The church and homosexuals
From the Rural Dean of Wickford Sir: It is always difficult for priests such as myself, who have only spent eight years in the full-time academic study of the Holy Bible, to realise the insight of those who simply throw texts at people with whom they disagree in order to prove their case. R. L Court (Letters, June 15) has had the courtesy to append his name and address to his remarks which are of a kind which normally, under various guises, arrive anonymously through the letter boxes of the clergy. It is strange that you, sir, should have published it in what purports to be a serious journal.
The question of what is 'natural', the pastoral problems which arise from our God-given sexuality is occupying some of the best minds in all the major Christian denominations at this time and we can only be thankful that there are groups such as that (REACH) commended by the Reverend Denis Nadin which is attempting to show that there is a Christian concern towards homosexuals and that perhaps a Christlike compassion is to be preferred to Mr Court's frightening obscurantism.
That the Holy Bible is "God's Word written" (Article XX) is not in dispute but Mr Court appears to have missed over 100 years of biblical scholarship and not to have realised that the Bible has to be taken in its totality as Christians try to gaze into the eyes of the Man from Nazareth.
But then, if isolated texts are to be our defence 1 wonder if Mr Court condones slavery, the stoning of women taken in adultery, forbids the wearing of jewellery by women and enjoys the spectacle of a widowed bishop who re-marries languishing in Hell. Perhaps he should think again. As Mr Court regards Mr Nadin's letter as "indecent" he has open to him recourse to law, to prosecute you, Sir, for oublishing such a letter.
Jeremy J. Bunting The Rectory, Stock, Ingatestone, Essex
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