c. 1997 Religion News Serive

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. _ As the Rev. Robin Scroggs sees it, the increasing controversy in churches over homosexuality has produced at least one positive benefit: It’s got people reading the Bible.”This is really an amazing situation,”said Scroggs, a Biblical studies professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York.”In our culture as a whole, you couldn’t get two people together to talk about the Bible. But here all of a sudden people are concerned about what the Bible says, because it’s a matter of concern for us.” The concern is the place of gays and lesbians in society, and how people of faith should view homosexuality based on Scriptural teachings.

It is that concern that brought Scroggs from New York to Grand Rapids, often considered an enclave of conservative religion, but that finds itself, like virtually all other American cities, caught up in the debate.

The Grand Rapids debate was prompted by the controversy surrounding the late Gerry Crane, a gay music teacher who resigned under community pressure from his job in the Bryon Center school system. In June, a group of mostly mainline Protestant pastors issued a letter calling for full acceptance of homosexuals in churches, arguing the Bible does not forbid”committed, loving, same-sex relationships.” Scroggs visited Grand Rapids to keynote a seminar meant to bolster the mainline position.

Among Christians, differing interpretations of a handful of Bible passages continue to deeply divide denominations. One camp reads in the Bible a clear condemnation of homosexual relationships. Another sees nothing specifically prohibiting bonds of same-sex love between consenting adults.

While many denominations hew to literal interpretations apparently condemning homosexuality, many mainline churches are split. Presbyterians, Methodists and Episcopalians have waged bitter disputes on whether the Bible permits ordination of practicing gays to the ministry.

Wrap all that in the highly charged emotions so often set off by any discussion of sexuality and you have a debate that’s not likely to go away soon.”As it continues, and especially as it’s brought into the civil arena … I think the issue’s only going to get more intense,”said the Rev. James Grier, dean of Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary.

Scroggs and others in the mainline camp argue that the Bible offers no clear guidance on the issue. He says the Bible should be interpreted in the cultural and historical context of the times in which it was written. “We’re looking at what we think is an authentic way of looking at Scripture, and to shed more light on Scripture but also on the acceptance of lesbian and gay people in the life of the church,”said the Rev. Douglas VanDoren, pastor of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ.

VanDoren argues his group’s view is a”well-established, long-understood perspective on Biblical interpretation.” Others disagree.”The only reason any of these passages have come up to be re-interpreted is an attempt to justify a particular cultural phenomenon that exists today,”said Baptist Seminary’s Grier, who feels the Bible clearly condemns homosexual relations.”In the midst of (that) we set aside the entire interpretive history of the church as to what those passages mean.” The passages in question are few. But what they mean is passionately debated.

Most commonly cited are passages in the Old Testament book of Leviticus, which call men lying together an”abomination”; and New Testament writings of the apostle Paul in Romans (1:27), 1 Corinthians (6:9) and 1 Timothy (1:10), all of which appear to assert the damning consequences of homosexual behavior. While other Bible verses describe incidents involving homosexuality, on the whole”the New Testament is almost supremely uninterested”in the issue, Scroggs says.

Scroggs, a United Methodist, concludes that the kind of behavior to which Paul referred was not relations between consenting adults. The prevalent homosexual practice in the Greek and Roman culture of Paul’s time was between men and boys, including prostitution and slavery, he said. It’s likely Paul was referring to stereotypical images of these man-boy relationships, he says.”You can’t use the Bible to argue specifically what is being argued in church circles, because the model of homosexuality in our contemporary religious communities is different from the model of pederasty (sex between men and boys),”Scroggs said.

Taking the Bible as a whole, Scroggs doesn’t believe it provides convincing arguments either for or against homosexual relationships.”We have to argue the legitimacy or illegitimacy on grounds other than Scripture,”he said.

But Scripture is exactly where one should look for answers, says Baptist Seminary’s Grier.

Grier argues the basic answer lies not in the much-disputed”vice”passages, but in the creation story. Genesis 1:27 makes clear the crucial gender difference between men and women, and Genesis 2:24 establishes male-female unity as the biblical model for marriage and procreation, Grier asserts. Christ harked back to this model as God’s intention, he says.

He also rejects the argument that Paul’s condemnations are directed only at adult-youth homosexuality. Paul’s teachings are consistent with the Old Testament, not just a reaction to a particular culture, he says. Further, there is”strong evidence”of adult male homosexual activity in some pagan rites, he argues.

Grier also maintains some Old Testament laws such as the ban on homosexuality are”perpetually binding,”while others such as a kosher diet were temporary laws later”brought to completion”by Christ.

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The Rev. Doug VanBronkhorst, pastor at First Reformed Church of Grandville, and formerly pastor of a San Francisco church that included several homosexuals, believes that people should be compassionate towards gays but that the Bible plainly prohibits homosexual practice.”Our responsibility is to say, `You’re a sinner and so am I. We are all sinners in need of God’s grace,'”VanBronkhorst said.

Plymouth Congregational’s VanDoren, however, gets a very different message from Scripture:”That condemning people outright for who they are is a sin.” Though he takes seriously the often-quoted passages, VanDoren added,”Any passage needs to be read in the context of the whole, particularly in the context of Jesus’ good news.”The Jesus I see reflected in Scripture is one who cares for and is inclusive of people who are genuine and struggling to be loving people,”he said.

DEA END HONEY