HOMOSEXUALITY HAS COME TO CHURCH: Should We Embrace It?
(A Brief Background to Adventists & Homosexuality)
[Adapted from the Author's Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, Ph.D.
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, Ph.D.
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
“Some issues are so controversial that confronting them is too painful. Rather than discussing them in an emotionally charged atmosphere, we prefer not to discuss them at all. Other issues are so important that confronting them is necessary even when this is unavoidably painful. We prefer to find an approach to them at almost any cost, including the risk of pain. The issue of homosexuality is, at present and generally speaking, in the first category in the churches and in the second category in society.” —Pim Pronk
Just when I was completing my Must We Be Silent (2001) for publication, I received an e-mail from Joe (pseudonym), a homosexual who claims to be a Seventh-day Adventist...
WHY ATTITUDES ARE CHANGING—Part 1
(Why and How Is Homosexuality Being Pushed On the Church?)
[This article is excerpted from the author’s book Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, Ph.D.
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
(Why and How Is Homosexuality Being Pushed On the Church?)
[This article is excerpted from the author’s book Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, Ph.D.
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
All manner of sin can be forgiven, provided we admit our wrongdoing, repent, and turn away from it. But there can be no forgiveness when sinners are in denial--when they insist that their lustful desires and practices are not sinful, when they reinterpret Scripture to justify their sins, and when they defiantly maintain that they will not turn from their sinful ways.
Such is the case today with a sin called homosexuality.
Almost two dozen years ago, a former dean of the Theological Seminary at Andrews University perceptively noted: “The gay crisis has come to church. Some homosexuals are coming to church not only for forgiveness and mercy but to say to the church, as...
WHY ATTITUDES ARE CHANGING—Part 2
(Why and How Is Homosexuality Being Pushed On the Church?)
[This article is excerpted from the author’s book Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, Ph.D.
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, Ph.D.
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
Introduction
In part 1, we offered six reasons why are some within our ranks embracing the born a gay gospel as a morally legitimate part of the Christian lifestyle? This present article continues the discussion.
7. Kinship's Pro-Gay Theology.
Another major reason for Adventism's changing attitude toward homosexuality is the influence of the work by the pro-homosexual organization known as Kinship. Billing itself as "a support group for gay and lesbian Seventh-day Adventists," Kinship has been quite successful in converting some Adventists to its belief that "God can bless a committed homosexual relationship." As a result, an...
THREE CONFLICTING VIEWS ON HOMOSEXUALITY
(Which Position Must the Church Adopt?)
[This article is excerpted from the author’s book Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, Ph.D.
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
(Which Position Must the Church Adopt?)
[This article is excerpted from the author’s book Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, Ph.D.
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
The Christian church is, today, being called upon to decide what homosexuals should do when they become Christians. Should homosexuals change their orientation, control their orientation, or celebrate their orientation?
The answer to this question has given birth to three contending positions in Christian churches: (a) the non-acceptance view, which maintains that homosexuality is not compatible with biblical Christianity (b) the qualified-acceptance view, which argues that homosexuality can be compatible with Christianity, and (c) the full-acceptance view, which asserts that homosexuality is fully compatible with the Christian faith.
Seventh-day Adventists historically have adopted the...
SOME POPULAR ARGUMENTS FOR HOMOSEXUALITY
(The Facts & the Myths: Are they Biblically Valid?)
[This article is excerpted from the author’s book Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, Ph.D.
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
(The Facts & the Myths: Are they Biblically Valid?)
[This article is excerpted from the author’s book Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, Ph.D.
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
In order to silence or challenge the Bible's negative valuation of homosexuality, advocates of pro-gay theology often put forward several arguments. Although the arguments often invoked in defense of the qualified- and full-acceptance views on homosexuality tend to be scientific, philosophical, or logical, they also have theological or ethical implications. Their basic thrust is to show that: people are born homosexual--i.e., conclusive evidence exists to prove that homosexuality is genetic or inborn; and since homosexuals are born gay, their sexual orientation is a natural or normal trait of their identity (like the color of the skin or hair), and the orientation is allowed or given by God; a...
THE “BIBLICAL” ARGUMENTS FOR HOMOSEXUALITY
(Are they Scripturally Sound?)
[This article is excerpted from the author’s book Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, Ph.D.
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
(Are they Scripturally Sound?)
[This article is excerpted from the author’s book Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, Ph.D.
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
On the basis of Scripture, Seventh-day Adventists historically have rejected homosexuality as morally unacceptable. Today, however, some are reinterpreting the Bible to allow for the practice. Proponents claim that scriptural references to homosexual acts are culturally-conditioned, and thus do not suffice to determine God’s will for homosexuals today.
Because of space limitations I can only summarize and respond to some of the major scriptural arguments justifying pro-gay theology. Those who seek more information may want to consult the in-depth analysis and evaluation provided in some other excellent works.[1] We will take up numbering of the arguments where the list in chapter 5 of Must We Be...
TESTIMONY FROM AN EX-GAY[1]
[This article is excerpted from the author’s book Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, Ph.D.
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
[This article is excerpted from the author’s book Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, Ph.D.
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
The testimony you are about to read (found in chapter 7 of Must We Be Silent?) is written by an ex-homosexual who has experienced freedom from homosexual bondage. Today, he is serving God as a writer, pastor, radio evangelist, and international speaker. His reassuring testimony underscores the all-sufficient power of Jesus to save “to the uttermost”; to save His people, whosoever they may be, from their sins of whatever nature. Yes, as is true for any other sinner, God can save even homosexuals from their lifestyle of sin. For, Homosexuals Are God’s Children, Too!
Homosexuals are God’s Children, Too! [2]
If you had asked me nine years ago why I had chosen to be “gay”, or homosexual, I would...
YOU, TOO, CAN BE MADE WHOLE!
Practical Suggestions To People Struggling with Homosexuality
[This article is excerpted from the author’s book Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, Ph.D.
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
Practical Suggestions To People Struggling with Homosexuality
[This article is excerpted from the author’s book Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, Ph.D.
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
“All sin is generic to the human species, including the sin of homosexuality, but no sin is genetic. Because it is a function of choice, God holds everyone accountable for it. To overcome the tendency to sin, the sinner must be transformed: ‘Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away behold, new things have come (2 Cor. 5:17).” [1]
But what specific steps can a person take to experience freedom from the bondage of sin, including homosexual sin?
This final article of our discussion of the ideology of homosexuality is a continuation of the previous one titled “Testimony from an...
WHAT IS THE CHURCH’S POSITION ON HOMOSEXUALITY?
The Official Seventh-day Adventist Position on Homosexuality
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, Ph.D.
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
The Official Seventh-day Adventist Position on Homosexuality
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, Ph.D.
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
The official Seventh-day Adventist position on homosexuality can be found in three major documents: (a) Fundamental Belief #23 and (b) the Church Manual and (c) the1999 Official SDA Statement on Homosexuality. These documents affirm that homosexuality is not compatible with biblical Christianity.
(a) Fundamental Belief #22 (1980). This article of faith deals with “Marriage and Family.” Though it does not mention homosexuality, it states that only “a man and a woman” can enter into the marriage union. The relevant section reads:
Marriage was divinely established in Eden and affirmed by Jesus to be a lifelong union between a man and a woman in loving companionship.”
The commentary on our Fundamental Beliefs, the book Seventh-day Adventists...