Biblical Perspectives, Vol. 32 No. 1, 2024.
Original scientific paper
The Christian Debate on Same-Sex Marriage and Taylor’s Immanent and Transcendent Goods: Lessons from Adventist Approaches
David J. Hamstra
; PhD candidate in theological and historical studies at Andrews University
Abstract
Arguments for and against the recognition of same-sex marriage within Christian communities rely on the typical moral background understandings of immanent and transcendent goods identified by Charles Taylor in his book A Secular Age. Arguments presented solely in terms of the immanent goods of marriage have the potential to undermine the credibility of the unique Adventist conception of transcendent good: an apocalyptic consciousness focused on the imminent renewal of Eden to be brought about by Jesus Christ at His second coming. Comparing marriage to different sets of Sabbath observance customs—those that offer benefits exclusively in this world and those that aim at goods beyond it—brings to the forefront the availability of a moral background within Adventist ethics that is closed to transcendent goods. However, practices that involve the renunciation of immanent goods for the transcendent good of a restored Eden can be authentically sustained through communal recognition. Adventism should develop such practices of recognition to mitigate the losses suffered by gay, lesbian, and bisexual Adventists who sacrifice for traditional marriage as a transcendent good, and to strengthen a fuller sense of meaning found in self-denial for the sake of the soon-coming Savior.
Keywords
apocalypticism; Sabbath; same-sex marriage; Adventists
Hrčak ID:
331462
URI
Publication date:
30.5.2025.
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