{"id":112823,"date":"2013-10-28T08:57:41","date_gmt":"2013-10-28T12:57:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/?p=112823"},"modified":"2013-10-27T21:59:56","modified_gmt":"2013-10-28T01:59:56","slug":"detroit-paper-ducks-bible-when-female-baptist-bishop-quits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/10\/detroit-paper-ducks-bible-when-female-baptist-bishop-quits\/","title":{"rendered":"Detroit paper ducks Bible when female Baptist bishop quits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I haven\u2019t been around that many Baptists of late, but one of the first things that struck me in The Detroit Free Press<\/em> story<\/a> about Bishop Allyson Nelson Abrams and her departure from the pastorate of Zion Progress Baptist Church was that \u201cbishop\u201d title. <\/p>\n

The leaders of free-church congregations, Baptists included, are free to call their clergy whatever they wish. But how common is that \u201cbishop\u201d title? Maybe a bit of explanation? A sentence at least?<\/p>\n

Then, of course, there is the reason for Abrams\u2019 resignation:<\/p>\n

Facing a backlash from conservatives in her congregation, a noted Christian leader in Detroit resigned Friday from her church after announcing earlier this month she had married a woman.<\/p>\n

Bishop Allyson D. Nelson Abrams stepped down from Zion Progress Baptist Church, where she had served for five years as its first female pastor. Her announcement from the pulpit earlier this month that she had married a woman stunned many local Baptists.<\/p>\n

Abrams\u2019 resignation comes just days after the U.S. District Court in Michigan took up a challenge to the Michigan Marriage Act that bans same sex marriage.<\/p>\n

Abrams, 43, used to be married to a man, but she told congregants Oct. 6 she was in love with Diana Williams, a bishop emeritus with the Imani Temple African-American Catholic Congregation in Washington, D.C., a church that broke off from the Catholic Church. The two married in March in Iowa, where same-sex marriage is legal.<\/p>\n

Given the conservative views of many Baptists on the issue of homosexuality and female pastors, Abrams\u2019 announcement caused an intense debate among local Christians. She said many supported her decision to come out while others opposed her gay marriage. Some urged her to stay with the church, but Abrams said she resigned because she didn\u2019t want to further create division. Some in the congregation had found out about her same-sex marriage before she made her Oct. 6 announcement and were making it an issue that was dividing the church.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You don\u2019t say?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A pastor \u2014 divorced, no less \u2014 goes off and remarries, apparently in secret, and to a person of the same gender. That would make it \u201can issue that was dividing\u201d the congregation, wouldn\u2019t it? <\/p>\n

Of greater journalistic concern, to this reader at least, was the exegesis Abrams gave that was permitted to go unchallenged by any other point of view:<\/p>\n

Abrams cited biblical verses to support the idea that same-sex relationships are allowable under Christian teachings, including Luke 7:1-10, which talks about the love a man has for his male servant.<\/p>\n

Saying that love is a big part of Christianity, Abrams said: \u201cWe all know that we\u2019ve been made in God\u2019s image, and so no matter what you look like, no matter who you are, no matter what your orientation is,\u201d we should be free to love whom we want.<\/p>\n

\u201cLove is something that\u2019s supposed to be unconditional,\u201d she added. \u201cAnd as Christians, if anybody is supposed to be loving, we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abrams, who has a doctorate degree in theology, said her views about love and orientation changed a \u201clittle over a year ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI progressed in my theology and came to the point where I would love whichever came to me. I wasn\u2019t just open to (a specific) gender, I was open to love in whatever way the Lord would bless me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Free Press<\/em> story contains the requisite pro and con voices with clergymen supporting or opposing Abrams\u2019 move. <\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not my main point. Neither cleric discusses Abrams\u2019 take on the biblical Centurion\u2019s relationship with his servant, the subject of the verses from Luke to which the news article refers. Instead, Abrams is again allowed to expand on this point without challenge:<\/p>\n

Abrams said her interpretation of scripture is compatible with same-sex relationships. She said that Greek words used in the Bible, \u201centimos doulos pais,\u201d can be interpreted together to refer to a male lover.<\/p>\n

She acknowledges there can be varying views on this issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have the right to interpret scripture whatever way they please,\u201d she said. \u201cI respect difference of opinions.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But does Abrams respect Greek? According to the\u00a0Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament<\/em>, compiled by the late evangelical scholar Spiros Zodhiates,\u00a0\u00e9ntimos<\/em> is taken to mean \u201chonor, esteem, price. Honored, estimable, dear\u201d in Luke 7:2 and five other passages;\u00a0agap?t\u00f3s<\/em>, which means beloved is not a synonym or defining term used by Zodhiates in connection with this verse.<\/p>\n

It would have been better for readers to have found a scholar or two \u2014 of which there must be one somewhere near Detroit, or at least in Grand Rapids \u2014 who could help with this question. Find scholars on left and right.<\/p>\n

