| | Those of you who can read Dutch will find this article from Nederlands Dagblad interesting. This is an interview with Dr. George Harinck, professor at the Theological University in Kampen. For those of you who can't read Dutch, here are a few excerpts in English (translated by a colleague):
Of course, homosexuality is in my circle a controversial
issue, but I'm absolutely not negative about it.The way I see it, it is much more
determined by the fact that my youngest brother is homosexual. I don't believe
at all that it is a sickness. There have always been homosexuals and I don't
think that is a problem. Friendships between men: very good.
I'm not
getting involved in those discussions about a biblical prohibition. All that
analysing, that is not my style. Relations? No problem. And those well known
texts, they are all about specific situations. About licentiousness and those
kinds of things. That is the same with those texts about women, that are
constantly used in discussions about women in the office. I can't do anything
with that. That is nonsense. Women in office, that is something that should have
happened already yesterday.
[...]
I also have great sympathy with the Roman Catholic
Church. I don't think it is a problem if Reformed people participate in the mass
if it comes to pass. Of course, there are differences, but those are relative.
What attracts me there is the stilled mystery. Yes, maybe there are people who
are shocked by the thought that a liberated professor would participate in the
mass. Oh well, maybe it happened in the past as well, but they didn't say it
aloud. In the past, the professors from Kampen were much more people who were in
a position that they were examples, who showed leadership. Now, being professor
is more a job.
[...]
God has a thousand sides and therefore - to get to know
Him - we read the Bible. Not to gather information, but to build a relation. I
think it is immature, childish so to say, to thumb through the Bible for
whatever problem. Of course, the Bible has divine authority and is also
normative. But not formally. It is not a book of law. The question if women are
allowed in the offices, you can't answer from the Bible. You need Christian
sensitivity for that. You have to read a lot in the Bible to understand God's
intention with us. And as I got to know God, I think that it is much more
acceptable that the words 'In Christ is male nor female' are decisive in this
discussion. I recognize Him in that. He does not distinguish. That is an
important motif throughout the Bible. To make distinctions, that is always
related to power. And that is very risky. We've seen too much evil coming from
that, in history. No, it is about motives. To learn to distinguish what is
important. And we must be weary of all that playning with Bible
texts.
[...]
'Without faith in God, I wouldn't be able to live. And
God is then, especially the God of the Old Testament, the God of the Psalms. Not
so much Jesus Christ. Not that I wipe Him out, of course. But if I think about
God, then it is especially God as Father. Of course, Jesus Christ is also God
for me. He is not just man and I believe all those Reformed things about Him.
But I'm mainly interested in Jesus Christ as God, dwelling among humans, who is
talking with them, who is asking them questions. Of course, I can completely
understand Luther's discovery - He did everything for me - , but I can't say
that it really speaks to me. I don't think: He hung there, or else I should
have hung there.
We as Reformed people always said that Christ's suffering
was not only on the cross but during his entire life. That He walked among the
people and that He had to cry because of all the misery and because of all those
people who were sent on the wrong way. For me, Christian faith does not just
concentrate on the cross.
It should be noted that Dr. Harinck is a professor at the seminary of our (CanRC) sister churches in the Netherlands. These are the churches with whom the United Reformed Churches are pursuing deeper ecumenical relations. The matter is currently under investigation by the seminary. Further developments (in Dutch) can be found here.
Let us pray for our brothers and sisters in the Netherlands. And let's also listen to God's Word: "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" (1 Cor. 10:12)
Edit: more on this (in English) can be found here.
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| | Posted 2/8/2008 9:26 AM - 589 Views - 16 eProps - 13 comments
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