One In Jesus

Seven honest post cards.

And seven more.

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Some time ago, a reader asked me to comment on the theological arguments made in Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays-vs.-Christians Debate by Justin Lee.

Torn is not primarily a theological work, but speaks more to the emotional and social issues of being gay while being Christian. But Lee ultimately concludes that he can engage in homosexual activity while being a committed Christian based on his reading of the scriptures. And that’s a conclusion that deserves serious investigation.

(I’ll try to avoid repeating scriptural arguments made in recent posts of this series.) Continue reading →

Stanley Hauerwas is a very influential theologian among contemporary evangelicals. His theology is rooted in the Anabaptist tradition (He’s a Neo-Anabaptist), and he’s had a huge influence on the thinking of many writers and thinkers.

He’s a professor at Duke University, a Methodist (originally), and far from a fundamentalist. He has some challenging things to say about modern Christian notions of sexuality. This is from Duke Magazine (Jan. - Feb. 2002). (I found the following thanks to “With and Against the Grain,” by Branson Parler.) Continue reading →

[Thanks to Ed Stetzer.]

[Thanks to Christianity Today]

[This is rewritten from a comment I posted a few days ago.]

There are, of course, many factors pushing marriage rates down in the West, and there have been for years. They largely fit within the rubric of “marriage is but a social construct.” And each time society pushes further in that direction, the marriage rate goes down. It’s not uniquely homosexual marriage. Rather, homosexual marriage is just the most recent sharp nail being driven into the coffin of traditional marriage. Continue reading →

Paul’s arguments regarding God “giving up” or “giving over” are indeed controversial.

N. T. Wright necessarily made himself an expert on the topic because, as an Anglican bishop, he served on the Lambert Commission that considered division resulting from the ordination of Gene Robinson, a practicing homosexual, as bishop of Boston.

Moreover, Wright is generally considered the greatest scholar on Paul living today. Therefore, we should take his thoughts very seriously. After all, he’s part of a denomination in which many leaders would prefer that he approve homosexuality activity. But Wright feels compelled by the Scriptures to find that Paul does not approve homosexuality at all. Indeed, Wright concludes that Paul sees homosexuality as symptomatic of a society that has turned away from the true God and toward idolatry. Continue reading →

This brings us to –

(Rom 1:21-23 ESV)  ²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  ²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools,  ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Paul sees world history in terms of Genesis. Adam and Eve were originally God-fearers, but they chose to disobey. Over time, their descendants forgot God and chose to worship idols instead. Continue reading →