Thursday, August 11, 2011
Same Sex Marriage in New York State
Q. Pastor, how do you feel about NYS’s new law allowing same sex marriages?
A, I am 100% in favor of this law. Marriage is a civil right granted by the government for the ordering of society regarding taxes, inheritances, legal heirs etc. The meaning of a marriage is for the couple to decide; it can be a practical arrangement, a romantic or sentimental one and or it can have spiritual meaning...
The church’s participation in marriage through its clergy is as an agent of the state. The clergy perform this ceremony in the name of the state and secondly in the name of the church or God...
Couples wanting to marry in the church with clergy officiating are usually seeking the blessing of the church and God to enrich their lives with God’s love even as we pledge to love our spouse.
For Protestant Christians marriage is not a sacrament. It is considered a rite. For Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians marriage is a sacrament and a priest must be present to celebrate the liturgy for the sacrament to be effective. Civil ceremonies are not marriages in the eyes of the Roman Catholic or Orthodox churches. Since both Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches consider gay relations beyond God’s approval they can not officiate or even bless such unions.
Can Protestant clergy bless same sex unions? Why not? There is nothing in the Bible that forbids such unions. In the middle ages the church blessed same sex unions between monks. In the libraries of Europe there are liturgies from the middle ages for such union ceremonies. DR John Boswell of Yale University wrote “Same Sex Unions in Premodern Europe”, Villard Press, New York 1994. Some editions of this book actually contain photographs of these ancient liturgies of same sex marriages.
Also there are two canonized Saints in the Roman Catholic Church who were a gay couple, St Serge and St Bacchus from the 4th century AD. See John Boswell book,” Same Sex Unions” to discover more about these saints. Boswells other relevant book on this topic is titled “Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality” in 14th and 15th century Spain.
Almost all the Old testament passages about homosexuality are about violence, rape , and temple prostitution and such behavior is also forbidden in heterosexual relations too but this does not mean that healthy, loving sexual relationship are forbidden to people just because some corrupt them. There is also the Levitical text dealing with purity issues which are mixed in with many antiquated laws which we no longer consider binding.
There is one same sex love story in I Samuel 18 between Jonathan, the prince, and David the up and coming young man at court. Then in II Samuel 1 after Jonathan is killed we read of David’s reflections about their love.
In the New Testament neither Jesus nor any of the original apostles mention the issue of homosexuality even though it was a common practice among Roman and Greek society. Only the apostle Paul mentions the subject in 3 texts .These text need to be understood in terms of how the original Greek words were meant to be interpreted. The English translations that have been used were prejudicial making gay people the object of God’s rejection. The church has aided in developing homophobia in society by using these anti gay texts as a weapons. The Rev DR Peter Gomes former chaplain of Harvard University wrote an excellent book called “The Good Book” which helps us understand the Bible verses in their context and in the original language which was Greek.
The church’s reaction to this subject is way out of proportion to what the Bible says. There are two verses in the Old Testament written in the 12th century BC and then the next mention of the subject is 1200 years later by St Paul in New Testament times.
How important is this subject? Why has the church made it the sin of sins? Why has it become the litmus test about whether one is a true believer?
Marriage is the action between two people who want to declare their love for one another and want to live as a couple, Who has the right to say their love is not legitimate or not real? Who has the right to say they can not be a couple or a family? Shouldn’t the church bless any couple who wants to live in a loving relationship as a married couple.
Today the State of NewYork recognizes same sex marriages as do 5 other states and at least a dozen countries in the world . The US military now allows gay people to openly serve as a homosexual person. Society has gay people in every walk of life serving with excellence. When will the church recognize that gay people are also children of God and welcomed by God for the blessings he wants to bestow including the blessing of marriage? Pastor Carl Rosenblum
Same Sex Marriage in New York State August 2011
Q. Pastor, how do you feel about NYS’s new law allowing same sex marriages?
A, I am 100% in favor of this law. Marriage is a civil right granted by the government for the ordering of society regarding taxes, inheritances, legal heirs etc. The meaning of a marriage is for the couple to decide; it can be a practical arrangement, a romantic or sentimental one and or it can have spiritual meaning...
The church’s participation in marriage through its clergy is as an agent of the state. The clergy perform this ceremony in the name of the state and secondly in the name of the church or God...
Couples wanting to marry in the church with clergy officiating are usually seeking the blessing of the church and God to enrich their lives with God’s love even as we pledge to love our spouse.
