Marriage, Scripture, and the Church: Theological Discernment on the Question of Same-Sex Union by Darren W. Snyder Belousek
Having recently taken a deep dive into the current divide and controversy related to LGBTQ issues, and devouring the seemingly endless books, blogs, articles, and discussions ranging from the very conservative to the very liberal, I found this book quite refreshing. It is very well written, scholarly, and courteous to all, but at the same time, firm and uncompromising in its presentation of biblical truth.
I believe the LGBTQ controversy is likely the most important issue facing the Church since the Reformation. Earlier challenges of this magnitude included the Constantinian changes and the inclusion of non-Jews in the early church (Acts 15).
I believe the LGBTQ controversy is likely the most important issue facing the Church since the Reformation.
These historic challenges to the Church have all traveled a similar pathway involving: 1) theories of subjective reality and morality; 2) concepts of Scripture, both in its inspiration and conception; 3) the hermeneutic used to read and interpret Scripture; 4) the substantial influence of the surrounding culture.
These four factors are all a very present part of this current conversation—a naked reality from which the Church has not escaped in any generation. Thus, it is important to educate ourselves concerning these matters.
In this book, the author primarily addresses L, G, and B, without going into T and Q. He frames his argument around the theology of marriage. Building from the Genesis creation account as a foundational theology of male-female complementarity in marriage, he follows this pattern throughout the entirety of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation.
Belousek notes that, without exception, there has been the male-female pattern of marriage, from the beginning (antiquity), throughout the Judeo-Christian tradition (universality), and by all Christians (consensus). Building on this solid foundation of tradition and Scripture, he asserts that the justification for the redefinition and reformation of marriage is up to the innovationists to adequately substantiate, and to do so scripturally.
The author uses the term innovationist to identify those who would affirm same-sex unions, and the term traditionalist to identify those who hold to the traditional ethic and theology of marriage.
The author then establishes a biblical theology of marriage, describing its form, meaning the male-female pattern, its function, including companionship and procreation, and its symbolism as noted repeatedly throughout the Scriptures: God and His people in the Old Testament; Christ and the Church in the New Testament; the wedding feast of the Lamb and His Bride. He notes that to justify same-sex unions, the powerful form, function, and symbols of the Bible must all be broken.
Throughout the book, it is notably asserted that there is no other form of marriage approved in the Christian Scriptures and that the condemnation of same-sex relationships/marriage is universal throughout the Bible.
Along with his excellent discussion of the theology of marriage, the author notes and debunks what I call the “pillars of the innovationists.” His debunking is so good that at the end, there are no pillars left standing!
If there were anything I would add to the book, it would be a clearer explanation of how innovationists look at Scripture, both in its synthesis—a term innovationists use to label the concept of how they believe Scriptures came to be—and their resulting hermeneutic.
Synthesis means that the Scriptures came to be as a community of faith developed a narrative of God at work, and then, a writer, in his best attempt to explain God’s work among His people, writes it down. At some point then, that synthesis became the Bible.
Inspiration, in this scenario, occurred at various points along the way. God would put bits of inspiration in the narrative, and the writer would write. These narratives need to be read through the lens of the writer. The writer’s culture determines the purpose or moral logic of the writing and its applicability to current circumstances.
This view of inspiration lends itself very well to the approach used by many innovationists. As knowledge increases, and there are new movements of the Holy Spirit, a new ethic emerges that makes old interpretations obsolete. The new ethic may supersede the ethic of the given Scriptures, reaching new heights of love and reality. This synthesis, in the traditionalist’s mind, takes away from the authority of Scripture (I present this simply as an adjunct for understanding this whole controversy).
The book is quite readable, but you must plow deeply to reap its full harvest. Doing due diligence with this book will plant you firmly in a biblical theology of marriage and aid you in recognizing the many innovationist arguments that are filtering into the Church.
In addition to the challenges facing innovationists, the author challenges traditionalists to take responsibility for building communities of charity, fidelity, and solidarity that embrace sexual chastity for all believers, straight and same-sex attracted, to make transformational change seem possible as we seek to live out kingdom-centered lives.
11 Responses
An excellent summary/article/reference Loren!
Loren…I was very impressed with the content of your article in The Beacon, it’s very refreshing to see this coming from one of the Mennonite schools! It’s not always the case. I totally agree with Jay Shetler that we need to ‘work’ with how to minister to those who are functioning in the LGBTQ realm. Though I’m no longer affiliated with the Mennonite church, I’m saddened when I see congregations compromise their values and bend scriptures to align with the prevailing ‘new enlightenment’. Again I say thank you Loren and The Beacon for addressing this very sensitive subject.
I’ve also heard people use the divorce and remarriage argument to justify same-sex marriage, but I agree that it’s very different. I’ve never heard anyone who’s gone through a divorce say that divorce is not a sin. Divorce is full of pain and shattered dreams. The sins of one or both partners needs to be acknowledged and repented of, not justified and celebrated.
It may well be that we look around sometime in the near future and discover that the questioning of sexuality has led to a more basic question lurking there . that is “Is Jesus really the Only way?”
That is already here
Thanks for the helpful summary Loren. I’m excited to see the Beacon address this important topic! While the theological debate is important, I also hope that some of the attention goes to how we minister to those who identify as LGBTQ. We have several people who regularly attend our church who identify as LGTBQ and are seeking Jesus. What does ministry or discipleship look like when people who identify as LGBTQ call your church their church home? How do we position ourselves so that our theological position is clear on this issue but our hearts are soft and our doors are open to those struggling with same sex attraction or gender confusion?
There are many good resources for this including this book. In addition, Mark Thiessen Nation has a good paper called Welcome All and proclaim the Kingdom of God with boldness and unhindered openness; toward compassion friendship and fruitful faithfulness in relation to homosexuals.
Sean McDowell and John Stonestreet also have a good book on the issue, same-sex marriage: a thoughtful approach to God’s design for marriage.
Rosario Butterfield in her book Open Us unhindered comma shares her story as to how she was transformed.
Preston sprinkles book does the Bible support same-sex marriage? Has some good ideas.
Compassion Without Compromise by Barr and Citlan is a good resource as well.
I suspect that when we more or less caved on divorce and remarriage, we greatly damaged our argument on same-sex unions by conveying the idea we weren’t that serious about Biblical marriage.
Yep, that is right. We likely caved far too much.
But in reality, homosexuality does seem to be on somewhat of a different level. There is a tiny bit of leeway in scripture concerning divorce. However, there is no such tension with homosexuality or same-sex marriage. The message is constant from Genesis through Revelation.
This topic is hugely important! Thanks for the review and summary.
Thank you Loren for a well written article that clearly calls us to fidelity to the Scriptures to also calls us to build communities that help people make a transformational change.