This is too important a matter to leave up in the air, and that\u2019s what the Free Press<\/em> does by allowing Abrams to have, essentially, the last word, or even the only word, on the Word.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I haven\u2019t been around that many Baptists of late, but one of the first things that struck me in The Detroit Free Press story about Bishop Allyson Nelson Abrams and her departure from the pastorate of Zion Progress Baptist Church was that \u201cbishop\u201d title. The leaders of free-church congregations, Baptists included, are free to call […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1629,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59,6,58,11,71,4,1],"tags":[15469,2511,2512,2513],"class_list":["post-112823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-baptists","category-godbeat","category-marriage-family","category-pop-culture","category-same-sex-marriage","category-social-issues","category-uncategorized","tag-baptists","tag-bishop","tag-centurion","tag-luke"],"yoast_head":"\nDetroit paper ducks Bible when female Baptist bishop quits<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I haven't been around that many Baptists of late, but one of the first things that struck me in The Detroit Free Press story about Bishop Allyson Nelson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/10\/detroit-paper-ducks-bible-when-female-baptist-bishop-quits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Detroit paper ducks Bible when female Baptist bishop quits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I haven't been around that many Baptists of late, but one of the first things that struck me in The Detroit Free Press story about Bishop Allyson Nelson\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/10\/detroit-paper-ducks-bible-when-female-baptist-bishop-quits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GetReligion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-10-28T12:57:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-10-28T01:59:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/files\/2013\/10\/bilde-300x287.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Kellner\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Kellner\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/10\/detroit-paper-ducks-bible-when-female-baptist-bishop-quits\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/10\/detroit-paper-ducks-bible-when-female-baptist-bishop-quits\/\",\"name\":\"Detroit paper ducks Bible when female Baptist bishop quits\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-28T12:57:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-10-28T01:59:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/a9959112ba23257dcfe6835566c57be4\"},\"description\":\"I haven't been around that many Baptists of late, but one of the first things that struck me in The Detroit Free Press story about Bishop Allyson Nelson\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/10\/detroit-paper-ducks-bible-when-female-baptist-bishop-quits\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/10\/detroit-paper-ducks-bible-when-female-baptist-bishop-quits\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/10\/detroit-paper-ducks-bible-when-female-baptist-bishop-quits\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Detroit paper ducks Bible when female Baptist bishop quits\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/\",\"name\":\"GetReligion\",\"description\":\""The press . . . just doesn't get religion." - William Schneider\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/a9959112ba23257dcfe6835566c57be4\",\"name\":\"Mark Kellner\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/90be77dcbe574515b2fc93a109021c22?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/90be77dcbe574515b2fc93a109021c22?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark Kellner\"},\"description\":\"Mark Kellner has been interested in religion since his pre-teen years, and has written about religious news actively since 1983. His work regularly appears in Adventist World and Adventist Review magazines, where he is news editor, and in The Washington Times, where he has contributed since 1991, most recently writing about trends in religion. He and his wife reside in the Maryland suburbs, midway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/author\/mkellner\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Detroit paper ducks Bible when female Baptist bishop quits","description":"I haven't been around that many Baptists of late, but one of the first things that struck me in The Detroit Free Press story about Bishop Allyson Nelson","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/10\/detroit-paper-ducks-bible-when-female-baptist-bishop-quits\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Detroit paper ducks Bible when female Baptist bishop quits","og_description":"I haven't been around that many Baptists of late, but one of the first things that struck me in The Detroit Free Press story about Bishop Allyson Nelson","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/10\/detroit-paper-ducks-bible-when-female-baptist-bishop-quits\/","og_site_name":"GetReligion","article_published_time":"2013-10-28T12:57:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-10-28T01:59:56+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/files\/2013\/10\/bilde-300x287.jpg"}],"author":"Mark Kellner","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Kellner","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/10\/detroit-paper-ducks-bible-when-female-baptist-bishop-quits\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/10\/detroit-paper-ducks-bible-when-female-baptist-bishop-quits\/","name":"Detroit paper ducks Bible when female Baptist bishop quits","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-10-28T12:57:41+00:00","dateModified":"2013-10-28T01:59:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/a9959112ba23257dcfe6835566c57be4"},"description":"I haven't been around that many Baptists of late, but one of the first things that struck me in The Detroit Free Press story about Bishop Allyson Nelson","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/10\/detroit-paper-ducks-bible-when-female-baptist-bishop-quits\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/10\/detroit-paper-ducks-bible-when-female-baptist-bishop-quits\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/10\/detroit-paper-ducks-bible-when-female-baptist-bishop-quits\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Detroit paper ducks Bible when female Baptist bishop quits"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/","name":"GetReligion","description":""The press . . . just doesn't get religion." - William Schneider","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/a9959112ba23257dcfe6835566c57be4","name":"Mark Kellner","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/90be77dcbe574515b2fc93a109021c22?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/90be77dcbe574515b2fc93a109021c22?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark Kellner"},"description":"Mark Kellner has been interested in religion since his pre-teen years, and has written about religious news actively since 1983. His work regularly appears in Adventist World and Adventist Review magazines, where he is news editor, and in The Washington Times, where he has contributed since 1991, most recently writing about trends in religion. He and his wife reside in the Maryland suburbs, midway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/author\/mkellner\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1629"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112823\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}