Homosexuality is 'Totally Destructive of Christian Teaching' Says Traditional Anglican Primate

LifeSiteNews ^ | 3/10/10 | Patrick B. Craine

[wagglebee]

See Part I and Part II of this LifeSiteNews exclusive interview.

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, March 10, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The head of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), Archbishop John Hepworth, told LifeSiteNews (LSN) that it is “ludicrous” to suggest that God is present with same-sex couples in the same way as he is with husband and wife, and urged clear teaching on the true nature of human sexuality.

“Homosexual sexuality played out in a same-sex relationship is, in fact, totally destructive of the heart of Christian teaching because it's destructive of God as Creator, it's destructive of God as Teacher, and it's destructive of God as Redeemer,” he said.

“There is no space in Christianity for brute force condemnation, hate, and all that,” he continued. But, he said, “there is space within Christianity for absolutely, clearly teaching what Christ teaches.  And if there's one thing the New Testament and the Old Testament are clear on, it's homosexuality.”

The archbishop spoke with LSN on Friday in Halifax, Nova Scotia before he addressed the local TAC parish, St. Aidan's, about the Vatican's recent offer to Anglicans for reunion with Rome.  He began a worldwide tour over four weeks ago in order to encourage members of the TAC to accept the offer.

Archbishop Hepworth praised the treatment of homosexuality in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is primarily dealt with in paragraphs 2357-2359.  “The Catechism of the Catholic Church is absolutely perfect,” he said.  “It teaches what the Church teaches, and it then goes on to teach us a pastoral approach.”

The Church has always taught that homosexuals “are blessed in other ways, are in fulfillment in other ways,” the Archbishop said.  “We've got to be game to teach that. ... There are compensations that God gives for [disorder].”

“We just need to be much much more positive.  If we simply condemn [homosexuality], we won't win, and we're not winning,” he continued.  “But we've also been very reticent to teach exactly how God is present within marriage.  In fact, most couples think God has little to do with marriage.”

“I think we need to teach more deeply about that,” he added.

The archbishop described the union of husband and wife as “God's pathway for the world, in which the Creative God is closest to us.”  True marriage, he said, is “a relationship open to creation, open to love, which is the love of God, which is the Spirit.  This, in fact, is where God has chosen to dwell - within the family.”

He praised the pope for allowing Anglicans who reunite with the Church to continue ordaining married men because, he said, this “means there's a family at the heart of the parish, in all its frailty.”

“The charism of a family at the heart of a parish is necessary at the moment for the Church,” he argued, “because the family is under attack in more ways than it's been since the Roman Empire, which is the last period in world history when homosexuality was rampant and blessed by society.”

“It's not a question of individual rights or fulfillment.  It's a question of God's presence in the world,” he continued.  “Can we believe that God is present with a same-sex couple, God the Creator, God the Lover, God the Redeemer and Savior, in the same way as with a man and a woman who are married and dedicated to life and open to creation?  And the answer to that of course is obvious.  It's ludicrous.”

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Head of Traditional Anglican Group: No Communion to Pro-Abort Politicians
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/mar/10030902.html

Exclusive Interview: Primate of Traditional Anglican Communion on Life and Family - Part One
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/mar/10030811.html

Anglican Catholic Primate: "To defend the unborn is part of the backbone of the Traditional Anglican Communion"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jul/09071303.html

[wagglebee]

The archbishop described the union of husband and wife as “God's pathway for the world, in which the Creative God is closest to us.” True marriage, he said, is “a relationship open to creation, open to love, which is the love of God, which is the Spirit. This, in fact, is where God has chosen to dwell - within the family.”

Amen!

[wagglebee]

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[wagglebee]

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[NYer]

Welcome Home!

We need their voices now, more than ever.

[circlecity]

One man crying in the wilderness.

[GenXteacher]

“And if there’s one thing the New Testament and the Old Testament are clear on, it’s homosexuality.”
Amen!

[patriot08]

.

[sionnsar]

I will try again. Thanks to wagglebee for the ping.

Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams.

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This list is pinged by Huber and sionnsar.

Resource for Traditional Anglicans: http://trad-anglican.faithweb.com
Humor: The Anglican Blue

Speak the truth in love. Eph 4:15

[sionnsar]

Thank you VERY MUCH for deleting my accidentally incorrect ping (8&9)!!!

[Albion Wilde]

Amen, and hallelujah! Considering the Human Rights persecutions in Canada, this man is courageous as well as spiritually precise. Here is one part I so admire:

The Church has always taught that homosexuals “are blessed in other ways, are in fulfillment in other ways,” the Archbishop said. “We've got to be game to teach that. ... There are compensations that God gives for [disorder].”

“We just need to be much much more positive. If we simply condemn [homosexuality], we won't win, and we're not winning,” he continued. “But we've also been very reticent to teach exactly how God is present within marriage. In fact, most couples think God has little to do with marriage.”

“I think we need to teach more deeply about that,” he added.

Having worked in the arts all my life, surrounded by gay people (from airheads to the truly tragic figures), I can really endorse this line of thinking. The artistic sensitivity of many of them can really be used. As for the women, there is always a place for tomboys and women who can take extra responsibility because they have no children, as long as they know the proper boundaries and society enforces those boundaries.

[AnalogReigns]

Here are the mentioned paragraphs from the new Roman Catechism (1997), which, even as a Calvinistical, low-church Anglican, I think are excellent:

2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,141 tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered."142 They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

[TASMANIANRED]

Pretending that up is down..never works.