Dear Editor:

I have long since given over any attempt to try by argument or persuasion to change the minds of the proponents of Amendment 01-A, many of whom are now offering their follow-up views and reactions to the resounding defeat of that amendment. That being the case, I will simply offer a few observations on some of their views and reactions.

1. The Reverend Chris Brundage (Presbyweb, March 2), having already been reprimanded for reading the Scripture in the light of what Jane Austen says, has apparently done it again. This time Reverend Brundage has read John Stuart Mill and then applied one of Mill's comments to the understanding of Romans 13: 8--thus replacing as a guide to Scriptural exegesis an early 19th-century British novelist with a mid-19th-century British philosophical essayist. Mill is not a good choice for this purpose. Although Reverend Brundage does say that Mill's essay On Liberty refers to "society," that fact needs to be emphasized even more. What Mill, who was not a Christian, says about liberty has no necessary bearing upon the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Mill himself says, in the first sentence of the essay, "The subject of this essay is not the so-called 'liberty of the will,' . . . but civil, or social liberty: the nature and limits of the power which can be legitimately exercised by society over the individual." On Liberty is a great literary work, but it is not one that should direct our reading of Scripture. God's Holy Spirit alone is a sufficient guide for our discernment of His will as it is revealed in His written word.

2. In his initial letter (February 23), Reverend Brundage surprised me with a statement that I would never have expected from a Presbyterian clergyman. He says, in the paragraph in which he quotes Jane Austen, "It's a lonely world--people find love where they find it. As long as they are not causing anyone harm, the church would do well to let all lovers be." I see two major flaws in this reasoning. For one thing, the first sentence seems to overlook entirely the sovereignty of God and His direction in our lives. Surely we don't just find love! But, blessedly, God's love does find us. Second, because no supporter of Amendment A has shown that homosexuality has God's blessing, and because homosexuality is labeled a sin wherever it is mentioned in Scripture, it is not merely naive but perverse to say that unrepentant sin has no victims. The sinner is a victim of his or her own sinful choice of behavior. No other human being may be harmed physically or emotionally by our sin, but the harm to the Spirit of God within the sinner should give us all pause and impel us to repent and seek God's forgiveness of our sinfulness.

3. The supporters of Amendment A seem to present themselves as humane and sympathetic individuals who imply that those of us who voted against that amendment are neither humane nor sympathetic. The Reverend Sheila Gustafson (Presbyweb, March 2, link to the Covenant Network) is a good example. She acts as if orthodox and evangelical Presbyterians are saying to her gay and lesbian friends that they are not accepted, not included, and not valued. Nothing could be further from the truth. And we are certainly not, as Reverend Gustafson seems to accuse us of doing, "trying to set the limits of God's grace." Scripture plainly asserts the truth that God's grace upon repentant sinners whom He has elected to be His own is irresistible and unlimitable.

4. On a related note, the Reverend Jane Spahr, in the statement issued by That All May Freely Serve (Presbyweb, February 28), says, "We're denying untold numbers of individuals--seekers and confessed Christians--access to the table of Jesus Christ." Surely she must be aware of the untruth of that exaggerated statement! All believing Christians are welcomed by the host Himself, Jesus Christ, to the table that He--not the PC(USA)--both provides and provisions. The fidelity-chastity clause in the Book of Order denies ordination to those who refuse to remain faithful in a marriage between a man and a woman or chaste in the state of singleness. What the PC(USA) says is that, in accordance with Scripture and the Confessions, it will not ordain gays and lesbians who are sexually active, nor will it affirm as leaders heterosexual Presbyterians who are active adulterers or fornicators. The church is saying that unrepentant sin has no place in positions of leadership within the denomination. Amendment A makes no restrictions whatever upon membership in a local congregation. -- The same TAMFS statement says, "The exclusionary policy has yet to be revoked. As TAMFS Regional Partnership Coordinator Lisa Larges says, '"A" is only the beginning of the alphabet.'" I fail to see how that comment can be understood as anything other than a threat directed against the denomination. It is all the more interesting in view of the fact that several years ago Ms. Larges's faction was already up to the letter B; now it is back to A--back to square one, as it were. I pray that it will never move beyond that point.

5. Implicit in many other responses to the defeat of Amendment A is the idea that the proponents of the ordination of active homosexuals will never back down until the denomination acts according to the will of God. I would ask them, What leads you to think that the adoption and two subsequent affirmations of the fidelity-chastity requirement is not the will of God? Surely, the recent defeat of Amendment A was done "decently and in order." Surely, the voting was preceded by heartfelt prayers seeking to discern God's will, prayers that were offered by sincere people on both sides of the divide. It is entirely disingenuous for the supporters of Amendment A to try to claim that God is really on their side despite what the voting indicates. The goal of all Presbyterians must be to discern the will of God and to act in accordance with His will. After all, we are not our own people. We have been bought at a price, and we belong--heart, soul, body, and mind--to the One who has redeemed us from our own sinfulness. May the name of Jesus Christ be praised forever!

Yours in that name,

William R. Thurman, Jr.
Clerk of Session
First Presbyterian Church
Thomaston, Georgia