Church of England reaffirms biblical teaching on sex and marriage
'For Christians, marriage – that is the lifelong union between a man and a woman, contracted with the making of vows – remains the proper context for sexual activity... Sexual relationships outside heterosexual marriage are regarded as falling short of God's purposes for human beings. The introduction of same sex marriage... has not changed the church's teaching on marriage or same sex relationships.'
More pastorally, it adds: 'In its approach to civil partnerships the Church seeks to uphold that standard, to affirm the value of committed, sexually abstinent friendships and to minister sensitively and pastorally to those Christians who conscientiously decide to order their lives differently.'
Newspaper coverage and comments on social media have largely been some combination of hostile to this restatement of traditional biblical teaching and incredulous that the Church has not moved with the...
