Letter: Proposals by Anglican bishops that same-sex marriage be blessed change the Christian message beyond recognition and usher in a message of ‘anything goes’

The Bishops of the Church of England have proposed to the General Synod that the canons should not change the doctrine of marriage to accommodate same sex ‘marriage’.

However the bishops have proposed that same-sex couples can have a service in which there would be "prayers of dedication, thanksgiving or for God's blessing on the couple" in church after a civil marriage or civil partnership.

These proposals are problematic.

To begin with they are doctrinally incoherent.

God cannot bless something that is contrary to his character and revealed will as we have it in the Bible. God, unlike society and culture, does not change. According to Scripture any kind of union outside of traditional marriage (Genesis 2.24) cannot complement God’s purposes but instead conflicts with them (1 Thessalonians 4.3-4).

Also these proposals invalidate and ignore the 1998 Lambeth Resolution 1.10, regarded as the official teaching of the Anglican Communion on marriage and sexuality, which states that it “cannot advise the legitimising or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions”.

In August 2022 Justin Welby wrote that the validity of this resolution was ‘not in doubt’. But this proposal that same sex couples can receive God’s blessing cuts right across Resolution 1.10.

Finally, these proposals, with their commitment to a “radical new Christian inclusion”, change the Christian message beyond recognition. Instead of God’s loving requirement and offer of repentance and forgiveness of sins (Luke 24.47) these proposals usher in a message of ‘anything goes’.

They invite us to welcome in a ‘different gospel’ (Galatians 1.6) and to jettison the life transforming message of Jesus Christ.

Rev Timothy Anderson, Dundonald