I emailed Bishop Pederson, and I sent a list of about 25 Bible verses that, according to my dad (a retired ELCA pastor who joined an LCMS church) state that homosexuality is a sin. I asked Pederson to send me a list of verses that state that God approves of homosexuality, and I said that I’d consider both sides, since I think that Christians should follow teachings of the Bible. He sent this response:
“Phil,
Thank you for your email.
The premise of stacking up Bible verses for and against one another regarding a given issue isn’t an interpretive principle that I find helpful or useful. For instance, the Bible speaks repeatedly of women as either property or subordinate to men throughout – there are no passages that advance any other perspective. Yet, we do not take these passages literally, nor can we find Bible texts that say it is acceptable for a woman to have authority over a man, nor could a literal approach ever support the ordination of women, as the ELCA and predecessor bodies have done since 1970.
The same can be said of slavery. For centuries, the church pointed to specific passages from the Bible that support slavery; it is the norm in Scripture and accepted practice. Yet, the church eventually came to consider one person owning another person as a grave sin. This conclusion couldn’t have been arrived at on the basis of stacking up “for” and “against” passages, since there are no passages that speak against slavery.
Neither will such an approach to interpreting the Scriptures work with homosexuality, because your dad is correct, none of the handful of passages speak favorably of it. Thus, an approach not unlike what was used to interpret texts supporting slavery and the subjugation of women is used by those who advocate for change in church policy regarding homosexuality. If your conclusion is that these few texts must be taken literally, then there can be no conversation with others or alternative interpretation, because any other view would be understood to be unfaithful.
If you are serious about learning of alternative biblical interpretations, I would refer you to the following to glimpse such a perspective:
- Homosexuality and the Bible - Walter Wink
- The Authority of Scripture - Former Presiding Bishop Herb Chilstrom
- The Bible, the Church, and Faithful Discernment - Brian Peterson
- A View From History - Susan McArver
The ELCA’s position at this point in time according to the sexuality social statement is to affirm the traditional position of a relationship between a man and a woman, while recognizing that there is disagreement about biblical interpretation concerning homosexuality, such that only those congregations who choose to do so may call a homosexual pastor in a same-gender committed relationship.
I hope the above resources help you see that faithful, biblical Christians can disagree and still remain in fellowship with one another. The articles are provided, not to argue for or against Churchwide Assembly decisions, but to further understanding of perspectives other than literalism.
Blessings,
Bishop Pederson”
The feature article about such an ordination in San Francisco links this juncture to women's ordination "just like the ordination of women forty years ago..."
When I read that article--as well as the summary of the PC crapola legislated by the various Synod Assemblies--I just thought "I'm glad I'm out of that mess".
Very fitting reading for the week that began with the Gospel lesson "beware of those who appear as sheep but inwardly are ravenous wolves..."