Category Archives: Homosexuality

Adelphopoiesis: ‘the making of brothers’

Walking With Giants Posted on by

It is interesting that both human rights activist Peter Tatchell and politician Adrian Trett have asserted that in times past the Christian church has actively endorsed same-sex marriage.  And in both cases they have appealed as their sole source of evidence to John Boswell’s book The marriage of likeness: same-sex unions in pre-modern Europe.

Boswell argued that the ancient rite of ‘adelphopoiesis’ should be regarded as equivalent to same-sex marriage.  It would follow, then, that sections of the modern Christian church are denying its own history when it opposes same-sex marraige today.…

Same-sex marriage: not near so much like a ball

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“I should like balls infinitely better… if they were carried on in a different manner… It would surely be much more rational if conversation instead of dancing were made the order of the day.”

“Much more rational, my dear Caroline, I dare say, but it would not be near so much like a ball.”

(Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice)

Peter Tatchell and Peter D Williams recently discussed the question of same-sex marriage.  Tatchell is, of course, a well-known human rights activist and supports same-sex marriage. …

Ten reasons not to legalise same-sex marriage

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Writing for the Christian Medical Fellowship, Dr Peter Saunders comments that there is increasing pressure in Britain to permit same-sex marriage.  The question for many has become how (not if) the law should be changed.

Dr Saunders gives ten reasons why the law should not be changed:-

1. Marriage is the union of one man and one woman

Throughout  history in virtually all cultures and faiths throughout the world,  marriage has been held to be the union of one man and one woman. …

Children need fathers

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A recent change in UK law means that women in same-sex relationships can now register both their names on the birth certificate of a child conceived as a result of fertility treatment.

Instead of the usual allocation of one mother and one father, one would suppose that the child would therefore have two mothers in the sight of the law.  However, this will not be the case: a birth certificate will be used which, instead of having a ‘mother’ and a ‘father’ section, with have two ‘parent’ sections.…

CMS rethinks Greenbelt seminars

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This year’s Greenbelt festival is causing concern in some quarters because of the plans to welcome as a speaker the openly gay Bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson. Greenbelt will also give a platform to other gay rights campaigners such as the Rev Giles Fraser and worship groups OuterSpace and Journey.

By way of response, the Church Mission Society is considering holding seminars in which the orthodox view of human sexuality will be promoted.

One thing that intrigued me about all of this was a comment by the Rev Sharon Ferguson, spokesperson for the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement.…

Homosexual relationships

Walking With Giants Posted on by

I hesitate to contribute anything on this subject, discussion of which tends generate more heat than light.  But perhaps if only to demonstrate that there is a way of seeking to be faithful to Scripture which does not amount to a homophobic rant, I offer the following.

Statistics

I remember that when I was at school in the 1960s, our class was informed that about 10% of the population was homosexual.  (Of course, with a class size of about 30, each of us silently wondered who those three boys were!).  …