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A Great Cloud of Moral Witness
James S. Spiegel on the Solid Historical Consensus Regarding Homosexual Practice
During the last generation there has been a dramatic shift of perspective in the West regarding sexual morality—a shift away from the traditional Judeo-Christian ethic of sex as appropriate only within heterosexual marriage and in the direction of affirming any sexual relationship so long as it takes place between consenting adults. In the North American churches, many people are embracing one aspect of this movement, specifically, to be gay-affirming, in the sense that they believe homosexual activity is morally permissible so long as it involves two committed adults. Now, there are many reasons to be skeptical of this movement, but one reason rarely noted among traditionalists is that there appear to have been no gay-affirming Christian scholars (theologians, philosophers, ethicists, and the like) in history until the latter part of the twentieth century.
This is germane to the question of a Christian's skepticism about the gay-affirming position, and here's why. As Christians, we should take seriously the wealth of moral and theological wisdom that has preceded us historically, and where there is a strong consensus among our best thinkers about an issue, we should grant a strong presumption in favor of that view.
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