Holy people, holy sex: a critical analysis of the United Methodist Church's doctrine on homosexuality through theological anthropology

Timothy S Moore

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Holy people, holy sex: a critical analysis of the United Methodist Church's doctrine on homosexuality through theological anthropology

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MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Timothy S Moore. Holy People, Holy Sex: a Critical Analysis of the United Methodist Church's Doctrine On Homosexuality Through Theological Anthropology. Hood Theological Seminary. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/9f2c524d-8424-4c46-a614-68d41d6c2758.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

T. S. Moore. Holy people, holy sex: a critical analysis of the United Methodist Church's doctrine on homosexuality through theological anthropology. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/9f2c524d-8424-4c46-a614-68d41d6c2758

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Timothy S Moore. Holy People, Holy Sex: a Critical Analysis of the United Methodist Church's Doctrine On Homosexuality Through Theological Anthropology. Hood Theological Seminary. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/9f2c524d-8424-4c46-a614-68d41d6c2758.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

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Timothy S Moore

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Abstract

Like many Protestant denominations since the 1970s, the United Methodist Church has struggled to address the issue of homosexuality and homosexual practice. Through these debates, primarily at its quadrennial gatherings, the church has clarified its theology and established its doctrinal standards. However, a disjunction has occurred within the church's theological anthropology. When speaking more generally about theology, the church relies upon one construction of theological anthropology. When speaking about human sexuality and homosexuality, the church relies upon a second, divergent theological anthropology. If it is the case that the church relies upon a second, divergent theological anthropology when speaking about homosexuality and homosexual practice, then its doctrine on homosexuality and homosexual practice is suspect and needs revision. To resolve this disjunction and provide this revision, the church must (1) identify the divergent theological anthropology currently used in its discussion of homosexuality and homosexual practice and (2) replace that divergent theological anthropology with an alternative, more doctrinally consistent theological anthropology. This more doctrinally consistent theological anthropology is the Eschaton Adam. The following thesis argues that this more doctrinally consistent theological anthropology offers the church a new avenue, potentially enabling the denomination to pursue theological precision and to gain greater denominational consensus on the contentious issues of homosexuality and homosexual practice. Out of this thesis, a project was created to test the theory that a disjunction was present and that substituting one theological anthropology for another would alter church doctrine, lay and clergy perceptions of that doctrine, and potentially supply the church with a viable way forward to resolve this persisting doctrinal problem of how adequately to address homosexuality and homosexual practice.

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