In all the discussion of forbearance, as used in the Chicago/Reba resolution being presented to the Mennonite Church USA convention, I’ve not yet seen an explanation of whether it would effectively render Article 19 of the Confession of Faith ignorable and, therefore, irrelevant. If so, what’s the point of retaining it? On a related topic, once we conclude that certain New Testament scriptures are unreliable for today, we must acknowledge that the scriptures we like are just as suspect as the ones we don’t like. Those who use the words of Gamaliel (Acts 5:38-39) for the divine inevitability of the LGBTQ movement might remember that those who heralded the militarization of the church in the fourth and fifth centuries could have cited him as well.
Scott Smith
Greensboro, N.C.
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