For Protestant Christians marriage is not a sacrament. It is considered a rite. For Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians marriage is a sacrament and a priest must be present to celebrate the liturgy for the sacrament to be effective. Civil ceremonies are not marriages in the eyes of the Roman Catholic or Orthodox churches. Since both Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches consider gay relations beyond God’s approval they can not officiate or even bless such unions.
Can Protestant clergy bless same sex unions? Why not? There is nothing in the Bible that forbids such unions. In the middle ages the church blessed same sex unions between monks. In the libraries of Europe there are liturgies from the middle ages for such union ceremonies. DR John Boswell of Yale University wrote “Same Sex Unions in Premodern Europe”, Villard Press, New York 1994. Some editions of this book actually contain photographs of these ancient liturgies of same sex marriages.
Also there are two canonized Saints in the Roman Catholic Church who were a gay couple, St Serge and St Bacchus from the 4th century AD. See John Boswell book,” Same Sex Unions” to discover more about these saints. Boswells other relevant book on this topic is titled “Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality” in 14th and 15th century Spain.
Almost all the Old testament passages about homosexuality are about violence, rape , and temple prostitution and such behavior is also forbidden in heterosexual relations too but this does not mean that healthy, loving sexual relationship are forbidden to people just because some corrupt them. There is also the Levitical text dealing with purity issues which are mixed in with many antiquated laws which we no longer consider binding.
There is one same sex love story in I Samuel 18 between Jonathan, the prince, and David the up and coming young man at court. Then in II Samuel 1 after Jonathan is killed we read of David’s reflections about their love.
In the New Testament neither Jesus nor any of the original apostles mention the issue of homosexuality even though it was a common practice among Roman and Greek society. Only the apostle Paul mentions the subject in 3 texts .These text need to be understood in terms of how the original Greek words were meant to be interpreted. The English translations that have been used were prejudicial making gay people the object of God’s rejection. The church has aided in developing homophobia in society by using these anti gay texts as a weapons. The Rev DR Peter Gomes former chaplain of Harvard University wrote an excellent book called “The Good Book” which helps us understand the Bible verses in their context and in the original language which was Greek.
The church’s reaction to this subject is way out of proportion to what the Bible says. There are two verses in the Old Testament written in the 12th century BC and then the next mention of the subject is 1200 years later by St Paul in New Testament times.
How important is this subject? Why has the church made it the sin of sins? Why has it become the litmus test about whether one is a true believer?
Marriage is the action between two people who want to declare their love for one another and want to live as a couple, Who has the right to say their love is not legitimate or not real? Who has the right to say they can not be a couple or a family? Shouldn’t the church bless any couple who wants to live in a loving relationship as a married couple.
Today the State of NewYork recognizes same sex marriages as do 5 other states and at least a dozen countries in the world . The US military now allows gay people to openly serve as a homosexual person. Society has gay people in every walk of life serving with excellence. When will the church recognize that gay people are also children of God and welcomed by God for the blessings he wants to bestow including the blessing of marriage? Pastor Carl Rosenblum
Same Sex Marriage in New York State August 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Islamophobia
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Feelings about Osama's death
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
litmus test for faith
Thursday, April 7, 2011
No Formula for Faith
A: I have given some thought to your questions, and my response has to be anecdotal, because I do not have the sociological skills to give a more scientific viewpoint. I have the testimonies of people who believe in God, and I have my own experience and my observations. I did check out a few resources where your interests are discussed, for example NPR has a weekly program with Christa Tippet in which she interviews religious thinkers on such topics. Bob Abernathy has a weekly TV program on public television called Religion and Ethics. You can also check out The Pew Foundation, which does a lot of research and surveys opinions on the topic of religion in America. All three resources have archives which are available to the public.
Now for my own views: First of all, I do not believe you can create a formula that guarantees an outcome of “believing” or “not believing”. Every experience of life is unique. When a person has a spiritual life, it is determined by how that individual engages with the Divine and with other believers. There are commonalities in people’s faith experiences, but there is no formula for faith.
Most believers have a sense of “soul”—an inner sense of connection to God. At some point the believer’s heart or soul was awakened to the presence of the Divine and becomes aware of a spiritual reality. This awareness can bring some very fundamental changes to a person. It gives a basic security about life; the individual feels he or she belongs to the Creator of this vast universe. For some, the quest for spiritual connection includes an intellectual aspect, a rationality upon which to build a life. For others it is primarily experiential—having a transcendent encounter with God and finding emotional peace. These are not mutually exclusive experiences, and they can be complimentary.
