Bible Hourglass
Our understanding of the Holy Bible changes through the years.
Editor's note: This article was originally presented as "An Address to the South Georgia Delegation to the 2019 General Conference" during an Oct. 17 meeting at Centenary United Methodist Church in Macon, Ga.
At the 1956 General Conference of the Methodist Church the overriding issue was the authority of the Bible. The presenting issue was the ordination of women, but the conservatives made it clear that this was not the real issue. The real issue was the Bible. Those who opposed ordination of women to the very last claimed that they were defending eternal truth, that the Bible barred women from the pulpit and that motherhood was a woman’s Biblical role. They said women’s ordination was a passing fad, that it was a threat to society and a reinterpretation of gender roles. Do those arguments sound familiar?
Even with defeat staring them in the face the conservatives proposed one last ditch amendment that was soundly defeated: They were willing to ordain women who were widowed or single, but these women would lose their ordination if they got married. In 1956, the 766 delegates from 132 annual conferences finally opened the pulpit and ordination to women.
Did the words of the Bible change from 1955 to 1956? Of course not. I looked up the offending passages this morning. They are just as strong today as the day they were written. So, has the church become apostate and heretical? Of course not. We now understand the redeeming, inclusive grace of God differently.
Our Book of Discipline forbids the marriage of gay and lesbian persons. We do this, according to those who support it, out of obedience to the Bible. As you surely know, this is not the first time our Book of Discipline forbade clergy from officiating at certain marriages.
As late as 1832 our Discipline forbade clergy from officiating at the wedding of anybody who violated 2 Corinthians 6:14. Do you know what that verse is? “Believers must not be yoked to unbelievers.” Any preacher who violated this was put on probation for six months. (Book of Discipline 1832, Section XXIV, No. 15-16, Subparagraphs 2.1 and 2.2) That prohibition has been gone for so long that most of you probably never knew it once existed.
Did the words of the Bible change when we dropped this prohibition? Of course not. Paul’s words are still there. I looked them up this morning. So, has the church become apostate and heretical? Of course not. We now understand the redeeming, inclusive grace of God differently.
- late as 1944, clergy were forbidden to officiate at the marriage of divorced people, with the sole exception of “the innocent party divorced for the one scriptural cause.” Disobedience was defined as an act of maladministration. (Discipline of the Methodist Church, 1944, Paragraph 355.) Have any of you officiated at the wedding of previously divorced persons? I think I know the answer.
Did the words of the Bible change when we dropped this prohibition? Of course not. The strong words of Jesus and Paul are still there. I looked them up this morning. So, did the church become an apostate, heretical church when we changed? Of course not. We understood the redeeming, inclusive grace of God differently.
Let’s go back to 1844 when Southern Methodists split from the Northern Church over the issue of biblical authority. Pro-slavery Methodists, which included practically everybody in South Georgia, clergy and lay, had the Bible on their side.
I quote at length from a typical and fiery church defense of slavery from 1861: “Is slavery a sin? The only rule of judgment is the written word of God. We stand exactly where the Church of God has always stood from Abraham to Christ to the Reformers to ourselves. The Church was begun in the family of a slaveholder. God sanctions slavery in the Ten Commandments and Moses treats it as an institution to be regulated, not abolished. The apostles are equally explicit in the duties of a master to slaves. Slaves are bound to obey.”
Do these arguments sound familiar? Scripture, tradition, reason and experience were brought to bear to defend the ownership of human beings.
Did the words of the Bible change when we finally condemned slavery? Of course not. Every verse upholding slavery is still there. I looked some of them up this morning. So, has the church become apostate and heretical? Of course not. We now understand the redeeming, inclusive grace of God differently.
Most of you on our delegation were elected to be our General Conference delegates by claiming you would defend biblical authority and support the current Book of Discipline. To defend Biblical truth sounds noble and courageous. Why, it almost sounds biblical. Those who opposed women’s ordination, the remarriage of divorced persons and the rights of slaveholders put each issue in the context of biblical authority. What a rallying cry! When you stand on seven shaky verses in the Bible you can almost feel like you’re following Jesus all the way to the cross.
One day our children and grandchildren will ask, “How could those who oppose full inclusion of LGBTQ persons have gotten it so wrong? How could it have taken them so long to recognize the vacuity of their arguments? How could they have built a wall against LGBTQ persons based on a frail seven verses? How could they have deluded themselves into thinking that other verses – taken out of context – had anything to do with this?”
Those who continue to support the exclusion of LGBTQ from full participation in the life of the church are reading the Bible wrong, just as did their well-meaning ancestors. You are on the wrong side of the justice and love of God as we know and understand it in Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior. You are reading the Bible wrong, straining at gnats while ignoring the weightier matters of love and justice.
Deep down in your soul you already know this truth though you may still outwardly deny, suppress and resist it. The Holy Spirit is already telling you what is right. Methodists call that prevenient grace. I pray that the conversation that is taking place – the deep listening – is between you and God. I urge you to surrender yourselves to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.
To do so will be difficult. You will have to face your peers, your church, your fellow delegates. You will have to tell them, eventually, that you can no longer build a fortress against LGBTQ people, but that you have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back. It can happen, even in South Georgia.
Laud and honor to the Father
Laud and honor to the Son
Laud and honor to the Spirit
Ever Three and ever One
Consubstantial, co-eternal
While unending ages run.
The Rev. Creede Hinshaw is an ordained elder in the South Georgia Annual Conference. This statement is republished with the author's permission.