Statements on Human Sexuality
by Justin Taylor, The Gospel Coalition:
The publication of The Report of the Ad Interim Committee on Human Sexuality to the 48th Presbyterian Church in America General Assembly does not sound like thing of headlines or bedtime reading. But praise God for the Presbyterians and their orderly, parliamentarian ways. This committee—which includes Tim Keller, Kevin DeYoung, and Bryan Chapell, among others—has put together a very thorough and careful and important study in response to an overture asking them to address issues like the nature of sexual sin, temptation, and mortification, as well as the the propriety (or impropriety) of a Christians using the terminology of “gay Christian” or homosexual “orientation.” The entire thing repays saving and printing and reading and considering.
In the preamble, they note:
We must present “the whole Christ” when we both pastor individuals and speak to the world about sexuality and gender today. Jesus is full of grace and truth. In pastoral care we must not apply the truth so harshly as to be callously alienating or so indirectly that the truth is never clearly grasped.
The very form of the following Twelve Statements seeks to capture this “grace and truth” wholeness as we address the issues.
Each statement is dual, an associating of one truth with a concomitant truth or teaching.
The aim is not to achieve some kind of abstract intellectual balance or “third way,” but rather to show the path of theologically rich pastoring.
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