Homosexuality: Legally Permissible or Spiritually Misguided?1

Lockard, Homosexualitymore liberal argue that the church is being rigid and out of touch with socialprogress; it needs to modernise its criteria for appointing ecclesial leaders.1.1. Dichotomy in cohesive theological thoughtRevisionist theologians (Nelson 1977; Boswell, cited in Humphreys 1985)acquiesce to a climate of tolerance toward same sex behaviour and posit thatone must re-examine scriptural interpretations to include more relevancy to thecurrent cultural mores, while conservative theologians argue that scripturaltradition maintains that there is a generally accepted code of morality, derivedfrom the inerrancy of the scriptures, and deviations from that code should belabelled as abnormal, deviant behaviour (sin).Max Stackhouse (quoted in Helm 1998), professor of Christian ethics atPrinceton Theological Seminary, contends otherwise when he states:I think a rough consensus has been reached among mainlinechurches: They agree to defend the rights of homosexuals andon the need for a policy of tolerance toward people inhomosexual relationships. Although, most churches agree thathomosexual relationships are not the ideal. They are notsomething the church should praise or celebrate. Despitedisagreement on ordination, there are these two over-archingagreements.Is faulty theological reasoning behind the gay hermeneutic? Clearly, theconfusion of the church on the issue of homosexuality is varied with bothliberal and conservative views. Is there a possibility to assuage the confusionand bring to light God’s revealed plan for all human behaviour?1.2. Statement of purposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine critically the divisive issue ofhomosexuality from four perspectives: historical, empirical, scriptural andpastoral.139