Biblical Complementarity - The Bible Never Says What Complementarians Teach

Heterosexuals and homosexuals read and interpret scripture through the lens of their own presuppositions. What they are taught at home and at church greatly affects their understanding of scripture. Both groups read the same passage and come away with a different understanding of what God is saying to us today.

They read Biblical Complementarity into the scripture, when scripture does not mention it, and make assumptions based on their presupposition. They approach the Bible with a preconceived notion of Biblical Complementarity which distorts their interpretation of scripture.

They see no openly homosexual couples in the Bible. They view Adam and Eve as God’s unchangeable plan for marriage relationships. They assume, without the Bible ever saying so, that God simply would not bless any other marriage relationship than the kind they have and the kind Adam and Eve had.

And they see eight verses which are alleged to prohibit all same sex relationships. Based on their presuppositions about the kind of relationship God will bless, they conclude that God could never bless a gay couple. Only eternity will tell what harm such false teaching has done to millions of gays and lesbians.

Early on, homosexuals learn heterosexual viewpoints, including Biblical Complementarity theory. As their innate homosexual orientation begins to separate them from the heterosexual expectations of their parents, they begin to read scripture from a different perspective. They seek validation in scripture, of the same-sex attraction they feel as in integral part of their being.

They begin to read familiar scripture stories more closely to see if what they were taught is true. Study, prayer, critical thinking and comparing scripture with scripture begin to yield understandings different from what they were taught.

According to Complementarian theory, a man and a woman can produce a child but a man and a man or a woman and a woman cannot produce a child therefore, they reason, God only blesses male-female marriage relationships like Adam and Eve. This is interpreted to mean that God forbids every other kind of marriage relationship.

Biblical Complementarity is alleged to prove that God is against a loving, committed relationship between a man and more than one woman, polygamy, or between two men or two women. There are many problems with Complementarian theory, not the least of which, that it is never stated in the Bible.

Many nongay Christians interpret Genesis 2 as God’s prescription for heterosexuality and God’s proscription of homosexuality.

But don't read too much into the word "Biblical" in this instance. As a leading advocate of Complementarity, Dr.Gagnon, in his 520 page, anti-gay book The Bible And Homosexual Practice, teaches that the creation story in Genesis authorizes only heterosexual union, but never homosexual union.

Gagnon asserts that the Genesis account of creation leaves no room for legitimizing same-sex unions. That is the classic statement of the odd hermeneutic Complementarians use to buttress their position.

Gagnon even insists that homosexual unions can never be legitimately described as loving. His remarks can be found on pages 194, 291, 297, 327, 339 of his book, The Bible and Homosexual Practice.

But again, don't read to much into the use of the word "Biblical" in this instance. Roman Catholic Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of Patterson, New Jersey, Chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Doctrine, summarized the Catholic position in November, 2006. The Catholic position is the traditional Biblical Complementarian position we have described above.

The Catholic Church considers same sex desires to be “objectively disordered.” Homosexual practice, according to the Roman Catholic Church, is always “sinful” and “never morally acceptable.”

In other words, according to Roman Catholicism and Complementarity Theory, gay men and lesbians should never form same sex marriages.

1. God never asserts Biblical Complementarity in the Bible. Scripture just does not mention it. That should give us a clue that it is not a scriptural doctrine.

   We realize that men and women are physically complementary beings and that complementarity allows them to reproduce. We further realize that many men and women are emotionally complementary beings.

   What we are disagreeing with here is the unscriptural teaching that the Genesis account of the Creation of Adam and Eve gives scriptural warrant for the false Complementarian teaching that God intended to outlaw, forbid, prohibit, every other kind of marriage relationship, based on the Genesis account. That is reading into scripture something scripture assuredly does not say.

   In His eternal wisdom, our loving God makes about 5% of the human population gay and lesbian. We believe that scriptures like Matthew 19:11-12 and I Corinthians 7:1-9 indicate God's approval of gay and lesbian relationships which are within the Biblical moral framework - committed, faithful, noncultic.

2. God never said anywhere in scripture that He will only bless a marital relationship exactly like the Adam and Eve model.

3. The polygamy we see throughout the Old Testament, one man with multiple wives, which God blessed, testifies that God Himself does not view Complementarian Theory (one man with one woman) as the only acceptable marriage relationship.

   That is not to argue for polygamy. It simply points out that God demonstrated to us in the Old Testament that He personally does not promote Biblical Complementarity Theory (one man with one woman, to the exclusion of all other relationships).

4. Biblical Complementarity proponents must assume facts not in evidence in order to defend their theory. Their beliefs are based on what they wish the Bible said instead of on what the Bible actually says. That is not a wise foundation on which to base one's beliefs.

They then insist that gays and lesbians must live by what the Bible does not say (Complementarity Theory). That false and unBiblical theory is to be rejected by everyone who takes the Bible seriously.

Marriage In The Bible is much different than the vanilla version so frequently pushed by Focus On The Family and the American Family Association.

Family Values in the Bible are so different from Traditional family values as taught by Focus On The Family that modern Christians would totally reject the "family values" practiced by Abraham and Sarah, Ruth and Boaz and many of the heroes of faith in the Old Testament.

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