Once the soul is awakened to God, a person of faith may choose to engage in service to others, or not; to engage deeply in community, or to engage deeply in solitary contemplation; they may focus more on how they speak about their faith than on their actions, or vice versa. And of course all of this can evolve and change of the course of a lifetime.
For some believers, finding their security in God frees them to give of themselves in service, and the institutional religious body offers such opportunity. Some give themselves completely over to a life of service, (e.g., Mother Theresa, Dorothy Day, and others less well-known.) Joining with other believers gives them a sense of community and strengthens their sense of mission. They may feel that finding a spiritual community enables them go on to become the person God intended them to be.
Not everyone fits this pattern. Some believers cannot fit into the cultural norms of a religious body, so instead they privately expressing themselves in ways that reflect their experience with God. And some believers find themselves in organized religious groups that do not offer real opportunities for service. These communities become overly concerned about doctrinal expressions and thereby ostracize others. Some may have social customs which are treated like religious precepts, which cut others out of their fellowship. Still other groups have moral codes which they feel must be imposed on others, even though the issues are not universally agreed upon.
So to try and answer your questions: it is “yes and no” at every stage of life. Many believers become more community-minded—as seen in the many synagogues, churches, mosques and temples—while others prefer to live isolated lives like the hermits of old. Many turn outward looking to be of service, helping people in their own community, as well as reaching out around the world through relief organizations. But others prefer lives of contemplation, like the monks and prophets of many faith traditions.
The psychologist Dr. Carl Jung once said, “I never met an integrated person under the age of 65”. By this I believe he meant it takes a lifetime to begin to put all the pieces of life together so it makes some sense. As people of faith age they tend to become more accepting, realizing everyone is just trying to figure life out. People who converted in their youth and found great strength in their early spiritual beliefs often later retreat from their insistence that everyone have the same experience. They come to accept other people’s spiritual experiences as valid without feeling threatened, and realize that only God can judge the human heart as to its truthfulness and validity.
There is so much more to say on these issues, but I will leave it to the experts who do the interviewing, tally the results, and write papers.
Monday, March 21, 2011
The Sky is Falling
Q: Do you think this is the end of the world? An earthquake, a tsunami and thousands dead, and now a nuclear disaster... It’s too much!
A: “The sky is falling, the sky is falling!” said Chicken Little.
“How do you know?” asked Henny Penny.
“I saw it with my own eyes,” answered Chicken Little.
When we experience something with our own eyes, we tend to universalize the event. It must be true, because I saw it. The recent earthquake and tsunami were experienced and seen by millions of people, either in person or on television. This is why the questioner asks me, “Is it the end of the world?” It feels like the sky is falling; the end must be near. Now add to our reader’s perspective global warming, melting ice caps, terrorist attacks, revolutions, food shortages, economic woes, wild weather patterns, and exploding volcanoes, topped off with a near-meltdown at the nuclear reactors in Japan. Someone I know referred to these events as the Apocalypse, the final catastrophe.
The last book of the Bible is called Apocalypse—a Greek word which when translated into English is Revelation. The book describes the Second Coming of Jesus the Christ, who is to return to Earth to both judge and redeem us and to remake the heavens and the Earth. The Revelation is the appearing of the Lord. Because the Book of Revelation includes descriptions of large, global disasters, disasters of this size tend to trigger in Christians thoughts of the End Times. However, the Bible doesn’t specify when these disasters will occur or when Christ will return.
Is the sky falling now? Disasters, both natural and human made, have been part of the world from the beginnings of time. Since the universe was created, it has been constantly reorganizing its geological make-up through ice ages, glacial melts, volcanic activity, tectonic shifts, floods, etc. This has been going on for hundreds of thousands of years—but now we humans are on the scene to observe, measure, and evaluate these events and judge them as disasters. Yet humanity continues to endure through these monumental shifts. We have seen wars, holocaust, crimes against humanity and all types of natural disasters, always thinking that this must be the end. Yet the world continues to go on.
Modern Christians (and maybe all humans) tend to see the workings of the world only in terms of how it impacts us. Science and philosophy, on the other hand, tries to understand the system of the universe, in which humans are only one part, and how it all works together. In The Good Book, Reverend Dr. Peter Gomes, a recent chaplain of Harvard University, writes, “Rather than place God at the center of our universe, we have placed ourselves at the center of God’s universe and determined that we are the object of his existence rather than the subject.”(p. 316). Gomes calls this “egocentric Christianity.” Thus when disaster strikes, we feel that God owes us an explanation and deliverance.
