 
Book Reviews Coming Out as Sacrament By Chris Glaser Reviewed by John H. Adams Friday, May 21, 1999 |
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| How
can one possibly find in Scripture an endorsement for homosexual
activity? Where is the connection between God’s call to prophets
and priests and a “coming out” ritual for homosexuals? How can
“coming out” be equated with a church sacrament? Chris Glaser, one of the leading voices for homosexual activists in the Presbyterian Church (USA), purports to accomplish all of the above by refuting overarching themes and turning Scripture into a forum for man-made salvation. Glaser proposes a new sacrament in the Presbyterian Church: a “coming out” for homosexuals, which is analogous, he says, to the “coming out” of Moses and other biblical leaders to follow the call of God. That analogy is a lightweight error compared to Glaser’s main theme. He declares that it was not God’s will that Christ die on the cross. Thus, the atonement becomes meaningless. If Christ did not voluntarily, willingly, purposively die on the cross, and therefore atone for sin, if he suffered only because he fell accidentally (beyond God’s sovereign will) into the hands of his oppressors, his death would provide no redemption for the sinner. And if Christ was merely an accidental victim, Old Testament prophecies and the Gospels are cluttered with irrelevant observations. But that’s exactly where Glaser takes his readers: away from God and toward their own self-fulfillment and self-exaltation. With an unwitting victim-Jesus, there is no sin-offering for homosexuality. And if there is no sin-offering, there is no need to declare homosexual activity a sin. Skip directly to the resurrection, which Glaser says, was God’s will. Death, even death to sin, is not God’s will, he says; only life (resurrection) is God’s will. Thus, as homosexuals “come out” into the fullness of their lives, they are experiencing a “resurrection” as well. Glaser says “coming out” should be a sacrament, just as are baptism and holy communion. Interestingly, he does not deny the legitimacy of baptism or communion – and both, according to Scripture, indict his denial of atonement. Baptism and communion point back to the atonement: baptism joins a person with Christ in his death; communion reminds Christians of Christ’s broken body and shed blood. Both would be meaningless without the atonement. The atonement makes possible a true “coming out” for every believer – from sin and separation into a relationship with the sinless God who alone has the power to redeem the lost. |
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