VOA慢速英语2014 美国福音派在圣经中辩论同性恋

 

AS IT IS 2014-11-29 US Evangelicals Debate Homosexuality in the Bible 美国福音派在圣经中辩论同性恋

More than 30 American states now recognize marriages between two people of the same sex. An increasing number of mainline Christian¹ groups are also accepting same-sex unions. But most evangelical Christians² say the Bible condemns³ sexual relations among people of the same sex. They note writings found in the Bible’s Book of Leviticus and the Book of Romans. Evangelicals firmly believe that Christianity’s holy book is free from mistake. Now, a well-known student of evangelicalism is saying that the traditional reading of the Bible is wrong.

The religious service looked like one at any evangelical church, except that same-sex couples were sitting in pews. A man rested his head on the shoulder of another man, and a woman had her arm around her female partner. They were among the several hundred people who recently gathered at the National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C. The attendees were a mix of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Christians. They were there for a meeting of The Reformation Project.

The idea for the project came from a new way of thinking about the Bible. Matthew Vines formed the group after a testimonial he posted two years ago on YouTube became popular. The young man spoke⁴ in the video about being Christian and gay. Matthew Vines said that he did not choose to have an interest in men.

“I am gay.  I didn’t choose to be gay.”

He said the aim of the project is to show that “there is a path to affirming the full authority of the Bible and affirming same-sex relationships.”

In the Christian Bible, Jesus’ follower⁵ Paul condemns sexual acts between men. But Mr. Vines says loving gay relationships were nearly all unknown 2,000 years ago. 

“The heart of the scripture’s teaching is that marriage is about commitment -- that is about keeping one’s covenant⁶ with one’s spouse⁷ in the same way that God keeps his covenant with us. And that’s something that same-sex couples can do just as well as opposite sex couples can.”

He argues that a teaching that has failed and causes much suffering cannot be correct.

But critics say he is just reading the Bible his own way to show that being gay is acceptable. One such critic is British evangelical clergyman Sam Allberry. He recently spoke to the Ethics⁸ and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. The group met in Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. Allberry said it is wrong to interpret the Bible to make it seem to accept same-sex relationships.

“What you have to do to the Bible to make it approve of same-sex relationships is profoundly un-evangelical.”

Evangelical Christians accept many Biblical scriptures⁹ literally¹⁰. In other words, they believe most words of the Bible represent exact, precise truth.                                                

Southern Baptist leaders at that meeting softened¹¹ some of their earlier statements about gay people. But they did not change beliefs that are central to their faith. Their actions led some people to compare the softened statements to Pope Francis’ efforts to reach out to gays while not amending¹² Roman Catholic ideology¹³. 

David Gushee is an evangelical ethicist¹⁴ – someone who studies what is morally right and wrong. He noted¹⁵ that the Bible has 31,273 verses.

“The number of verses that can be called on to support the traditional position is essentially¹⁶, well, it’s six passages, maybe 15 verses at the most.”

David Gushee teaches at Mercer University, a Baptist religious school in Atlanta, Georgia. He recently published a book called “Changing Our Mind.”  It caused a lot of discussion among evangelical Christians. He said his change of heart came partly from meeting gay people and from learning that his sister had declared herself to be a lesbian. 

Words in This Story

couple - n., two people who are married or who have a romantic or sexual relationship

pews – n., one of the benches that are placed in rows in a church

mainline – adj., belonging to an established or accepted group or system

evangelical -  adj., of or relating to a Christian sect¹⁷ or group that stresses the authority of the Bible, the importance of believing that Jesus Christ saved you personally from sin or hell, and the preaching of these beliefs to other people

gay - n., sexually attracted to someone who is the same sex

lesbian – n., a woman who is sexually attracted to other women

bisexual – n., sexually attracted to both men and women

transgender – n., of or relating to people who have a sexual identity that is not clearly male or female

commitment – n., a promise to do or give something

covenant - n., a formal and serious agreement or promise

testimonial - n., a written or spoken statement that praises someone’s work, skill, character, etc.

literally – adj., used to stress that a statement or description is true and accurate even though it may be surprising

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

3 condemns   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的第三人称单数 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• Her widowhood condemns her to a lonely old age. 守寡使她不得不过着孤独的晚年生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The public opinion condemns prostitution. 公众舆论遣责卖淫。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 follower   

n.跟随者；随员；门徒；信徒

参考例句：

• He is a faithful follower of his home football team.他是他家乡足球队的忠实拥护者。
• Alexander is a pious follower of the faith.亚历山大是个虔诚的信徒。

6 covenant   

n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约

参考例句：

• They refused to covenant with my father for the property.他们不愿与我父亲订立财产契约。
• The money was given to us by deed of covenant.这笔钱是根据契约书付给我们的。

7 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

8 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

9 scriptures   

经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典

参考例句：

• Here the apostle Peter affirms his belief that the Scriptures are 'inspired'. 使徒彼得在此表达了他相信《圣经》是通过默感写成的。
• You won't find this moral precept in the scriptures. 你在《圣经》中找不到这种道德规范。

10 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

11 softened   

（使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
• The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。

12 amending   

改良，修改，修订( amend的现在分词 )； 改良，修改，修订( amend的第三人称单数 )( amends的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Amending acts in 1933,1934, and 1935 attempted to help honest debtors rehabilitate themselves. 一九三三年，一九三四年和一九三五年通过的修正案是为了帮助诚实的债务人恢复自己的地位。
• Two ways were used about the error-amending of contour curve. 采用两种方法对凸轮轮廓曲线进行了修正。

13 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

14 ethicist   

n.伦理学家，道德学家

参考例句：

• They are used to resolving conflicting principles, says Dick Willems, a Dutch doctor and ethicist. 荷兰的医生，伦理学家DickWillems说，他们惯于解决相冲突的原则。
• They are used to resolving conflicting principles, says Dick Willems gold, a Dutch doctor and ethicist. 一个荷兰医生与道德家，认为他们习惯了解决有冲突的原则。

15 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

16 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

17 sect   

n.派别，宗教，学派，派系

参考例句：

• When he was sixteen he joined a religious sect.他16岁的时候加入了一个宗教教派。
• Each religious sect in the town had its own church.该城每一个宗教教派都有自己的教堂。