Madam, - I was disappointed by Susan Philips's Rite and Reason article of August 19th. She dismisses the laws of Leviticus and Paul's teaching on the role of women in the church as "recommendations" but implies that the biblical teaching on homosexuality belong to "deep foundational commands on how to live a life pleasing to our Creator". She says it would be "intellectually dishonest for any serious student of the Bible to confuse" the two.
I am a local preacher in the Methodist church. I have a degree in theology and I am studying for a master's in leadership and pastoral care. I consider myself a serious student of the Bible, and I find myself frustrated when people put forward such glib arguments.
Who is Susan Philips to say that Paul's teaching on women is merely cultural and that his teaching on sexuality is eternal? Remember too that Ms Philips is a member of that Protestant tradition which chooses to ignore Jesus's teaching on adultery and divorce (Matthew 5:32) and overlooks the fact that Jesus says nothing about homosexuality.
When I stand in the pulpit to preach, I do so very aware of Paul's teaching on women (eg: 1 Corinthians 11) and I do not take the role or responsibility lightly. But I have weighed up Scripture with tradition, reason and experience and have responded to what I sincerely believe to be a call upon my life. Over the years as I have preached - and more importantly, as I have listened - I have seen how the church has hurt the most vulnerable, the very ones Jesus came to save, and I am slow to simply dismiss one verse of Scripture as a "recommendation" and to take another as a "deep foundational command" so that it simply fits my point of view.
But perhaps more important is the question: "What should the church be arguing over?" Surely it is not sexuality. Surely the church should be arguing about wars, famines, the sex trafficking industry, the illegal drugs industry, poverty, denial of human rights. And if there is going to be a split in the church of Christ may it be, I pray, between those who want to love their neighbour and those who don't. - Yours, etc,
HEIDI GOOD,
Comer Road,
Kilkenny.