May his word overthrow us and we be transformed by his grace:

A Review of Professor Erwin C. Barron's "The Bible in the Homosexual Debate"

Professor Erwin C. Barron’s second installment of his three part article on the Church, the Bible and homosexuality is entitled “The Bible in the homosexuality debate.” It was posted today on “The Outlook” and linked to at “Presbyweb.”

His first installment, “Why do we Presbyterians continue to fight?” as I wrote earlier in a letter to Presbyweb, was in absolute contradiction to the Declaration of Barmen. He is still traveling that worn road; in fact, he is stomping as he goes. Now Barron has actually placed experience over Scripture by suggesting that using the Bible to come to a decision would be too divisive.

Barron has set up a scenario in which two model churches, one a More Light Church, one a Confessing Church, are making their decisions about ordination based on experience rather than the Scriptures. He believes the people in the More Light Church made their decision that LGBT people should be ordained because they know them and are friends with them. They discount the biblical text insisting it is not relevant for our time.

On the other hand he believes that the Confessing Church people, who believe the Bible forbids ordaining LGBT people, accept women pastors because they have experienced strong women pastors. He writes, “In both congregations, the Bible passages restricting women were explained as relative only to the context of biblical history and not relevant today.” But there is a problem here that I believe Barron ignores

All biblical passages that speak of homosexuality as a sexual practice either forbid the practice or speak of it as sin. On the other hand there are a few scripture texts that seem to discourage women in ministry, and that being the case, they must be reconciled with the many biblical texts that either encourage women in ministry or point to women in ministry. (Acts 2:16; 18:26; 21:8-9; Romans 16:3,7; 1 Cor 11:5)

Barron is simply attempting to by-pass the Bible. He tries to imply that starting with the biblical text discounts “the importance of personal experience.” But he is terribly confused.

We bring our experience to the Bible, not so we may shape what it says or even to pick those parts that might seem relevant to our experience, but so that we might be changed, transformed and made new. God speaks his truth to us and we speak our broken experiences back, seeking his forgiveness and transformation.

Barron does write one sentence, in his latest article, that is loaded with truth. He writes, “When we begin with the Bible, we are not beginning with a natural place for all of us.” Of course Barron believes we need a natural place and believes it is experience.

But experience is different for each person, and God’s word is unchanging. If we begin with experience we will encounter unending divisiveness; if we begin with God’s word we will find Jesus Christ, his redemption and in our unity with him a unity that is eternal.