ECUSA's Incoming Leader: Homosexuality Not a Choice, Jesus Not the Only
Way
Comments by Jefferts-Schori During Interview Appear to Contradict
Scripture
By Jody Brown and Allie Martin
November 2, 2006
(AgapePress) - She says she doesn't consider Jesus Christ to be the
only way to God. She says she believes God makes some people "gay." And
she's soon to be the leader of a mainline Protestant denomination in
America.
In his letter to the Colossians, the Apostle Paul writes that "in
Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" (Col. 2:9,
NIV). But in an interview this week with Associated Press, Bishop
Katharine Jefferts-Schori -- who is to be installed on Saturday as the
first female presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church USA -- stated
that Christians should not say that Jesus is the only way to God. "If
we insist we know the one way to God," she said, "we've put God in a
very small box."
In John 14:6, Jesus -- in responding to a question posed by the
disciple Thomas -- said: "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No
one comes to the Father except through me." But Jefferts-Schori says
she disagrees with the idea that salvation comes only through trusting
in Jesus Christ. "It's this sense that one person can have the fullness
of truth in him or herself, rather than understanding that truth is --
like God -- more than any one person can encompass," stated the
soon-to-be ECUSA leader.
Jefferts-Schori says she views salvation as the healing of all Creation
through holy living. "I understand salvation as being about the healing
of the whole creation. Your part and my part in that is about holy
living," she offered. "As Christians we understand [salvation] as
relationship with God in Jesus, but that does not mean that we're
expected to judge other people's own commitments."
Where does she stand on the issue of homosexuality? The Episcopal
Church has been embroiled for years in a debate over the ordination of
homosexual clergy and "blessing" ceremonies for same-sex couples.
Jefferts-Schori supports both -- and in fact, she voted in 2003 to
confirm her denomination's first openly homosexual bishop, V. Gene
Robinson. She told AP that she does not believe the Bible condemns
"committed" homosexual relationships. God, she says, made some people
"gay."
"Sexual orientation is pretty clearly defined at a very early age,
before the age of reason. It's not a choice," she said. "In that case,
a person of faith would need to say that it's a piece of how one is
created." Consequently, she says, the Church should offer what she
calls "a sacramental container" to help homosexuals find "holy ways of
living in relationship."
Scriptures in the Bible about homosexual acts being sinful, she says,
are misunderstood. "They're not about what today we see as mature human
beings entering into committed relationships with each other on a full
and equal basis," says Jefferts-Schori, who believes such "committed"
relationships can be blessed. "The religious community's job, really,
is to help all human beings find healthy and whole and holy ways of
living in relationship."
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1 Timothy 4
1Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some
shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils;
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