Or maybe it was catching up to the rest of the Lutheran world, that had never been influenced by the particularly American brand of biblical fundamentalism.
Biblical fundamentalism? The Bible claims to be God's word. Either it is, or it is not. You cannot have it both ways. That would be like claiming to be a little bit pregnant. Either one is or one is not.
The Bible says that what it says is true. Either it is or it is not. That would be like claiming to be a little bit pregnant. Either one is or one is not.
To believe and teach that the Bible is not God's word and that it is not ultimate truth narrowly defined, for all times and cultures as the Bible says it is, and then turn around and say that truth (whatever it is for you or me or someone else) is bound to language and culture and that ultimate truth for all times, places, and cultures, does not exist sure sounds like sophistry to me.
Either universal truth exists or it does not. Either God exists as a self-aware, sentient, supreme being who can and does intervene in our dimensions of space-time, suspending the laws of Science whenever and wherever He pleases, or he does not exist and is only a concept. Either ultimate, universal truth exists or it does not. And, either the Bible is what it says it is - God's actual written word, inerrent and infallible, or it is not. Either the miracles in the Bible happened or they did not. Either traditional, classical, orthodox, conservative Christianity is true or it is not. To claim the affirmative in all of the preceeding is not "American Biblical Fundamentalism." It is not Protestant, Catholic, Lutheran, or Eastern Orthodox; it is simply "Mere Christianity."
If, like Robert Funk, one "denounces the existence of a personal God, the possiblity of miracles or answered prayer, the deity, virgin birth, atoning death, and resurrection of Christ, all end-time prophecy, and virtually every other historic doctrine of Christianity;" If, like Marcus Borg, one "rejects the idea that Christianity is about belief in certain historical events or factual statements about the supernatural and prefers to focus on the linguistic, psychological, and cultural 'lenses' through which we see reality and the importance of seeing whatever insights may be found in biblical stories
even though they did not really happen;" If, like Karen Armstrong, one "denies that the Bible teaches any clear theology or relevant ethics," then such people and other liberal / neo-liberal proponents of the historical-critical method are telling us (reluctantly, and perhaps sadly) that what the Bible says is simply not true. Or as Sportin' Life (AKA the devil) sang in
Porgy and Bess, "They ain't necessarily so, the things that you liable to read in dat Bible, they ain't necessarily so." If one really believes that the Bible is
not what it say it is - universal truth, and God's written word,
then, sooner or later one will have to face the question as to why they still continue to have anything to do with a faith they do not believe is true and if it would more honest intellectually and spiritually to move into some non-Judeo-Christian, non-theistic spirituality.
Discussions and decisions about a given Church's teachings on human sexuality must necessarily hinge on that that Church believes, teaches, and confesses about the nature, authority, and truth of the Biblical statements which are the foundations for that Church's teachings about these things.
And what it decides about this will determine that Church's teachings, policies, and practices in areas concerning human sexuality, marriage, and the place of homosexuals in the Church. Once a Church has come to a firm agreement across the board - without a disconnect between the beliefs of the clergy and of the laity, on the nature and authority of Scripture, truth, and the nature of God, etc., then the teachings of that Church on issues of human sexuality will be obvious and a broad agreement across the board on doctrines, policies, and procedures will be easily achieved without any "strum und drang," heavy-duty politics, protesters in rainbow sashes and the like. At least that is how this interested observer sees it.
Peace,
Irl
Reference: Statements about the above-referenced theologians may be found on the website, Christian Authors Database (
http://faith.propadeutic.com/authors/liberal.html )
