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A Short Teaching on Christian Sexual Ethics in the Present Life of the Church The Rt. Rev. Henry N. Parsley, Jr., Bishop of Alabama Diocesan Convention 2005
As your bishop I am frequently asked questions on a number of subjects. Lately many questions have been focused on the teaching of the church on sexual ethics. I hear it said sometimes that much has changed in the church’s teaching. This is in part a response to the on-going debate in the Episcopal Church following the 74 General Convention and in part, I believe, a concern about the confusion and distortion in our society over matters of human sexual behavior. I believe that it is important for me to say some things about the teaching of the church on this subject. First, our understanding of what it means to be Christian has not changed. We are Christian people because we believe in God and in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. As Episcopalians and Anglicans we are members of the Church Catholic and affirm the doctrine expressed in the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds. The creeds summarize the witness of Holy Scripture as the church has understood it since the apostolic and patristic age. As part of the Church Catholic we believe that the dogma and doctrine of the creeds represent “the faith once delivered to the saints.” The Book of Common Prayer contains the teaching of the Episcopal Church and Anglican tradition expressed in creedal affirmations, the sacraments, liturgies and prayers, and in the Catechism. When I am asked what the Episcopal Church believes, I always say read the Prayer Book and worship with us and you will find out. Secondly, the Episcopal Church’s teaching on the authority of the Bible has not changed. We believe “the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God and to contain all things necessary to salvation,” in the ancient words of the Prayer Book. As the Windsor Report has said, “Within Anglicanism, scripture has always been recognized as Church’s supreme authority.” The report goes on to affirm that we believe that “Jesus, the living Word, is the one to whom the written Word bears witness as God’s ultimate and personal self-expression” and to say that the phrase ‘the authority of scripture’ actually means “the authority of the triune God exercised through scripture.” Anglicans, however, are not Biblical literalists. Our tradition has held for centuries that the truth of the scriptures is best revealed using tradition and reason as tools in the interpretive process. Bishop Carpenter used to carry around a three-legged stool, which is still used at Carpenter House, to illustrate this. This understanding has allowed Anglicans to welcome many of the insights of Biblical criticism, science, archaeology, and theological development to our understanding of God and God’s purposes known in scripture. Our understanding of the truth of God revealed in the Holy Scriptures has evolved over the centuries, as the Holy Spirit continues, according to Jesus’ promise, to lead us “into all truth.” As the Windsor report emphasizes, “Our shared reading of scripture across boundaries of culture, region and tradition ought to be the central feature of our common life, guiding us together from entrenched positions into fresh appreciation of the riches of the gospel as articulated in the scriptures.” Thirdly, the church’s teaching on sexual ethics has not changed. We have upheld and continue to uphold fidelity in monogamous marriage, abstinence in singleness, chastity in all relationships, and mercy for all as the Christian standard and norm for sexual expression. The report of the Lambeth Conference of 1998 affirmed this clearly when it said, “The Holy Scriptures and Christian tradition teach that human sexuality is intended by God to find its rightful and full expression between a man and a woman in the covenant of marriage, established by God in creation and affirmed by our Lord Jesus Christ. Holy Matrimony is, by intention and divine purpose, to be a life-long, monogamous and unconditional commitment between a woman and a man.” Singleness and celibacy as well have been honored among Christians since the New Testament period. Sexual morality has always been a core value for the people of God and high standards for sexual behavior are an abiding aspect of Christian ethical teaching. |
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A Short Teaching Continued 1/3 |