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Theologian and author Carl Trueman asserts in a new column that Christians should never attend an LGBT wedding because to do so is to affirm the relationship and to make \u201ca mockery of a central New Testament teaching and of Christ himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trueman, a professor of biblical and religious studies at Grove City College in Pennsylvania and the author of The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self<\/em> and several other books, says in his column for First Things<\/a> that the question of whether Christians can attend a gay wedding is becoming more frequent as society grows more secular.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not hard to guess what reasons a Christian might give for attending a gay wedding: a desire to indicate to the couple that one does not hate them, or a wish to avoid causing offense or hurt. But if either carries decisive weight in the decision, then something has gone awry,\u201d Trueman writes.<\/p>\n Christians, though, should not attend a gay wedding, Trueman argues.<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever the alleged gains that might be made by showing the couple a morally amorphous form of love or by avoiding giving offense, the price of attendance is huge,\u201d he writes. \u201cMuch has been made of the perplexity sown by the Pope\u2019s recent statement about blessing gay couples<\/a>. Just as momentous for individuals and churches could be the confusion sown by a failure to think clearly about attending gay weddings. After all, attendance so as to show \u2018love\u2019 or avoid giving offense is a form of blessing, just without the name.\u201d<\/p>\n There are, Trueman writes, multiple reasons why a Christian should decline to attend.<\/p>\n \u201cMany wedding liturgies, including that of the Book of Common Prayer, require the officiant to ask early in the service if anyone present knows any reason why the couple should not be joined together in matrimony,\u201d he writes. \u201cA Christian is at that point obliged to speak up. I would hazard a guess that such an intervention would be far more offensive than simply refusing to be at the service.<\/p>\n \u201cThe issue can also not be separated from the broader question of sex, gender, and human nature,\u201d he writes. \u201cIf marriage is rooted in the complementarity of the sexes, then any marriage that denies that challenges the Christian understanding of creation. It is one thing for the world to do that. It is quite another for Christians to acquiesce in the same.\u201d<\/p>\n Declining to attend a gay wedding is not a sign of hatred, Trueman writes.<\/p>\n RELATED<\/strong>: \u201cTo consider a declined invitation necessarily a sign of hatred is to adopt the notion of \u2018hate\u2019 as a mere refusal to affirm,\u201d he writes. \u201cThat is our secular age\u2019s understanding, and not that of the Christian faith. A refusal to attend might also cause offense, but to make the giving of offense itself into a moral category is to replace moral categories of right and wrong with aesthetic categories of taste. The latter should always be subordinate to the former in the realm of ethical questions.\u201d<\/p>\n Attending a gay wedding, he writes, involves \u201cremaining silent when one should speak.”<\/p>\n \u201cIt involves a concession on bodily sex that undermines any attempt to hold fast to the importance of the biological distinction between men and women,\u201d he writes. \u201cAnd it involves approving of a ceremony that makes a mockery of a central New Testament teaching and of Christ himself. That\u2019s a very high price tag for avoiding hurting someone\u2019s feelings. And if Christians still think it worth paying, the future of the Church is bleak indeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Alistair Begg Sparks Controversy for Encouraging Grandma to Attend Transgender Wedding<\/a>
Should I Attend a Gay Wedding?<\/a>
Why are Christians Accused of Hating Gay People?<\/a><\/p>\n