Reasonable and Holy

Tobias Stanislas Haller

Description

Reasonable and Holy addresses the conflict over homosexuality within the Anglican tradition, demonstrating that the church is able to provide for and support faithful and loving relationships between persons of the same sex, not as a departure from that tradition, but as a reasonable extension of it.

It offers a carefully argued, but accessible means of engagement with Scripture, the Jewish and Christian traditions, and the use of reason in dealing with the experience and lives of fellow-Christians. Unlike most reflections on the topic of homosexuality, Reasonable and Holy examines same-sex relationships through the lens of the traditional teaching on the “ends” or “goods” of marriage: procreation, union, the upbuilding of society, the symbolic representation of Christ and the Church, and the now often unmentioned “remedy for fornication.” Throughout, it responds to objections based on reason, tradition and Scripture.

Based on a series of popular blog posts, it includes a number of independent, but related resources in the form of side-bars and single-page expansions of particular themes, suitable for reproduction as handouts.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• State
• Politics
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: Church Publishing Incorporated
• Date de parution: 01 mars 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781596272132
• Langue: English

Extrait

REASONABLE and H OLY
REASONABLE and H OLY
ENGAGING SAME-SEXUALITY
Tobias Stanislas Haller BSG
Copyright 2009 by Tobias Stanislas Haller BSG
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
Unless otherwise noted, the Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Haller, Tobias Stanislas.
Reasonable and holy : engaging same-sexuality / Tobias Stanislas Haller. p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-59627-110-4 (pbk.)
1. Homosexuality-Religious aspects-Anglican Communion. 2. Same-sex marriage-Religious aspects-Anglican Communion. I. Title. BR115.H6H355 2009 241 .66-dc22
2009003787
Seabury Books 445 Fifth Avenue New York, New York 10016
www.seaburybooks.com
An imprint of Church Publishing Incorporated
5 4 3 2 1
. . . and here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, our selves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto thee ...
T HE B OOK OF C OMMON P RAYER
For James

