Elizabeth Day reports on Anglican Bishop Gene Robinson, who has sparked outrage for suggesting that Jesus might have been homosexual. Robinson was asked a question from a member of a congregation he was addressing recently. The question was about the acceptance of homosexuality in the Anglican community and the scriptural teaching on repentance of sins and redemption. Robinson responded by saying:
"Interestingly enough, in this day of traditional family values, this man that we follow was single, as far as we know, travelled with a bunch of men, had a disciple who was known as 'the one whom Jesus loved' and said my family is not my mother and father, my family is those who do the will of God. None of us likes those harsh words. That's who Jesus is, that's who he was at heart, in his earthly life. Those who would posit the nuclear family as the be all and end all of God's creation probably don't find that much in the gospels to support it."
A spokesman for the evangelical organisation, Anglican Mainstream, said: "He's really selective in what he's addressing. He makes no mention of Jesus's teaching on marriage, for instance. And he does not acknowledge that nowhere in the text or in ancient literature is there any suggestion of any form of sexual impropriety among Jesus or the disciples. Jesus broke the cultural traditions of the time and has women mixing with men in public and having them teaching."
The spokesman finished his remarks by saying, "those of us who put scripture as a priority are called on to obey the scripture even when that is in conflict with our culture."
1 comment:
I don't think that he was saying that Jesus was gay; I believe that he was merely pointing out that, in today's society, he would have been possibly thought to be gay giving the "lifestyle" that he was leading. I thought that his comments brought up intersting points but it didn't lead me to believe that the was suggesting that the was anything other than Jesus. I also clicked on your link and read the article that was on-line and I thought that the picutres of the folks with the signs condeming Gene Robinson were interesting as well. Although I wouldn't consider myself to be anywhere close to being an expert on the Bible, I don't recall any specific mentions of homosexuality. I know that there are some references but no specific mentions. Prehaps I am wrong on that! Strange that you don't see those same folks out in front of a courthouse hearing a case on divorce (I believe that that is in the Bible) or robbery (also specifically mentioned). Where does all that hate come from?
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