Making Theology Matter: Power, Polity and the Theological Debate over Homosexual Ordination in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The conflict over homosexuality is fundamentally over religious authority, whether PC (USA) unity should be based primarily on theology or polity. As these realms function in the Church, they have served as two contrasting strategies of defining and shaping doctrinal debates. Since 1927, the Church...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Springer
1999
|
| In: |
Review of religious research
Year: 1999, Volume: 41, Issue: 2, Pages: 239-261 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The conflict over homosexuality is fundamentally over religious authority, whether PC (USA) unity should be based primarily on theology or polity. As these realms function in the Church, they have served as two contrasting strategies of defining and shaping doctrinal debates. Since 1927, the Church has allowed disagreement by not defining doctrine nationally, preferring polity, with local governing bodies deciding essential theological tenets. This functioned adequately in maintaining theological peace until the 1960s, when serious conflict emerged, leading to theological confusion, drift and membership decline. Two developments, the Book of Confessions in 1967 and tighter ordination vows after reunion in 1983, changed the theological context, creating a possible middle way between authoritarianism and anarchic individualism. This made the Confessions a public, consensual and reformable authoritative interpretation of religious truth, allowing for a progressive orthodoxy, although few in the sexuality debate realized this. Amendment B was in part designed to encourage a process of theological unity. The history of theological debate demonstrates that only by making theology primary, by working through the Confessional texts, can the PC (USA) avoid polarization and create a theological center based on civility and conviction. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2211-4866 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Review of religious research
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/3512109 |