A United Methodist minister who has written a book on Jesus
that many Christians consider blasphemous says he has not been reprimanded by
his denomination. And he says his claim that certain biblical texts in
the gospel actually celebrate homosexual behavior has received a mixed reaction
from believers.
Dr. Ted Jennings is an ordained minister of the United Methodist Church and a
professor of biblical and constructive theology at Chicago Theological Seminary
(ctschicago.edu), which is associated with the United Church of Christ. A
longtime apologist for the homosexual lifestyle, Jennings helped to establish
the Lesbian/Gay Studies program at the seminary.
In his book The Man Jesus Loved: Homoerotic Narratives from the New Testament,
Jennings claims Jesus Christ not only condoned homosexual relationships, but
was involved in one. In comments about the book, he argues that
disapproval of the behavior of persons based on their sexual orientation or
homosexual practices is a fundamental distortion of the biblical message:
"In this book, my intention is to break with the defensive strategy of dealing
primarily with passages that are alleged to support homophobia and gay
bashing," Jennings writes. "This strategy gives greater
plausibility than is deserved to the traditional (mis)reading of the
Bible. Instead I will focus on an examination of what is, in fact, the
preponderance of the evidence: that which includes and affirms homoerotic
desire and relationships."
Although the United Methodist Church's Book of Discipline opposes
homosexuality, Jennings says he has not been disciplined by his denomination.
"I've not yet had any backlash from [Methodists leaders]," he
says. "I know that [the incompatibility of homosexuality with
scripture] has been the official position of the [Methodist] Church. I
love my church and I work very hard with the Methodist Church -- but if the
Church were always right, it would have no need for theologians -- we'd be out
of work."
While Jennings admits that Old Testament law and the Apostle Paul's writings
condemn homosexuality, he argues that churches have failed to do a study of the
gospels on the issue. In addition, he says the biggest difference in
responses to his book have not been between liberals and evangelicals, but
between those who have and have not read his book.
"Those who have not looked at the book tend to be reacting to some fairly
sensational ways ... the book [is described] in the press, and react in ways
that quite naturally express their alarm, their concern, their
perplexity," he says.
According to Jennings, all of his colleagues -- as well as the administration
and board of trustees at Chicago Theological Seminary -- have been supportive
of his so-called "scholarly inquiry into the Bible."
Support from the seminary should not be surprising. Its mission statement
says that "while church and society are threatened by new forces of
division under the banner of homophobia, [we are committed] to developing
leadership for a more inclusive church and society." The seminary
also grants special considerations to "self-identified gay, lesbian,
bisexual or transgendered students who show exceptional promise for
ministry."
In addition, the denomination with which the seminary is affiliated -- the
United Church of Christ -- claims to be "one of the most diverse Christian
churches" in the U.S. Open homosexuals hold a number of national
church offices, and the denomination requires that homosexuals are included on
all church agency boards.
In an article by Concerned Women for America, Mark Tooley of the Institute on
Religion and Democracy (ird-renew.org) describes the UCC this way:
"The most liberal of America's mainline denominations, the UCC marries
gays, ordains witches, and prefers sit-ins (just name the cause) to
evangelistic rallies," Tooley said. "It's also been one of the
fastest imploding churches, having lost about 40% of its members in 35
years."