PRELATES such as Sydney's Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen demonstrate considerable arrogance by holding their protest conference in Jerusalem against the wishes of its bishop, Suheil Dawani.Jensen, his five regional bishops and others of a similar mind, including bishops from several African dioceses, will boycott the Lambeth Conference in July, because it will include bishops who support the ordination of clergy in same-sex relationships.
Jensen's boycott is wrong, not least because it denies the conference his input and denies him the possibility of a better understanding of another view.
Jensen said last October that the Lambeth Conference format had been changed to help bishops by discussing the interpretation of the Bible. He now says he will not attend because to do so would overlook the importance of the issues at stake.
Many bishops who hold a less rigid view on the place of homosexuals in the church have also been critical of the consecration in the US of an openly gay bishop.
This was not in the spirit of an agreement of the 1998 Lambeth Conference and was bound to increase division.
Jensen is entitled to decide whether or not to attend the conference, but to organise what will effectively be a rebel conference in Jerusalem, against the wishes of its bishop, demonstrates a lack of respect.
In Canberra last week, Bishop Dawani politely but firmly said he had told Jensen and the conference co-host Archbishop of Nigeria Peter Akinola that the place to discuss homosexuality was Lambeth, not Jerusalem.
Dawani is closely involved with efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East, to which he gives a higher priority than the theological squabble over homosexuality. The history of this squabble is interesting.
Associate professor in public and contextual theology at Charles Sturt University Scott Cowdell says homosexuality was not named as a state of living until the late 19th century. Cowdell says though the Old Testament clearly condemns homosexual acts, the New Testament can be understood to condemn only pederasty.
"I do not believe there is anything in the New Testament which condemns loving relationships," Cowdell says.
The Anglican Church in Africa generally takes a strong stance against homosexuality, at least in part to help with its proselytising of Muslims.
Islam generally strongly condemns homosexuality and a softening of the line by Christian churches would in all likelihood make them an easier target by Islamic leaders defending their patch.
In the 1880s, many young Anglican and Roman Catholic boys were martyred in Uganda when refusing sexual contact with King Mwanga. Cowdell says homosexuality was the flash point though this was really about lust.
"Homosexuality has emerged as an issue which unifies many conservative Christian forces," he says.
"The God of absolute certainty is the cause of modern atheism."
Jensen, by contrast, believes there is a single truth and of course he believes he has it. In 2002, he said it was time the church stopped fighting over lost battles. He was speaking then of the ordination of women.
Though he did not believe it was inevitable there would be female bishops in Australia, he said that would be the last big test.
"Meantime, we all have to practise speaking the truth in love to each other," he said then.
Now, instead of following his advice, he has chosen to speak with people of similar mind, at least as far as the theology of homosexuality is concerned.
God alone knows what differences Jensen and his five loyal regional bishops might discover from their African colleagues at their Jerusalem meeting in June.
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