Church of England supports Catholic position on homosexual adoption

"The Church" doesn't mean just the local congregation. When Christ said "Upon this Rock I will build my church," he didn't just mean a local congregation in Capernaum or Caesarea Phillipi or Jerusalem: He meant the People of God assembled: assembled around the Apostles and their successors. Likewise when St. Paul called the Church "the foundation and pillar of the Truth," he meant God's household, which is a lot bigger than a local congregation.

You got it right by capitalizing Rock. The Rock the church is built on is Christ, the Rock of our salvation. The Church is likely to be much bigger than a local congregation, but that does not change what Paul wrote to the Colossians. He did not say "sit on your hand until I get there to tell you what to do", he said "what's the matter with you that you lack to faith to judge these matters for yourselves". Maybe I missed it, but it sure looks to me in that passage that he NEVER told them what to do, he had confidence that the Holy Spirit would guide their judgment, didn't he?

Deu 32:4 "The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.

Peter and the Apostles were hardly perfect.

Mat 16:23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's."

It certainly must have this wider, singular sense: because the Church is the Bride of Christ, and I don't think He means He has a harem.

Indeed, the Church of God is the Bride of Christ. She is very easy to identify, too.

2Co 11:2 For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.

Rev 12:17 So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

The words "rock" and "stone" and "foundation" are used to identify God himself, and Christ, and God-appointed, Christ-appointed founders: the 12 sons of Israel (Exodus 28:21), the 12 Apostles (Rev. 21:14); the "apostles and prophets" (Eph 2:20); and all of us believers (1 Peter 2:5): "you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house."

It doesn't make sense, by the way, for Christ to re-name Simon Bar-Jonah Rock, telling him "upon this Rock I will build my church," if He meant somebody or something else. It would be like saying, "I'm naming you General so you can be a supply sergeant." That would make the name-change pretty pointless. Christ is obviously explaining to Cephas (Rock) what his name means and the role he will play in the name of Christ, Who is, of course, The Rock, the ultimate foundation.

We've wandered kinda far from the original topic, haven't we? Looks like the Catholic Church in the U.K. is refusing to place children with adoptive parents who are openly sexually disordered, and the Anglicans are supporting them. Have you heard anything from the rest of the Christians over there? I haven't heard a peep.

It doesn't make sense, by the way, for Christ to re-name Simon Bar-Jonah Rock, telling him "upon this Rock I will build my church," if He meant somebody or something else. It would be like saying, "I'm naming you General so you can be a supply sergeant." That would make the name-change pretty pointless. Christ is obviously explaining to Cephas (Rock) what his name means and the role he will play in the name of Christ, Who is, of course, The Rock, the ultimate foundation.

I believe the previous verse shows the answer. Simon got named Peter because God revealed Christ's identity as the Rock through him. A close examination shows that Petros and petra are different words, well different genders of the same word. Why would Christ change genders if he was talking about the same guy? (Mat 16:19) is also strange. It doesn't say "here are the keys to heaven", it says "I WILL give you the keys". How in the world would Jesus give away the keys to heaven to someone who not only hadn't ever been there, but would go on to deny Him 3 times? I also don't think you can have your cake and eat it, too. You can't say Peter is the foundation of the church and then not say he is Satan at the same time. (Mat 16:23) Also, isn't it strange that nowhere else in the Bible does anyone show Peter this level of respect? Paul writes his letters directly to churches, he doesn't send his letters to Peter for approval and have him forward them on, does he?

Now, back to the point of the thread:

Did you catch this line from the article?

If he stands by the gay lobby, he risks alienating hundreds of thousands of Catholic voters, says The Times report.

I think the "hundreds of thousands" is a bit of a stretch. The Christian Lobby in Europe is tiny and insignificant. It also assumes all the Catholics are voting for the Labour Party - yeah right. This article is akin to John Kerry or Nancy Pelosi wringing their hands over losing the Catholic/Christian vote.

A close examination shows that Petros and petra are different words, well different genders of the same word. Why would Christ change genders if he was talking about the same guy? (Mat 16:19) is also strange.

I don't want to co-opt this thread. But I'll say this and then shut up about it: a) he switched genders because you can't call a man by a feminine name, and b) it's clear Our Lord is taking to Peter because the Greek original has "this SAME rock"--"touto". One thing that may be instructive is to look at the way Greek speakers themselves interpret it.

Anyway, I'm inclined to agree with you that the archbishop's language is a little mealy (and widens the door for all kinds of fake applications of conscience), but even so I'm thankful for the support.

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