The Doctrine commission of the Diocese of Sydney has launched its report on same-sex marriage in book form.

The report, Human Sexuality and the 'Same Sex Marriage' Debate, was commissioned by the then Archbishop Peter Jensen in 2012. Since then the eight members of the Doctrine Commission have grappled with a mountain of material.

According to the commission chairman, Moore College principal the Rev Canon Dr Mark Thompson, the group sought to read the most substantial and influential material from both sides.

“Nothing is to be gained in this debate by creating straw men or women – on either side – or simply by repeating tribal shibboleths,” Dr Thompson says in the report’s introduction. “It was particularly important to each of us to read with generosity and sympathy the contributions of those, both inside and outside the circle of Christian faith and fellowship, who most seriously and strongly disagreed with us.”

The report’s authors stress this is a document designed for Christians and not a polemic for the debate in the general public. It was officially launched this month in a special printed edition available at cepstore.com.au for a cover price of $16.95. It will later be published as an ebook.

There’s an also extensive summary of the commission’s work in the March edition of the Sydney Diocese newspaper, Southern Cross.

Archbishop Glenn Davies is urging Sydney Anglicans to read the report and consider it carefully.

“I want people to understand the biblical arguments for maintaining marriage as God created it. That’s the prime thing,” the Archbishop says. “This is a matter of honouring the God who created marriage and therefore understanding why he created it and how we can best use it for the way in which it was designed and for the betterment of our community.

“Unless ordinary Christians become light and salt in their society, standards will slip and same-sex marriage will be adopted by society without thinking through the ramifications, the significance of marriage and the consequences.”

Archdeacon Kara Hartley, a member of the Doctrine Commission, agrees it should be read widely.

“There are those who have grown up having known homosexual behaviour is wrong, then there are those who have grown up in this era of change – particularly in the public perception – where there is not only change but now full acceptance,” she says. “They are trying to work [it] out. Yes, they know from their Bible and statements from church leaders that homosexual practice is wrong in God’s sight, but they are told in the media ‘It’s just about people loving each other and what’s the problem with that?’ Trying to marry those two things is really hard when public opinion is now turned so dramatically and how to defend God – which is what people want to do – they are not sure how to do that.”

“I think [the report] should help people be confident they can engage in the conversation and on this topic,” Archdeacon Hartley says. 

The report has chapters on the development of same sex marriage as a social issue, biblical views on marriage and a chapter on how Christians can engage in debate.

Another member of the commission, the Bishop of South Sydney, Robert Forsyth Bishop Robert Forsyth, has explained the Christian position in countless media appearances, and observes that “This debate is like an iceberg, in which there’s a little tip and then there are big, deep assumptions underneath. It’s easy when speaking with people to find yourself in a situation where you are arguing with a whole lot of assumptions that the other person has taken which are not even acknowledged by them. The only way to move forward is to go deeper and work on what is beneath the surface."

“I’m not asking Christians to go on a crusade but at some point they’ll need to explain wisely and winsomely what it is about marriage and human sexuality that makes us say no, this is not the way a disciple of Christ should live, in homosexual behaviour, and to call it marriage is a fundamental error.”