Silver Spring, Maryland, United States …. [Mark A. Kellner/ANN]
Responding to a rising international debate of same-sex unions, the Administrative Committee of the Seventh-day Adventist Church today reaffirmed the traditional definition of Christian marriage as being between one man and one woman.
“An increasing number of nations are now debating the topic of ‘same-sex unions,’ thus making it a world issue. The public discussion has engendered some strong emotions,” the church’s statement says in part.
“That which for centuries has been considered to be basic Christian morality in the marriage setting is now increasingly called into question, not only in secular society, but within Christian churches themselves,” the statement says. “We reaffirm, without hesitation, our long-standing position.”
That position, drawn from the Bible, is summarized in the church’s Fundamental Beliefs statement: “Marriage was divinely established in Eden and affirmed by Jesus to be a lifelong union between a man and a woman in loving companionship.”
The church restated its belief that “homosexuality is a manifestation of the disorder and brokenness in human inclinations and relations caused by sin coming into the world. While everyone is subject to fallen human nature, ‘we also believe that by God’s grace and through the encouragement of the community of faith, an individual may live in harmony with the principles of God’s Word,’” quoting the 1999 “Seventh-day Adventist Position Statement on Homosexuality.”
At the same time, the statement notes, “we hold that all people, no matter what their sexual orientation, are children of God. We do not condone singling out any group for scorn and derision, let alone abuse.”
The statement comes amid a flurry of “same-sex unions” in various parts of the world, particularly in North America. Church leaders said it is important to reaffirm and restate the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s official view so that members and the public could have a clear reference on the subject.
According to Dr. Angel Manuel Rodríguez, director of the church’s Biblical Research Institute, “This reaffirmation is useful in the sense that the Biblical understanding has been questioned and rejected in some sectors of Western culture. When that happens, it is the responsibility of the church to witness to Biblical truth.”
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is comprised of 13 million members around the world. An estimated 20 million people attend Seventh-day Adventist worship services each week.