[Oe List ...] Article by Bishop Yap Kim Hao

Thu May 17 11:14:10 EDT 2007

This is an article written by Bishop Yap Kim Hao of Singapore, who  
was our initial sponsor in that region years ago.  Some of the old  
hands will remember him.  A very good article especially in light of  
the 3rd world churches' support for anti-gay issues in the United  
Methodist church.

This is from UMNexus list serve.

Public Dialogue on Christian Perspectives on Homosexuality and  
Pastoral Care

By Yap Kim Hao

Let me at the outset indicate the rationale for my perspective on  
homosexuality.

I can do no better than to quote from an official statement of The  
United Methodist Church in the United States that considers  
homosexuality as incompatible with Christian teachings and I am a  
Methodist. Yet it is this same Church that recognizes its "limited  
understanding of this complex gift and encourages the medical,  
theological, and social science disciplines to combine in a  
determined effort to understand human sexuality more completely. We  
call the Church to take the leadership role in bringing together  
these disciplines to address this most complex issue."

My approach is therefore a multi-disciplinary one.

Firstly, I will raise some general observations about the teaching of  
the Bible itself.

I quote a former colleague of mine when I was teaching at the  
Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Victor Paul Furnish, a  
distinguished Professor of New Testament who wrote: "Homosexuality is  
not a prominent Biblical concern. The earliest ethical codes of the  
Hebrews makes no mention of homosexual behavior. There is nothing  
about it in the Ten Commandments. The four Gospels record no saying  
of Jesus on the subject. The texts that are discussed are few and far  
between and not even all of these are pertinent."

But what do we see in many Churches in different parts of the world  
today? Homosexuality has become a major issue, much more serious than  
doctrine or church order. It is projected to split the Episcopal  
Church in the United States as well as the worldwide Anglican  
Communion. The Archbishop of Canterbury who is personally gay- 
affirming, has to recognize the current teaching of the Anglican  
Communion which is against homosexuality.

As Christians refer to this common source of the Bible, those who are  
anti-gay are quick to say that the Bible says so and then close the  
Book. And the controversial issue of homosexuality is no longer  
discussed. The teaching of the Bible leads to the teaching of the  
Church which then becomes official, and obedience is demanded. The  
different perspectives arise from the differing interpretation of the  
words of the Bible and the teachings of the Church and its  
pronouncements change as we gain more knowledge and insights.

My view is that the different books of the Bible are time bound,  
historically related, culturally conditioned and contextually based.  
They are related to the time and place of the recorded events. They  
reflect the society and the culture at the time the books of the  
Bible were written. The revelation of God is mediated and translated  
by inspired human beings who are not infallible. We have to account  
for the relevancy of the teaching to our contemporary context.

The various books of the Bible are the products of writers who claim  
to have received the revelation from God, and under the inspiration  
of the Holy Spirit, put it in writing. Their different  
interpretations resulted in the changing official teaching of the  
Church and the varying perspectives of Biblical scholars and  
theologians. This process continues and we have today come together  
to share our different perspectives and though we differ, we are  
expected to respect our differences.

The teaching of the Church must necessarily be continuously changing.  
Take for instance human relationships, we have moved from the  
predominantly patriarchal to more equality between men and women. In  
reference to health we are attributing disease not to spirit  
possession but to bacteria and viruses. In terms of geography even  
the flat earth has been rounded into a spherical one. Our world-view  
is ever changing.

With this as background, the Biblical view of sexual relationships is  
that heterosexuals who engage in same-sex acts are sinful. The  
Biblical writers regard all men as heterosexual and in condemning  
same-sex acts, they see it as men exchanging their male role to that  
of an inferior role of women. At that time, they were not able to  
distinguish between those whom we now identify as homosexual, from  
the heterosexual. Their view was that of heterosexuals engaging in  
same-sex sexual acts.

The Biblical texts that explicitly talk about same-sex acts are few  
in number. The brief references are related to laws of purity,  
holiness, temple rituals and to the Greco-Roman culture and pagan  
worship. There were temple prostitutes, male prostitution and  
pederasty (mentoring and sex with young callboys). Jesus did not deal  
with same-sex relations in His teaching although he had much to say  
about sex, love, marriage and divorce. Homosexuality in terms of  
sexual orientation and long-term committed relationships as we  
understand them today was not discussed and not even a term used at  
that time.

It was much later that the term "homosexual" was used. Homosexuality  
as a term was introduced in 1869. It first appeared in newer  
translations of the Bible – Revised Standard Version in 1946 and in  
New International Version in 1978. Homosexuality is not originally a  
Biblical word.

Other terms like 'heterosexual,' 'bisexual,' and ‘transgendered’  
presuppose an understanding of human sexuality that was possible only  
with modern psychology and sociological analysis. The ancient writers  
were operating without the faintest idea of what we have learned to  
call 'sexual orientation'.

Let us look more closely at some of the Biblical records related to  
sexuality and how they show varying perspectives.

The law of Moses allowed for man to divorce his wife on account of  
some "indecency" in her. (Deuteronomy 24:1); Jesus categorically  
forbids it and will not man "put asunder" those united in marriage.  
(Mark 10:1-12); Jesus was also said to have sanctioned divorce on the  
condition of "unchastity." (Matthew 9:9). Yet many Christians, in  
clear violation of a command of Jesus are divorced and for other  
reasons.

Divorced people are allowed baptism, church membership, communion,  
ordination and re-marriage but this has not always been the case for  
homosexuals. What makes the one so much greater a sin than the other,  
especially considering the fact that Jesus never even mentioned  
homosexuality but explicitly condemned divorce? Yet we ordain  
divorcees. Why not homosexuals?

Take the issue of sex itself. It began with sex only for procreation  
which the early Christian theologians agree. When it serves to  
satisfy lust it is regarded as venial sin. Augustine in the fifth  
century said that we should mature as early as possible to the point  
when we can dispense with sexual intercourse.

However, the Old Testament regarded celibacy as abnormal and we are  
to be fruitful and multiply. And 1 Timothy 4:1-3 calls compulsory  
celibacy a heresy. Yet the Catholic Church has made celibacy  
mandatory for priests and nuns. Some Christian anti-gay demand  
celibacy of homosexuals, whether they have a vocation for celibacy or  
not. Some anti-gay people condone sexual orientation but condemn  
homosexual acts. Some gay and lesbians like heterosexuals have chosen  
to live a life of single blessedness.

Leviticus 21 discussed how priests need to be morally, and even  
physically unblemished and must meet the requirements of the purity  
laws at that time. Today most of these purity laws are being ignored.

Far from being a Book full of bad news for gays and lesbians, I  
believe the Bible is indeed full of good news of God's love for all  
of creation - gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and straight alike.  
The Bible has no clear and consistent sex ethic and only knows a love  
ethic, which is constantly being brought to bear on whatever sexual  
mores, moral codes or church teachings are dominant in any given  
country, culture, or period. There is also the emphasis on grace  
rather than on law.

The medical sciences today acknowledge homosexuality as a sexual  
orientation, not a medical, psychological or psychiatric condition  
that can be changed therapeutically.

It is on record that the American Psychological Association removed  
homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of  
Psychological Disorders in 1973. In 1975 it then released a public  
statement that homosexuality is not a mental disorder. In 1994, two  
decades later, the APA categorically said, "... homosexuality is  
neither a mental illness nor a moral depravity. It is the way a  
portion of the population expresses human love and sexuality".

The American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological  
Association, and other major groups of medical, educational, and  
counseling professionals have concluded that there exists, as yet, no  
scientific basis for the contention that so-called reparative,  
reorientation, or conversion therapies can successfully change a  
person’s orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. The prevailing  
view among therapists is that gay and lesbian patients should be  
helped to improve their self-esteem and to overcome the continuing  
stigmatization of homosexuality in many societies. However reparative  
therapies are being endorsed by the National Association for Research  
and Therapy of Homosexuality, which represents a minority of  
psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, psychologists, and other  
practitioners, and by some religions.

Recently MM Lee Kuan Yew was widely quoted on this issue: "If in fact  
it is true, and I have asked doctors this, that you are genetically  
born a homosexual -- because that's the nature of the genetic random  
transmission of genes -- you can't help it," he said in remarks  
published by The Straits Times.

"So why should we criminalize it?" Lee asked.

"But there is such a strong inhibition, in all societies --  
Christianity, Islam, even the Hindu (and) Chinese societies. And we  
are now confronted with a persisting aberration. But is it an  
aberration? It's a genetic variation."

Homosexuality is not an aberration, tendency, or inclination. It is a  
genetic or biological variation. It is an orientation.

We must admit that we do not know for certain the causes of  
homosexuality. This concluding statement in an article of causes best  
summarizes the situation:

"Perhaps there is no one answer, that sexual orientation, whether  
homosexual or heterosexual; gay, straight, lesbian, or bisexual, all  
are a cause of a complex interaction between environmental,  
cognitive, and anatomical factors, shaping the individual at an early  
age."

Given this medical perspective on homosexuality how do I minister to  
GLBT people? Within the larger framework of my understanding of the  
love of God for all of God’s people and my reading of Christian  
ethics relating to justice and concern for the marginalized and  
minorities, I can only affirm and accept the GLBT community and  
render my service to them in whatever way that is helpful.

 From my perspective, homosexuality is within the purpose of God in  
creation. There is a continuum of sexual relationships from  
heterosexualilty to homosexuality. God has made it possible for each  
individual to be unique and different and I affirm the diversity in  
God’s creation. Homosexuality is a given and not a choice.

In my experience of pastoral care to the gay community, I feel their  
pain and agony when they first became aware of their attraction to  
people of the same sex. Their experience is that it is not a phase  
that will go away. In the solitariness of their closets they struggle  
and pray. Most gay people know from painful personal experience that  
their homosexual inclination is definitely not a deliberate choice.  
Who would in their right mind choose to be gay when they know they  
will be relegated to a despised minority. On the contrary, they  
choose to wear masks and pretend to be straight. Yet opponents of gay  
rights choose to disregard these personal experiences and continue to  
portray homosexuality as a sinful choice that should be criminalised.

We are aware that the gay community has the responsibility to change  
the perception that the gay lifestyle is hedonistic and promiscuous.  
The straights have the problem of pursuing a hedonistic and  
promiscuous lifestyle as well. The distinctive difference rests on  
having sexual intercourse with the same or opposite sex.

As I come alongside them, I sense their silent pain, I see their  
falling tears, I hear their aching hearts. Today I feel their rising  
hope for they are receiving affirmation, recovering dignity and  
restoring pride to be gay.

They are hearing and believing what Victor Paul Furnish said: "It  
accords with the most fundamental witness of Scripture that one's  
sexuality is to be received as a good gift of God. Moreover, this  
gift is to be expressed in ways that manifest the grace of God -for  
there is not variance in the reality of God's love, which graces and  
claims us, whatever the particularities of our own time and place. As  
for sexual relationships, God's love can find clear expression only  
where the partners are fully committed and faithful to one another."

Homosexuality is therefore a gift from God to be accepted. It is not  
a result of human sin or the fallen nature because of Adam. We all  
have, by the grace of God, to live out the purposes of God, straight  
or gay, for we are all created by God.

Rev. Yap Kim Hao is former bishop of the Methodist Church of  
Singapore and currently serves as pastoral advisor to the free  
Community Church of Singapore.

  This text was provided directly to United Methodist NeXus by Dr.  
Yap Kim Hao and was organized by Safehaven, a ministry of the Free  
Community Church, Singapore.  Rev. Yap Kim Hao is former bishop of  
the Methodist Church of Singapore and currently serves as pastoral  
advisor to the free  Community Church of Singapore.

George Holcombe
14900 Yellowleaf Tr.
Austin, TX 78728
Home: 512/252-2756
Mobile 512/294-5952
geowanda at earthlink.net

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