Alternative culture: Anglican General Synod votes to reject report on same-sex marriage

Recently, the Church of England voted 100 to 93 to reject a report that would have allowed gay clergy to practise their sexual preferences (instead of remaining celibate) and allow the conduction of same-sex marriage.

Traditionalism or liberalism?
To the laymen, it may seem like a simple battle between the reactionaries who want to stick to traditional marriages and the radicals who want the church to be more accommodating to our homosexual friends.

However, to me, there is a greater battle than that. It is a battle of identity. Do we define ourselves by our sexuality or traditions, and reason our way from there? Or are we willing to identify ourselves as Christians and be willing to follow what Jesus said.

What did Jesus say about marriage?
“But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” 
-- Mark 10: 5-9

For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

-- Matthew 15: 19

Jesus not only affirms that marriage should be between male and female (Mark 10:5-9), he also spoke against sexual immorality in Matthew 15:19, which would have included homosexuality.

Let's be clear: Being homosexual does not send someone to hell, and being heterosexual does not send someone to heaven. We can only can be with God when we believe Jesus is Lord and has taken our sins away.

Conclusion
My stand on the matter is well-represented by Sam Allberry in the video below:

Theology 1.0: What is the Lewis trilemma?

The Lewis trilemma is the apologetic defence of the divinity of Jesus, popularised by CS Lewis (the writer of Chronicles of Narnia and the Screwtape Letters) in his 1952 book Mere Christianity. 

Based on Jesus's description of himself in the New Testament, Lewis argues the following:

1) Jesus is God
This is because this is who Jesus claims he is.

2) Jesus is evil
This is because he claims to be God and gathers followers .

OR

3) Jesus is mad.
This is because he was mistaken to be God.

What Lewis was criticising was the view that Jesus was a simple moral teacher. In his words,

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell.

What are the rebuttals?

Christian New Testament scholar, N.T. Wright (1999) felt that Lewis oversimplified how first century Jews might have understood Jesus's words. For instance in offering the forgiveness of sins, Jesus was telling the Jews that they did not need to pay for such a service at a temple, rather than showing he was God.

Christian philosopher William Lane Craig (1994) also points out that it is possible to be deluded and yet give great moral teaching. In other words, Lewis trilemma fails to take in other possibilities.

Conclusion

While the Lewis trilemma is not perfect, it is a great primer to kick off a discussion on why we see Jesus as more than a moral teacher.

References

Craig, W.L.C. (1994). Reasonable Faith

Wright, N.T. (1999). The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering who Jesus was and is.