Synod Studies Sexual Ethics

Synod 2016 of the CRC, in response to multiple overtures, appointed a study committee which received the somewhat cumbersome designation: “Committee to Articulate a Foundation-laying Biblical Theology of Human Sexuality.” Besides articulating the fundamental teaching of the Bible regarding human sexuality, it was “to provide concise yet clear ethical guidelines for what constitutes a holy and healthy Christian sexual life.” Given the magnitude of this task, the committee was given five years to do its work with the proviso that an interim report would be presented to Synod 2019 to allow synod “to dialogue with and provide feedback to the committee.” It is this interim report which is now published in the Agenda of Synod 2019. It consists of basically four parts: (1) a tentative preamble to the report, (2) a tentative summary of a biblical theology of human sexuality, (3) a description of the committee’s tentative plans for completion of the final report, and (4) a copy of the so-called Great Lakes Catechism on Marriage and Sexuality, which was recently produced for the Reformed Church of America.

The Preamble starts with some real-life vignettes of people in the CRC and their struggles and questions related to sexuality. This is followed by a depiction of the stark contrast that exists between sex as God meant it to be as a good creational gift and the way that gift has been pervasively tainted and distorted by human sinfulness – not only in the world, but also in the church, especially in our contemporary cultural context. In the first place, the church’s response to this widespread distortion of God’s good gift should be an acknowledgement of our own failure and a confession of our own complicity in the sexual confusion that we see around us and among us. But in the second place, we should recognize in our current situation a historic opportunity to do something both new and old in making the gospel real once again in our sexual lives. In this way, we offer hope and advance the church’s mission.

CREATION, FALL, REDEMPTION
The second part of the report begins its discussion of “a biblical theology of human sexuality” by referring to Matthew 19 and Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees’ question about divorce. Jesus appeals to creation in his reference to the way marriage was meant to be “in the beginning.” He refers to the fall by saying that the Old Testament provision for divorce was due to the hardness of people’s hearts and in his own authoritative “I tell you” points to the way of redemption for marital life. This provides the framework for the discussion of the biblical teaching concerning human sexuality, which restricts sexual intercourse to the context of a marriage between husband and wife. Accordingly, there are sections on “Creation: Genesis 1-2,” “Fall: Genesis 3” and “Redemption” divided between Old and New Testament. The third of these is by far the longest, consisting of a survey of the entire Bible in regard to its teaching concerning good and godly sex as opposed to its sinful distortions. 

In the Old Testament, after the creation narrative of how marriage was to be a one-flesh union, the account of the fall vividly depicts how that creational design was compromised. The Song of Songs can be seen as a picture of redeemed sexuality, while the pervasive theme which compares the Sinaitic covenant with marriage and idolatry with adultery emphasizes how central sexual faithfulness is to God’s will for human life.

In the New Testament, the report highlights the importance of celibacy for the unmarried and the special status of singleness in the New Testament church, both in literally following Christ and in anticipating aspects of the new heavens and the new earth to which we look forward. It also emphasizes the binding character of the marriage bond, even in the midst of human brokenness, as well as the call to be sexually holy both inwardly and outwardly. An especially important theme is the way Ephesians 5 talks about the relationship between husband and wife as a reflection of the relationship between Christ and the church, thus revealing a secret about marriage (a “mystery”) which was not known before.

The foregoing is just a sampling of the major themes covered in this survey of biblical teaching about marriage and sexuality. The report covers much more and often engages in detailed exegetical discussions. There is plenty of material for the “table discussions” about the report which are planned for Synod 2019 in June.

GOING FORWARD
The shortest part of the Interim Report itself is the third one, which briefly outlines the subjects which the committee, in the light of the biblical perspective here outlined, hopes to cover in its final report. Prominent among these (but not limited to them) are the issues surrounding pornography, homosexuality and sexual identity (the latter understood to include both disorders of sex development and gender dysphoria). The final report will also include a discussion of the confessional status of the church’s teaching on sexuality and will advise on the question whether the CRC should consider commissioning a new statement of faith specifically devoted to the church’s teaching on sexuality.

Finally, the fourth part of the Interim Report is a kind of appendix, consisting of a “catechism” on sexuality which has recently been drawn up for the Reformed Church of America. This is presented as an illustration – or possible model – of the kind of statement of faith that Synod asked the committee to consider recommending in its final report.