Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: mls@sfsup.att.com (Mike Siemon) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Gay Ordination in the Presbyterian Church Message-ID: Date: 9 Mar 91 06:11:35 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 42 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article , art@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Arthur L Miller) writes: > Maybe the PC(USA) had good intentions, but I find it hard to swallow > considering this passage from I Corinthians: I don't want to start yet another round through the texts. But I think Mr. Miller should understand that matters are not quite as cut and dried as he seems to think. While I will usually argue that we may use English translations for theological discussion, this is NOT such a case, because the original Greek is, in fact, obscure to the point of incomprehensibility. The translators who obligingly give you a "clear" and generic anti-homosexual "message" in this passage (and the same is true, in essence, of the others) are doing no more than providing what they THINK Paul meant. That really amounts to nothing more than the continual regeneration of *cultural* pre- judice. It is, indeed *possible* to draw the conclusion "homosexuality is sinful" out of the texts of Paul's letters. It is also possible, to look honestly and prayerfully at these same passages and conclude, "no, that is NOT what Paul was getting at." Or at least that the matter is one in which WE are called to discern the correct path for ourselves, with allowance for our fellow Christians who are "convinced in their own minds" on this issue. There is NO clear and indisputable condemnation of homosexuality in the New Testatment (and the context of condemnations in the OT is also not really clear, in particular it is not clear whether Jewish law on this should be taken *by Christians* [I can in no way speak for Jews, for whom this putative distinction is irrelevant] as "moral" or perhaps rather as "ritual" law.) Again, I do NOT want to rehash the texts here again. Rather, I am seconding the request by the moderator that Mr. Miller protested: > >... I think we should do our fellow Christians the > >courtesy of believing that they are actually considering things from a > >Biblical point of view, -- Michael L. Siemon "O stand, stand at the window, m.siemon@ATT.COM As the tears scald and start; ...!att!attunix!mls You shall love your crooked neighbor standard disclaimer With your crooked heart."