Article’s claims ‘categorically false’
Posted, February 9, 2005
In a February 7, 2005 online article titled “PCUSA task force member declares his ‘departure from Biblical tradition,'” The Presbyterian Layman identifies within the ranks of the PUP Task Force an extremely shady and faithless and disreputable character. He has the same name as me, but upon reading the claims in the Layman article, my only response can be, “I do not know the man!” I recognize virtually nothing of myself and my own thinking in the Layman’s descriptions.
One hesitates to get involved in disputes over facts with members of the press, but the gravity of the claims in The Layman article are such to require at least some setting of the record straight. Among their claims:
“Achtemeier…told a seminary class…that his position on homosexuality represented a “departure from the Biblical tradition.”
This is categorically false. As a theologian of the church I consider myself absolutely bound to the authority of Scripture and the Lordship of Christ. I could not in good conscience hold to any position that contradicted biblical teaching.
“He told [the students] that they were bound by ‘a covenant’ not to repeat comments made in class.”
This claim is false. There was no “covenant” in force in the class apart from an informal commitment to civil discourse and mutual respect. Because homosexuality is such an emotional issue and I am in the public eye, I asked the students as a matter of courtesy to refrain from making statements in public settings of the form, “Dr. Achtemeier thinks X about homosexuality.” I asked this, as I explained to them, so that I might avoid having to deal with public confusion that treated out-of-context quotations from speculative classroom discussions as though they were formal contributions to the public debate.
“Achtemeier stated that on the issue of homosexual behavior he was more concerned ‘about the empirical evidence’ than about Biblical tradition.”
This claim is false. I never made such a statement. Allowing experience to trump biblical truth would undermine the authority of the Bible, which as a theologian of the church I am absolutely committed to uphold.
“Achtemeier reportedly told students in his class that he believes passages in Romans and other books of the Bible that condemn same-sex behavior refer only to promiscuous behavior, not sexual activity that occurs within monogamous relationships.”
This claim is false. I presented the claim described here as one of the arguments put forward by certain progressivist thinkers, in lectures designed to acquaint students with different approaches to the issue. I never defended or claimed it as part of my own position.
In short, The Presbyterian Layman has published an article, grounded in distorted, hearsay reports, that attributes to me numerous statements I did not make, and that identifies my name with heretical denials of scriptural authority that are the antithesis of everything I have stood for during the entire span of my career.
This is a serious breach of journalistic trust, and I demand that the editors of the Layman retract the article and issue a printed public apology.
Dr. Mark Achtemeier
University of Dubuque Theological Seminary
Dubuque, Iowa