I mentioned yesterday that I am in New Orleans this week to deliver a paper on homosexuality at the Evangelical Theological Society. Yesterday I came across an article that relates to the subject matter of that paper. In an interview with Details magazine, gay actor Ian McKellen says that he tears pages out of Bibles that he finds in hotel rooms. Some of the Bible pages are hung up in his bathroom as toilet paper. Here’s the exchange:
Interviewer: Is it true that when you stay at hotels you tear out the Bible page that condemns homosexuality?
Ian McKellen: I do, absolutely. I’m not proudly defacing the book, but it’s a choice between removing that page and throwing away the whole Bible. And I’m not really the first: I got delivered a package of 40 of those pages—Leviticus 18:22—that had been torn out by a married couple I know. They put them on a bit of string so that I could hang it up in the bathroom.
Interviewer: So did you?
Ian McKellen: It is in the bathroom, yes, but it’s too much of a curiosity to actually put to use.
What a futile enterprise. One would have to tear out far more than Leviticus 18:22 if one wanted to eliminate the pages that relate to this topic. One would have to tear out Genesis 1 and 2 where God first sets forth His creational purposes for male and female (Genesis 2:24). One would have to tear out Genesis 19 and Judges 19 where the first homosexual transgressions of that norm are manifest. Then one would have to tear out Exodus 20 and the command not to commit adultery (Exodus 20:14; cf. Deuteronomy 5:18; Matthew 5:27-28). One would then have to tear out every one of Jesus’ affirmations of Genesis 2 that establish the monogamous heterosexual union of a man and woman as the norm for human sexuality (Matthew 19:5; Mark 10:7-8). Then one would have to tear out Paul’s affirmations of the same (1 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 5:31) and his explicit proscriptions of homosexual behavior (Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:10). One would have to tear out the entire fabric of biblical theology to suppress this point.
One final note. Are biblical scholars who employ clever hermeneutical maneuvers to relativize the Bible’s teaching on human sexuality any better off than those who tear pages out of the Bible? I think not. And that’s the argument I will be making in my paper tomorrow.
McKellen’s protest is tragic beyond words. And it ought to evoke our compassion as much as anything. We should pray that McKellen would see the Bible for the treasure that it is (Psalm 119:97-104) and that he would see Christ for the treasure that He is (Philippians 3:7-11).
This account is indication that even those outside the Christian camp understand that the Bible and homosexuality are not compatible. This action is deplorable, but more intellectually honest that the juggling done by some who want to cling to both Christianity and homosexuality.
I agree with Frank. At least the guy is intellectually honest. I have to put with this hoolah-hoop hermeneutics with some people at the school I go to just to justify their approval of something that is clearly condemned in the Holy Scriptures.
Say it ain’t so, Gandalf.
“I’m not proudly defacing the book, but it’s a choice between removing that page and throwing away the whole Bible.”
I am completely unproud of wiping my butt with pages of the Bible that I don’t like, but unfortunately I am under moral obligation.
-Ian McKellen
This is sad. He can’t even admit that he is just so full of hatred for God that he has to soft-peddle it.
Yet God can cause him to be born again and find repentance. Let’s pray that he does.
I think a Communist country accepted some Bibles and later they showed up as toilet paper, but the bleaching was cheap, so people could actually read parts from the TP, what a way to distribute the word of God.
Also, I think it would be saddest if he was totally apathetic.
I agree with you Dr. Burke. And maybe I’m being too critical… but is he flipping off the photographer in the picture? It would be consistent with his attitude if indeed that is what he is so slyly doing.
Yep, political correctness reaches not only to art and statistics but to Scripture. One of the saddest parts of the whole situation is that if certain professed Christians hadn’t delivered trth without love we might not be in this mess.
Ron: That depends on whether his ring-finger is straight. Since it’s not visible, I’m prone to think he hid it just to provoke this discussion.
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What a sad depiction of a great actor. It did strike me though how on various topics believers like to do the same thing. We rip out pages that we don’t like or understand. Maybe not literally rip them out, but in our hearts and minds. We can try to justify certain behavior that we are are convicted about and if we can’t proof-text it, then we sometimes just “rip it out” and ignore it.
“if certain professed Christians hadn’t delivered trth without love we might not be in this mess.”
Could you explain what you mean, Chris? Maybe I misunderstand, but you appear to be falling into the false belief that if Christians just presented the Gospel with roses and tea, the world would believe. People reject the Truth no matter how “loving” it may sound. Christ came to make enemies just as He came to make friends. The Gospel forces people to make a decision… some are forced to reject, some forced to accept. No one is neutral. Blame Christ for Gandalf’s behavior, not Christians.
That said, in some cases Christians would do well to present the Gospel while devoid of personal disdain for sinners.
“People will hate you”, is a promise from Christ. When people revile Christians it is not an automatic indicator that the Christian is unloving, it is typically an indicator that the Christian is preaching the Gospel.
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