(EXPRESS) — The Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Rev Nicholas Holtam, thinks Christians need to reinterpret the Bible in the same way they had over the issues of slavery and apartheid.
Bishop Holtam, who was appointed to the role in 2011, said attitudes towards homosexuality have changed “considerably” over the last fifty years and allowing gay marriage would actually strengthen the institution.
In a letter to the Telegraph, he said: “Sometimes Christians have had to rethink the priorities of the Gospel in the light of experience.
“Before Wilberforce, Christians saw slavery as Biblical and part of the God-given ordering of creation. Similarly in South Africa the Dutch Reformed Church supported apartheid because it was Biblical and part of the God-given order of creation.
“No one now supports either slavery or apartheid. The Biblical texts have not changed; our interpretation has.”