S ONG OF S OLOMON 2:16
Contents
A Note by Way of Introduction

1. Where the Division Lies

2. Pro-Creation

3. True Union

4. Double Vision

5. Pairs and Mates: Two are better than one

6. Clash of Symbols

7. Remedial Reading

8. Scripture and Its Witness

9. Perplexity and Guidance
10. Entrusted with the Oracles of God
11. WWJD
12. Heirs of the Promise
Some Works Cited or Consulted
A Note by Way of Introduction
What follows began as an unfinished series of blog posts at In a Godward Direction ( jintoku.blogspot.com ) but it draws on more than a third-century of reflection and engagement with same-sexuality from a Christian perspective. As such, it has been furthered by the work of many scholars and theologians who have tilled this field before me. That includes those with whom I agree and those I find to be mistaken. I have, if anything, learned as much from the latter as the former-because they forced me to wrestle with their assertions and explore the primary material they cite-often to find that assertions sometimes do not match citations. To friend and foe alike I am indebted for guidance in pointing me towards those original sources. In that process I have made a number of my own findings, some of which I am not aware of having seen the light of day before now. I may have missed such earlier observations, and apologize in advance if I should seem to be presenting a shop-worn commonplace as a novel discovery.
That being said, I am not going to lard the pages with footnotes. References are provided in concise form-and I urge the reader to check my assertions against these texts. Expansions and additional observations appear as sidebars or call-outs, rather than being consigned to small type at the bottom of the page. The bibliography, too, is intended to be helpful, and includes books not actually cited. The questions at the ends of chapters, and the dialogue that forms the substance of the final chapter are provided in an effort to stimulate discussion rather than to close it off.
As to some scholarly concerns: for the sake of brevity, and in part because it is secondary to my concerns, I take the canonical approach and refer to authors such as Peter and Paul, in the knowledge that much that the text attributed to them is seen today to be the work of disciples. The same can be said of the teaching of Jesus. But I am primarily interested in taking these texts as the church has received them prior to the rise of higher criticism-which is not to say I disregard the value of such critical methods, but that I do not find them, ultimately, to be of much utility in addressing what is a problem in moral theology, rather than source criticism.
Similarly, though I will make passing reference to the sectarian Qumran documents, the intertestamental and apocryphal literature, my primary reliance will be upon the texts that are authoritative in Christianity and Judaism-the Bible and the Mishnah/Talmud-as well as the primary texts of major formative theologians in both traditions. It is the bulk of the main tradition with which I am concerned, rather than the interesting but eccentric byways. Even the main path occasionally becomes twisted, so I hope the reader will bear with me on this journey.
Finally, when it comes to the vexed question of authority, I follow the example of Richard Hooker in thinking: Companies of learned men be they never so great and reverend are to yield unto Reason; the weight whereof is no whit prejudiced by the simplicity of his person which doth allege it. (II.7.6) Thus, given the amount of disagreement on the matter at hand, among very many learned people, I do not seek to pile up names of those who support my views as opposed to those who don t. When I quote a source, ancient or modern, it is generally because I find it to express a thought with particular wit and wisdom, or because I find it necessary to take issue with it. It is to you, the reader, that I make my argument-which you will receive or reject, I hope, on the basis of the argument itself, rather than on the credentials of those who support it or oppose it.
Tobias Stanislas Haller BSG The Bronx September 2008
1.
Where the Division Lies
In the church s ongoing discussions and debates over sexuality, both sides have advanced their arguments. I sometimes feel the debaters are talking past each other, and that they are coming from totally different conceptual worlds. The problem appears to lie in the premises (or assumptions) that underlie the differing points of view. If we are to come to a resolution of our differences-and it is a big if -it will be important to begin with certain agreed-upon principles, if we can, and work step-by-step through to that resolution. So what I am attempting in this volume is to begin to unpack, challenge and revisit (and perhaps revise) the underlying premises or assumptions of the traditional view, in an effort to get behind the reassertions. Along the way, I will lay out some of the rationale for what is sometimes called the revisionist view-though the revision may sometimes be a return to an older understanding rather than the adoption of a new one. The goal will be to see if there is any basis of agreement from which a different settlement might be reached, or if we really are thinking and working from two radically incompatible bases. I know that some will not be willing to take this journey, fully convinced of the rightness of the so-called traditional view on one hand, or the pointlessness of trying to demonstrate the obvious need and rationale for change in that tradition on the other. But I hope that a review of the tradition itself may also open up some avenues for fruitful exploration.
I will, of course, want to deal with all of the apparatus of Scripture and reason as well. I will in part be challenging the rational basis of a negative view of same-sex relationships, because the traditionalist assertion often goes beyond a merely religious disapproval. That is, many if not most of those who think homosexuality is wrong do not see it as wrong merely in a religious sense-the way, for example, an Orthodox Jew might say that it is wrong to eat pork, but not hold a Gentile to that standard-but wrong in a moral or ethical or even legal sense, rightly subject not only to religious reproof, but to secular regulation as well; in short, not only plainly immoral but by rights illegal. All things that are illegal are generally seen as immoral; but not all things deemed immoral by some should also be illegal for all. Theocracy is not, at least on American shores, a welcome form of government; and we learned through Prohibition the danger of legislating morals. Still, in the present case, some are urging legal or even constitutional action.

I may at times seem like the child who asks, over and over, Why? But I ve seen little in the wider debate that takes a form of much beyond a differently worded, Because. I know things have been a certain way for a length of time. That in itself is no reason for them to remain, particularly when it begins to appear that the Emperor is very scantily clad indeed.
The church does influence the secular society in which it finds itself, and can often be a force for good. The concern here is for care and prudence, and the virtue of humility. If what the church is teaching is correct, then by all means it should have impact on the world. But if it is wrong-well, Christian churches of all traditions have more than a few embarrassing skeletons in their closets.
As a part of that humility concerning its moral theology, not all in the church who hold any number of things to be immoral wish or work for them to be illegal in a pluralistic society. However, in the present case, there are more than a few religious conservatives who are also willing to see (at the extreme) state sanctions against same-sex relationships, or (at a minimum) a denial of state approval in recognition of such relationships.
In order to make this case, expanding from the sacred to the secular realm, it is clear that the voices of the tradition have gone beyond a simple religious basis for their opinion. The primary evidence for this lies in the arguments often advanced, many of which go well beyond the scriptural material. Needles