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FOLLOW THE LAW
Editorial
The Freeport News
January 18, 2007
The Anglicans have to hold to the teachings of the Bible and seek guidance from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, which advocated the cutting off of cancerous growths to the body. In Matthew 5:29-30 Jesus preached that if the right eye offends pluck it out and if the right hand offends cut it off.
That advice is still true today and could mean the difference between life and death. And that is exactly the way the Anglican Communion, particularly now, and all other Christian denominations need to be thinking about homosexuality in the church. There is no need to be considering diverse theological views or any other kind of new anthropology in coming to a determination. There is only need to look to the word of God and to do what it says.
Today a 10-member Covenant Design Group, headed by Archbishop Drexel Gomez, is meeting in this country to make a determination on the aberrant sexual proclivities of Anglicans in the United states and Canada, two of the denomination's largest provinces, which supports same sex marriages and has sanctioned the consecration of an openly homosexual bishop. A report is to be made to the leader of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams.
As the leader of the group, Archbishop Gomez's view on the issue is unquestionably clear: "My position is that God, in his wisdom, determined that the human race is made up of male and female persons and that they complement each other. The teaching of the Bible is the coming together of man and woman ... marriage in the biblical pattern. Any other provision will be contrary to the biblical tradition."
That should be a point of reference for all the archbishops in the group to consider as they call on their expertise in canon law to help them in their deliberations. However, they must not forget how a certain lawyer in the Bible (Luke 10:25), being proficient in the law, sought to trick Jesus into answering a question with regard to eternal life in a certain way and Jesus told him to follow the law as it was written and he would live. The implication there was that to deviate from what was prescribed in the written law could be detrimental to that person's eternal life.
Many canon law experts and some avowed biblical scholars continue to delve into the Scriptures and they continue to come up with interpretations that suit their chosen lifestyles, and which are contrary to what God intended.
They refuse to recognize what God's word says is an abomination and admit that it is wrong, but rather they choose to call it love and seek to confuse the right message.
The Anglicans will have a hard way to go - as will other denominations and peoples -but there is only one right way. They cannot bow to the dictates of those theologians and others who would wish the church to bend over backward in its beliefs and teachings.
Some people leaving its ranks regardless to whether the numbers constitute hundreds, thousands or even millions cannot overwhelm the church. The mandate of the Bible says if they are cancerous, if they offend, cut them off. It is profitable to lose some members than for the whole body to be lost to perdition forever.
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Copyright 2007 The Freeport News
