Every important issue in the church essentially comes down to the authority of the Bible. The debate over the election of the Episcopal Church’s first openly homosexual bishop is a prime example of this inescapable fact–and a closer look at the arguments reveals the lengths to which homosexual activists must go in order the neutralize the Bible in the debate.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is, if you will forgive the expression, in a pickle. Rowan Williams was appointed as primate of the Church of England with full knowledge that he supports the legitimization of homosexual behavior and the full inclusion of homosexuals in the church. His appointment was itself a matter of controversy, with evangelicals warning that any move toward homosexual marriage or ordination would mean a schism in the church. The new archbishop promised to be considerate, reasonable, and deliberate. Give me a chance, he chided. His time has run out.

Thirty years later, it is now clear that the U. S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision marks the onset of the nation’s full-blown culture war. Since then, more than 40-million babies have been murdered, and Roe still stands. The decision represents a breathtaking exhibition of judicial arrogance. The Court’s majority was determined to legalize abortion, and the decision was just a legal rationalization for imposing this new “right.”

“One of the more surprising phenomena of American religion in the late twentieth century is the resurgence of an evangelical presence in the large, mainline denominations that were once thought lost to evangelicalism.” With these words Ronald H. Nash expressed both an observation and a hope for the liberal churches. But this analysis was made over a decade ago. Have the evangelicals been successful in pushing back the liberal tide? Sadly, the answer is no.

The tragic soap opera of the Episcopal Church’s debate over the election of a homosexual bishop came to a conclusion on Tuesday as the House of Bishops elected Canon Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire. The 62 to 43 vote (with 2 abstentions) came only after the bishops conducted a hasty investigation into last-minute accusations against the bishop-elect. These charges obscured the basic fact that Canon Robinson is biblically disqualified simply by the fact that he is a practicing homosexual. That apparently did not matter to the 62 bishops who arrogantly denied the authority of Scripture and the clear moral teachings of their own church. [see Washington Times article]

Yesterday morning I appeared on CNNfn to debate the issue of Canon Gene Robinson’s proposed election as a bishop of the Episcopal Church. Appearing on the other side was Susan Russell, director of communications for Integrity USA, a group of Episcopal homosexuals. [see news story from Baptist Press] The basic arguments for and against the election of an openly homosexual man as bishop were thrown back and forth on the network’s “Market Call” program.

The Vatican chose the last day of July to release a major statement on the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching about homosexual marriage [See the document]. Guess what? The Church is against it. The document, entitled “Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons,” was released by the Congregation for the Defense of the Faith, and carries the full authority of the Roman magisterium and the approval of Pope John Paul II.

The Mohler family went to California for vacation this year, and had the authentic Left Coast experience. Yes, that’s right. Dear old Dad dragged the family to the University of California at Berkeley in order to visit the bookstores and see the campus. The experience will not soon be forgotten. Street ‘artists’ shouted obscenities as we walked along the sidewalks. The sights and smells of the street were a bit too biological for my taste. I even took my teenage daughter into Revolution Books, which is still keeping the flame alive, selling the latest volumes by Marx and Mao at retail. She was not impressed.

The rapid advance of the homosexual agenda would have been impossible without eager encouragement from the news and entertainment media. NBC’s “Boy Meets Boy” and Bravo’s “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” now join NBC’s “Will and Grace” in celebrating homosexual eroticism as normal and attractive. Julia Duin of The Washington Times claims that “an almost casual acceptance of homosexuality pervades the media.” [See her article]

A gathering of Episcopalians generally does not look too threatening. This is pretty much a Brooks Brothers group, whose church conventions look tame and quiet compared to their low church brothers and sisters. But not this year.

The summer publishing season seems always to include a thriller that leaps to the top of the best-seller charts and stays there until the fall–when readers get serious and return to school and work. The Da Vinci Code is this year’s winner, sitting at the top of the Amazon.com ratings this week and listed at second place in the New York Times hardcover fiction list. The book was on the top of that list last week, and it has made the list for 18 straight weeks. Not bad for a book with a seemingly unmanageable mix of plot structure, conspiracy theories, and mountains of detail about Catholic orders, renaissance art, theological heresy, and theoretical mathematics. Hooked yet?