 2007

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Calvin on Unity and Sexual Immorality 

A Comment on a Presbyterian Coalition Document

Aug. 13, 2007

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Some even in the renewal movements of the PCUSA think that John Calvin would not have sanctioned departure from a Christian denomination that affirmed homosexual practice. Here's why I think that assumption is wrong.

 

 

PCUSA Moderator Goes Awry in Her Claims of a "Deeply Pernicious Heresy"

Aug. 10, 2007

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Rev. Joan Gray, current moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., declares that refusing membership to persons who are actively and unrepentantly engaged in homosexual relations have committed a "deeply pernicious heresy." She even goes so far as to charge that the apostle Paul himself would support her view. One little problem exists with her pronouncement of "heresy": The evidence from Scripture and even from the PCUSA's Constitution does not support her view. In fact, her declaration makes the apostle Paul a heretic.

 

CHURCH POLICY AS REGARDS HOMOSEXUAL PRACTICE: MEMBERSHIP AND ORDAINED MINISTRY

A 'lost' chapter of my first book

(written 1999; publicly released Aug. 2007)

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The following chapter was written for my first book The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2001) back in 1999. Because the powers-that-be at Abingdon Press were predominantly supportive of homosexual unions, they did not want me to become “too practical.” They disagreed strongly with the policy decisions that I took in this chapter and so refused to publish it. I did nothing with the chapter because I was headed for a tenure decision and knew that my stances on these policy issues would further jeopardize my tenure—a tenure already (and ironically) jeopardized by publishing a book on the Bible’s view on homosexual practice that supported the official stance of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. (with which my seminary was and is affiliated). After being awarded tenure in 2002 I more or less forgot about the chapter. However, a recent editorial in Presbyweb.com by the moderator of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. labeling as “A Deeply Pernicious Heresy” (Aug. 4, 2007) any attempt at withholding membership from persons who repetitively and unrepentantly engage in homosexual practice has served as a catalyst for me to release this chapter. It’s long overdue.

 

 

Letter to an Evangelical Leader on Exploring “Gay Rights”

Aug. 7, 2007

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In late June 2007 an evangelical leader contacted me with the questions about "what rights [I] believe that gay and lesbian people should have." The questions were asked in view of my opposition to so-called "hate crime sexual orientation" legislation. Here is the response that I sent on June 21, 2007.

 

 

Case Not Made:

A Response to Prof. John Thorp's "Making the Case" for Blessing Homosexual Unions in the Anglican Church of Canada

June 19, 2007   

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Also: A response to a critic of my argument against Prof. Thorp here.

 

 

A week or so before the 2007 General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada a paper by Prof. John Thorp, professor of philosophy at the University of Western Ontario, was sent to every delegate to the Synod, timed to push the case for blessing homosexual unions. Thorp's paper, which can be viewed at the Anglican Church of Canada website, is not well done but it might convince some of the uninformed. Here is my response.

 

Jack Haberer

Putting one's money where one's mouth is?
Jack Haberer's editorial supporting "Sexual Orientation Hate" crime legislation

May 30, 2007

(A Presbyweb.com Viewpoint article)

Click here
 

     The editor of the Presbyterian Outlook has written a poorly reasoned and poorly informed editorial in support of the "Sexual Orientation Hate" Crimes bill already passed by the U.S. House and currently being considered by the U.S. Senate. Here is my response.

 

Let the “Sexual Orientation Hate” Bill Pass and Invite Your Own Oppression 

May 2, 2007

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Also: A letter to members of Congress: here

Also: An exchange will a homosexual man upset with this article: here

For an excellent legal analysis see the memorandum on this "hate crimes" bill by the Alliance Defense Fund here

Also: Questions and Answers about the Federal Hate Crime Bill here

 

 IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED: CONTACT CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT

 

"Jesus and the Centurion" by Veronés (1528-88).

Did Jesus Approve of a Homosexual Couple in the Story of the Centurion at Capernaum?

Apr. 24, 2007

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A rebuttal of the oft-repeated but historically baseless argument that Jesus approved of a homosexual relationship in the story of centurion at Capernaum. Contrast the baseless billboard message to the right:

 

Rowan Williams' Wrong Reading of Romans

(. . . and John 14:6)

Apr. 21, 2007

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An abridged version is now available in the May 4, 2007 edition of The Church of England Newspaper, pp. 22-23 under the title "Is Rowan Williams Wrong on the Meaning of Romans?" Go here to the "The Record" section and select the 04/05/07 edition for download. It's free.

 

A response to the Archbishop's claim that Paul's primary point in Romans 1-2 was to critique the self-righteous who judge others, a point that challenges the position of persons today who judge those engaging in homosexual relations. With due respect to the Archbishop, Paul never argued that believers should not judge sexual immorality committed by those inside the church. To the contrary . . . . He also truncates and misapplies the context of John 14:6 ("I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me") to suggest that we can go into interfaith dialogue with the view that salvation does not depend on explicit confession of Christ.

 

 

Dale Martin's Poststructuralist Persona and His Historical-Critical Real Self

An Exchange Between Robert Gagnon and Dale Martin over Martin's Critique of Gagnon in Sex and the Single Savior

Oct. 2006 (posted 3/6/07)

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Click here for some responses

Click here for the beginnings of a more detailed response to Martin's book: Dale Martin and the Myth of Total Textual Indeterminacy

 

 

 

Dale Martin, professor of New Testament at Yale University and a self-identified "gay man," devotes six full pages of his recent book Sex and the