Presbyterian Church opposes gay marriage

#1119 for broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 30 Aug 2015

Recently the Presbyterian Church in NSW voted to ask its peak national decision-making body to withdraw its ministers from solemnising marriages in Australia if marriage is redefined to include same sex couples.

In the current issue of the Presbyterian Pulse magazine, the Reverend Dr Peter Barnes explains the reasoning behind the decision. Sex has two functions: it is procreative, leading to children, and it is unitive, uniting husband and wife and enabling them to fully express their mutual love. He says:

Two men or two women cannot legitimately fulfil the God-given functions which are inherent in the marriage relationship …

The homosexual lobby has been diabolically clever in manoeuvring the debate so that homosexuality becomes a matter of identity, not behaviour.

Same sex marriage implicitly condones and blesses the sinful behaviour. As Dr Barnes put it, “the NSW [Presbyterian] Assembly in 2015 faced the reality of God’s demands and the world’s rebellion, and acted.”

We shall see if other Christian churches follow suit.

I’m Rod Benson for the NSW Council of Churches.