Corrected story Proposal to eliminate 'homosexual perversion' from Heidelberg advances By Deborah A. Hills The Layman Friday, June 27, 2008 218th General Assembly San Jose, California June 20-28, 2008 SAN JOSE, Calif. – By a vote of 436-280-11 Thursday, the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted to continue a process toward revision of the Heidelberg Catechism. Created in 1563 by the Synod of Heidelberg, the catechism was adopted as part of the Presbyterian Church Book of Confessions in 1967 and reaffirmed by the 209th and 210th General Assemblies in 1997 and 1998. Both previous attempts to rewrite or retranslate this confession had failed. This year, however, five changes proposed by Newark Presbytery were passed along to a special committee that will be appointed by Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow. The committee will report to the 219th General Assembly in 2010. With that assembly's approval of the changes, they would go to the presbyteries for ratification. Changing a constitutional document requires a two-thirds majority. The most intense debate about the Heidelberg Catechism was over the use of the phrase "homosexual perversion" in the answer to question 87: "Can those who do not turn to God from their ungrateful, impenitent life be saved?" The newly accepted strike-out and added language reads: " A. Certainly not! Scripture says, 'Surely you know that the unjust will never come into possession of the kingdom of God. Make no mistake: no fornicator or idolater, none who are guilty either of adultery or of homosexual perversion, no thieves or grabbers or drunkards or slanderers or swindlers, will possess the kingdom of God.' Certainly not; for as Scripture says no unchaste person, idolater, adulterer, thief, greedy person, drunkard, slanderer, robber or anyone like that shall inherit the kingdom of god." These changes were recommended by the General Assembly based on the understanding that they make the wording "both more accurate and faithful to the original text of the catechism." However, as the vote indicates, not all commissioners or committee members were in agreement. A minority report was submitted, stating that "the current translation of the Heidelberg Catechism, as adopted in The Book of Confessions, faithfully and clearly declares to the members of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and to the world who and what we are, what we believe, and what we resolve to do." Jonathan Tony, a theological student advisory delegate from Gordon-Conwell Seminary, spoke in favor of the minority report. He stated that "translation is not just a one-to-one exercise." He believes that the translation of 1967 is "faithful to the author's intentions" because it reflects the detail included by the author in footnotes and commentary. Jack Rogers, moderator of the 213th General Assembly, was asked to comment on why he believes the corrections are a matter of integrity. He said he believes the authors were using their translation of the catechism as an "opportunity to fight the sexual revolution of the 1960s." As a result, they simply inserted "homosexual perversion" into the list of sins that keep a person out of heaven. "It was not a translation," he said. "It was an unauthorized insertion." Cathy Wolf, a theological student advisory delegate from Columbia Seminary, distributed a letter signed by 31 theology professors from nine Presbyterian seminaries in support of the translation changes. Saying their experience equals 125 years of study, Wolfe added that she believes this is an issue of "faithful scholarship." One of the final speakers, Rob Starck of Upper Ohio Valley Presbytery, also talked to a number of seminary professors. Their consensus was that we should look at the broader picture – in light of the cultural and historical atmosphere of that day. This catechism was written largely for that culture's youth. The authors of the Heidelberg Catechism were simply not comfortable referring openly to homosexual terms and activities. They were considered obscene and totally inappropriate for young minds. There was little controversy about the other four proposed changes.

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