Gender and Sexuality

Question 1

What is biblical criticism?

Answer 1

• BC examines the original languages in which scripture was written to make sure that the translated words reflect the true meaning.
• BC looks at the form of each piece of writing e.g. a letter, in order to find the context in which it was written.
• Examines the background of each passage of scripture, including the commonly held views of the day, things that the writer would assume his readers would know and therefore need not explain.

Question 2

What is Karl Barth’s criticism of the BC?

Answer 2

• The Christian message in the Bible is not a development of Enlightenment values, it is wrong to say that human reason can be used to judge scripture, scripture is the judge of human reason.

Question 3

What are Bible passages against gender equality?

Answer 3

• ‘Wives submit yourselves to your husbands’.
• ‘Women should remain silent in churches’.
• ‘dress modestly’, ‘learn in quietness and full submission’.

Question 4

What are the Bible passages for gender equality?

Answer 4

• Same passage it states that husbands should love their wives as themselves.
• Paul is replying to a specific context.
• Not to be universally applied.

Question 5

Debates about female ordination

What are the Church of England views on female ordination?

Answer 5

• Threefold order of ministry, bishops, priests and deacons.
• 1975 – It was agreed there were no ‘fundamental objections’ to the ordination of women.
• 1985 – Women allowed to be ordained as deacons
• 1988 – Synod agreed the proposal to ordain women into the priesthood.
• 1994 – First women ordained into priesthood.
• 2015 – First female Bishop Libby Lane ordained.

Question 6

Debates about female ordination

What are the Roman Catholic Churches views on female ordination?

Answer 6

• The Apostolic Succession means that women cannot be ordained into the priesthood, authority was handed down by men alone.
• Some CofE priests bishops converted to Catholicism due to disagreements about the ordination of women priests/bishops.

Question 7

Feminist Theology

What did Daphne Hampson say about women in the Church?

Answer 7

• Hampson is a Post Christian Theologian; this mean that Hampson looks beyond Christianity as a favoured world view due to its patriarchal nature.
• The patriarchal ‘baggage’ from the first century is still being felt today. It is wrong to bring the beliefs of the first century Palestine into the modern day.
• The claim that there was a uniqueness to Jesus of Nazareth is false, the idea of one person with a different relationship with God than the rest does not make sense.
• We know from the 18th century enlightenment that there could not be a one-off event that breaks the laws of nature, like the resurrection.
• Christianity is irredeemably sexist; Christianity is a fascist religion.
• God should not be seen as ‘out there’ and anthropomorphic, rather he belongs to the same reality in which humans belong.

Question 8

Feminist Theology

What did Rosemary Radford Reuther say about women in the Church?

Answer 8

• Reuther is described as a feminist liberation theologian and a practicing Catholic.
• She describes Jesus as a proclaimer of liberation in his time.
• She sees a parallel between Jesus’ teaching of the Gospels and feminist critiques of society today, for example social injustice and religious hierarchies at the time were the result of male domination, Jesus would side with the oppressed.
• Reuther describes Jesus as androgynous, possessing both male and female qualities.
• Reuther believes Jesus has the caring nature of females.
• She claims women are closer in nature to God through their role in childbearing.

Question 9

Celibacy

What was the Early Church view on celibacy?

Answer 9

• It was preferable, they believed the ned of the world was coming so they should prepare for that rather than children.
• However, they should marry if ‘they cannot control themselves’.

Question 10

Celibacy

What is the Orthodox view of celibacy?

Answer 10

• Priests may be married before they are ordained but cannot marry once they are ordained.
• Bishops may not be married.

Question 11

Celibacy

What is the Church of England view of celibacy?

Answer 11

• Marriage is acceptable for all members of the clergy.

Question 12

Celibacy

What is the Roman Catholic Church view of celibacy?

Answer 12

• Members of the clergy must be celibate, except for those already married who have converted from the protestant churches.

Question 13

Celibacy

What is the Evangelical Protestantism view of celibacy?

Answer 13

• Marriage is preferable for the clergy; they argue a celibate leader fails to live up to the biblical requirements.

Question 14

Marriage

What is the catholic view of marriage?

Answer 14

• Marriage is a sacrament, but priests cannot marry.
• Two individuals become ‘one flesh’.
• Divorce is not acceptable, and divorces cannot remarry in Church and are excluded from holy communion.
• Annulment is possible if the marriage was deemed invalid in the first place.

Question 15

Marriage

What is the protestant view of marriage?

Answer 15

• Marriage is not a sacrament.
• Therefore, marriage can be dissolved.
• However, this shows that the couple have failed to live up to God’s high standards for personal life.
• Re-marriage acceptable.

Question 16

Homosexuality

What is the Old Testament view on homosexuality?

Answer 16

• Leviticus 18
  o Is a passage about all forms of sexual immorality.
  o It does address homosexuality when it states ‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a women, that is detestable.’
  o Later in Leviticus it states that people should be put to death for sexually immoral acts.
  o The acts condemned do not just include homosexuality, but incest and adultery also.
• Sodom and Gomorrah
  o Lot invites Angels into his home in Sodom.
  o The men of Sodom demand that Lot hands over the angels so that they can have sex with them.
  o Lot offers them his virgin daughters instead.
  o The city is destroyed, and Lot escapes with his daughters.
  o Deprived of men to have sex with his daughters conspire to get Lot drunk and have sex with their father.
  o Sodom and Gomorrah appear to condemn all kinds of immoral act, e.g. sexual immorality, violence, incest, greed.

Question 17

Homosexuality

What is the New Testament view on homosexuality?

Answer 17

• Romans
  o ‘Men committed indecent acts with other men and received themselves in due penalty for their perversion’.
• Corinthians
  o ‘Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God’.

Question 18

Transgender

What are the arguments against allowing change of gender?

Answer 18

• All are created by God, God does not make mistakes, he gave transgender people their body and they should be content with what God has given them.
• Early Church were strongly against surgery that tampered with sex identity, Eunuchs, men who have been castrated were not permitted to become priests.
• It could be argued that passages relating to homosexuality also apply to changing gender, if a transgender female sleeps with a man, some would view this as a homosexual act.

Question 19

Transgender

What are the arguments in favour of allowing change of gender?

Answer 19

• Creation states, ‘in the image of God he created them; male and female, he created them’.
• ‘nor is there male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus’.
• ‘Every women who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of God’