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The Anglican left is horror-struck after Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams says homosexuals need to change their behaviour if they wish to be fully accepted within the church. The London Sunday Telegraph reports on an interview given by Abp Williams to a Dutch journalist last week.
The archbishop of Canterbury has told homosexuals that they need to change their behaviour if they are to be welcomed into the church, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.Rowan Williams has distanced himself from his one-time liberal support of gay relationships and stressed that the tradition and teaching of the Church has in no way been altered by the Anglican Communion's consecration of its first openly homosexual bishop.
The declaration by the archbishop - rebutting the idea that homosexuals should be included in the church unconditionally - marks a significant development in the church's crisis over homosexuals. According to liberal and homosexual campaigners, it confirmed their fears that the archbishop has become increasingly conservative - and sparked accusations that he has performed an "astonishing" U-turn over the homosexual issue.
The Telegraph report garbles an important nuance in the interview. The opening sentence, quoted above, alleges that Abp Williams says homosexuals must change if they want to be "welcomed". But that interpretation is later contradicted by the archbishop's own words distinguishing between "inclusion" and "welcome". He said that the church must offer to all welcome, but not inclusion.
The revelations came in a newspaper interview last week in which the archbishop denied that it was time for the church to accept homosexual relationships, suggesting that it should be welcoming rather than inclusive. "I don't believe inclusion is a value in itself. Welcome is."
At least one liberal Anglican makes the same error as the Telegraph.
The Rev Giles Goddard, the chairman of Inclusive Church, a liberal group, said the archbishop's comments revealed an "astonishing" change in his position. He added: "The implication is that there is no justification in scripture for the welcome of lesbian and gay people. It appears that he has moved into the conservative camp.”
Abp Williams, of course, made no such implication. To the contrary, he is quoted as supporting the view that the church should welcome homosexuals. Why is the distinction between “welcome” and “inclusion” so hard for some to grasp?
Now check out these words from the good archbishop:
"We don't say 'Come in and we ask no questions'. I do believe conversion means conversion of habits, behaviours, ideas, emotions," he told a Dutch journalist.
"Ethics is not a matter of a set of abstract rules, it is a matter of living the mind of Christ. That applies to sexual ethics."
In the context of a discussion of the role of homosexuals in the church, it would appear that Abp Williams understands homosexual behaviour as one of those "habits, behaviours, ideas, emotions" that prospective Christians should be converted from.
From a Christian perspective, moreover, “change” has spiritual meaning and value only if it represents the kind of change captured by the biblical concept “repentance”. Repentance means admitting that one has done wrong by disobeying God, attempting to rectify the offence by seeking the Lord’s forgiveness, and invoking divine aid to prevent further disobedience. It arises from the recognition that one is a sinner in need of God’s grace in Christ.
Abp Williams’s exhortation to “change” is therefore tantamount to saying that homosexual behaviour is sinful and those who engage in such behaviour need to repent and seek God’s forgiveness.
Sin? Repentance? Seeking God’s forgiveness? No wonder Anglican liberals are up in arms. Here's a reaction from Chris Bryant, a homosexual British MP:
"Rowan has refashioned the Church of England into a narrow-minded, conservative sect."
That’s the way to encourage toleration in the church!
h/t: Binks
UPDATE (28 Aug.): The text of the interview is posted here.