Asking God to explain disasters and the End Times is a long tradition. Jesus is asked about it the Gospel of Matthew (Chapter 24). He describes wars and false Messiahs, but then says, “The end is not yet.” He says that when the end comes, it will be like flash of lightning, and everyone will see, “the Son of Man coming on the clouds of Heaven.”
This is not the end. How do I know? The Apocalypse—the Revelation of Jesus—has not yet happened. The sky may seem to fall from time to time, but there is no need to ask, “Is this the end?” Because Jesus promises that when it is the end, we will all know it at once. We will see Him coming, and the new Heavens and the new Earth will begin.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Tempest in a Teapot?
Q: What is the controversy about Rob Bell and his new book? Can you give the heart of the matter? People are up in arms over it. I know his book hasn’t come out, and they are basing it all on the promos and the bookseller's description, but even that seems vague.
A. There is a hot debate going on in evangelical circles about Rev. Rob Bell’s book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. Rob Bell is the popular, thoughtful pastor of the Mars Hill Community Church and has a strong voice in the evangelical community. The book is due out in a few days, but it has been heavily advertised, creating speculation that Rob Bell is a Universalist, which means he might believe that in the end everyone will be saved.
In his video promo Bell suggests such a possibility, creating the buzz and interest in his publication. He points out that if only Christians are saved, billions of other people will be in Hell forever, for billions of years. Can we imagine the God of love doing that or allowing it to happen?
For evangelicals, accepting Universalism goes against the teachings of scripture, as they understand it, and therefore against the source of our knowledge of Jesus. The logic goes: if the Bible is wrong about Hell, then how do we know it is right about Jesus? Historically, the existence of Hell has been a basic teaching in most Christian denominations, and the more conservative believers hold to this fundamental doctrine.
In scripture, Hell is expressed in picture terms, such as darkness, torment, the lake of fire, etc. The actual word used is Gehenna, a Greek word taken from the Hebrew, Valley of Hinnon. This valley actually existed outside the city of Jerusalem’s wall. People would throw their garbage over the wall into the valley. The trash continually burned, smoldering away with worms (maggots) crawling in the trash, as in any urban garbage dump. Jesus uses these very words to describe Hell: “The place where the fires continually burn and the worm dies not.” It would be Hell to live in the valley of Hinnon. Jesus uses the word Hell or Gehenna in Matthew 22:11-14 and Matthew 25:41-46.
How literal does Hell have to be, if the word itself is only an image of a miserable situation? At the same time, conservative evangelicals will not risk denying the words of Jesus because that has, historically, implied a denial of Jesus himself.
In past eras Christian Evangelicals, or at least the more conservative among them, have drawn lines in the sand, saying that to deny any particular scriptural truth is to deny the validity of the Bible and therefore lose the source of our faith. In the 1920s, the doctrine of the Virgin Birth was the test question for orthodoxy. This debate fueled the Fundamentalist /Modernist controversy in the American Church. Another debate still active today is over the Genesis creation account: Was the universe created in a literal seven days, or did it take millions of years of evolution under God’s guiding hand? In the late 19th century, Universalism was the test question, and now it has returned for another round of discussion. So this explains, at least in part, the intense interest around Rob Bell at this time—will this prominent evangelical leader pass or fail the orthodoxy test?
The ideas in Universalism may seem less scandalous when you consider that Universalism itself has been around more or less as long as mainstream Christianity. As far back as the second century A.D. there have been Christian scholars, such as Origen and Julian of Norwich, arguing for universal salvation or exploring Universalist themes. You can Google “Christian Universalists” to get a broader picture of their history in the church.
As to the existence of Hell, scripture shows us that God can change His laws without changing His character. Think of all the laws of the Old Testament that no longer apply to the Christian church (rituals, dietary laws, etc.). These changes were hotly debated in the early church (see Acts 15) and caused great anxiety especially for the Jewish Christians—but the change was part of God’s plan. So, what if the eternal fires of damnation and Hell are eventually extinguished or commuted? Who will charge God with being untrue to his word? Isn’t the love and grace of God our greatest hope? This teapot tempest among evangelicals about the existence of Hell is not a major concern for the church at large.
With regards to Rob Bell's book, it is bound to be a successful publication. Whether he planned to stir up this controversy or not, this tempest has guaranteed him good sales, and we can also hope that Love Wins is a word from God to this generation.
Other references:
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis