The Good Book and Gay Marriage

Wylie-Kellerman: No, actually, I don't believe my line of thought is contingent on that initial dating. (You present yourself as not knowing the wide and longstanding scholarly consensus about the date of Leviticus. Though perhaps you are just arguing in this way against it?) Even if you locate the Levitic purity code (including the uncleanness of certain homosexual acts) in the wilderness covenant, the theological movement I describe remains. The early church understood that the wall of hostility between clean and unclean persons had been broken down in the crucifixion of the Lord. And Paul wrestled long and hard to understand and explain that. That wrestling continues with the Living Word.

In the biblical witness and method, its not devious or disingenuous to remember and speak in the voice of a figure in faith, but it can be risky. John the Baptist assumes the guise of Elijah, dressing up in camel hair and eating locusts, crying out in the wilderness. And he pays the price. The authorities take the threat and execute him. A recent example of someone speaking in the voice of Moses would be Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He went to the mountaintop and looked over to the Promised Land. He didn't expect to get there with us, but such days do come. The mantle of Moses is one I believe he can truly bear. The authorities took the threat and he was killed as well. This is what I mean about listening for the Living Word.

Since I've mentioned the wall of hostility in Ephesians 2, it's only fair that I address, as you've asked, the marriage instructions in the household code, which is in Ephesians 5 and 6. I agree this is problematic at best. The opening line (Ephesians 5:21) about mutual submission to one another out of reverence for Christ is great. It actually connects to the "Mutual Joy" of Lisa Miller's title. And it is counsel I would give to either a heterosexual or gay couple preparing for covenanted partnership. But the further instructions are heavily patriarchal: the wife is to be subject to the husband, but the husband is to love the wife. The Bible, beginning with the old covenant is, to be frank, fraught with patriarchy. Happily there are voices throughout the biblical conversation countering it. But this is another "mess" which Jesus has to clean up by his treatment of women. (I commend especially the Gospel of Luke in this regard). But reading further in Ephesians, the code goes on to address how slaves are to obey their masters. What do we do with this these days? I confess what scandal this is to a Methodist. At the behest of our founder, John Wesley, we began in England as abolitionists, but in America dissembled and compromised with chattel slavery, even preaching these very texts shamelessly. I know it is a painful scandal for Southern Baptists as well. Happily things change. The Living Word of God opens our hearts.

Not to go too far sideways, I want to mention how institutional marriage figured into the maintenance of chattel slavery. African-American slaves were forbidden by state law to marry. It would have implied their full humanity, even social inclusion, and complicated the market. After being denied access to the institution, they developed alternative union rituals like "jumping over the broom," a practice still included in many African-American weddings to this day. And marriage laws figured into the maintenance of Jim Crow and American racial apartheid: can you believe it was not until 1967 that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned state laws banning mixed-race marriages? But things change. Thank God the Word Lives.

Duke: Good points. I am very familiar with scholarly opinion about the date of Leviticus. I do not consider it to be a consensus, however, and I do not accept it, as many others do not. The dating of all these pieces is not a matter of certainty even among those who take this kind of approach to the text. By your own admission, the Holiness Code is assigned by some as an exilic text and by others as a much older text.

I agree that ultimately the Leviticus text is about what is clean and unclean. When the Leviticus prohibition was written, it is evident that homosexual behavior was an unclean activity. I also agree that Jesus broke down many barriers about what was to be considered clean and unclean, but he didn't declare everything clean. In Peter's vision, God helped Peter understand that God could accept any person, but he didn't tell Peter that they all were automatically accepted. During his earthly ministry, Jesus still denounced sin, and told people to stop sinning. Acceptance by God was even predicated on a person's willingness to change. He told the rich young ruler to give up all his money. He told Jewish leaders to repent. I think a principal difference between your understanding of the Bible and mine is that you can refer to it as a "Living Word." I think you see it as a text in constant change as new communities interact with it and make it their own. I approach the Bible as a fixed product. It presents universal truth that each new community must adopt and apply to their own life situation. Communities don't adapt it; they adapt to it.