An interesting editorial I came across surfing the net

The Anglican Church of Virginia Pastoral Letter Homosexuality and The Issue of Mortal Sin. Our God is a forgiving God.  This is a statement upon which most all people will agree.  He forgives sins whether they be murder, stealing or homosexual behavior.  All sin grieves God because He loves us.  In our twenty-first century world modern man has sought  the help of psychology, science and medicine to explain away many of our sins by calling them addictions that we can not control or conditions that are inherited so we are not responsible.  An overweight generation of Americans now looks to science for explanations that will relieve responsibility for compulsive eating.  Assuming personal responsibility is almost out of the question so we must sue the vendors of hamburgers and fried potatoes for their advertising that lures us to eat their products which make us fat and unhealthy.   Those who practice homosexual behavior now look to theology, science and psychology for justifications that their chosen “life style” is not a sin but is of God because it involves being “in a loving committed relationship.”  Those who have turned the teachings of theology upside down after 2000 years say that the Scriptures which call it a sin were for past generations.  Further they say, the Holy Bible must be interpreted in the new light of today’s cultural values, needs and wants.  Some areas of science and medicine support the idea a person is born with the homosexual tenancy or given a gene which causes this behavior and attraction.  Psychology has changed its opinion that homosexuality is not a disorder.  Now the “political correctness” tries to prevent anyone who calls this behavior not normal.  The tenor today in certain communities is to say that those who present heterosexuality as normal have a problem and those who call it, homosexual behavior,  a sin are “phobic.” We all are born into sin, but the Bible tells us we must not submit to sin.  “Born into sin” refers to the state of original sin we inherit from Adam. Submission to sin is what we refer to as “actual sin.” When we sin it is God’s Grace that saves our souls and restores us to Him.  Without confession of sin and sincere repentance there can be no restoration. And the beautiful part of God’s Grace is He provides the power for us to “turn us away” from the sin. Those who can recall the “seven deadly sins” (Mortal sins) are considered old fashion and out of step with the new theology.   Mortal sins in tradition are considered not sins in themselves but the “roots” or root causes of sin. Thus homosexual sin may be caused by lust or pride or almost any of the mortal sins. In moral theology these sins are actual sins which are grave and mortal in that they kill the life of grace in the soul.  (Along with mortal sins are “venial” sins, less serious and not deadly to the life of grace.)   Unfortunately the issue of mortal sin disturbs our wants and desires and has been relegated as applying to past generations that could not possibly be applied today.  Just for the benefit of the new generation let us review them.  They are Pride, Envy, Covetousness, Anger, Lust, Gluttony, and Sloth. These are sins which frustrate God’s purposes for our lives and are held to involve the loss of sanctifying grace and bring eternal damnation.  They are committed with ones own full knowledge and ones full consent of the will. At first glance there is nothing in the Seven Deadly Sins about homosexuality. The sin of homosexual acts is further obscured by the idea that it is OK in a “committed and loving relationship”. When we read and consider the teachings of the Bible and  to better understand the subject, we discover it is a sin.  Both the Old and New Testaments call it a sin.   The issue is that, one must believe the Holy Bible to be the true Word of God for it to be a sin.  For those who embrace the new theology, they hold that the Bible must be newly interpreted.  They discount and ignore that God is the God of yesterday, today and tomorrow,  unchanged and unchanging.  The new theology has moved so far as not to find a justification in scripture but have “thrown the Bible out.”  To paraphrase  a spokesman for the National Cathedral (Episcopal) the Bible is a history of how God dealt with a certain group of people many years ago and should not apply in our modern time.  That is to say, that the God of the Chosen people and the Father of our Savior Christ treated them in one way and now treats us differently.  It is hardly plausible that the Apostles, early Christians, ancient fathers, doctors and martyrs worshipped a God unlike the God we worship today as Irenaeus first noted. One may inquire how the question can be raised to the level of a Deadly (Mortal) Sin.  The answer is a simple one,   because those with this view have substituted their opinions, or culturally and politically correct wisdom for God’s as revealed in the Holy Bible.  This now qualifies as the most dangerous of all sins, Pride.   Still, it (homosexuality) is a matter of sin which can be forgiven, however the offender must repent. Repentance is impossible if the sin is not acknowledged by the sinner. Homosexual sin is elevated to a high emotional level since it directly relates to a Godly command called procreation.  God gave to each of us that Godly quality and instructed us to go forth and create new life, like Him. I know that not all are able to procreate, but to live a life that sets an example so far from the example of God raises this sin far beyond other sins.  What if all of God’s creatures should live this life style, what would become of His Creation? This issue is an emotional one because it is the natural instinct that God has placed in His chosen beings to continue His intentions for His creation.  Just like when we see or hear of a terribly brutal crime we are convulsed by our natural instincts. These instincts are God given and a part of the “natural man.” Therefore, we are all the more repelled by a sin that strikes at the heart of God’s Holy purpose for His world, the continuation of his beloved species.  Without us He will not be blessed, and would be lonely, as in the Beginning when there was only void and chaos. Unfortunately we are beginning to witness the chaos that ensues when man substitutes his will, Pride, for that of God’s.   Let us pray: Help us to see our sins and ask for forgiveness.  Strengthen us that we can accept God as witnessed and testified to since He walked with Adam, and as revealed by the Holy Ghost in His Holy Word.  Give us the courage to acknowledge Him as the God who receives penitents and imparts His Grace made possible by the shedding of His Son’s blood. AMEN The Rt. Rev. Larry Wilson Johnson, Archbishop Bishop of Virginia,  Haiti, Australia and Cameroon International Provinces of the Anglican Church International Communion

 

 

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