Thoughts on ethics, society, politics, religion, philosophy, theology, and everything in between
The ethical status of homosexual behavior continues to be one of the most controversial theological issues in the Western Church. Some denominations adopt an “affirming” position and give their blessing on same-sex marriages, other denominations hold firmly to the traditional position, and other denominations divide and split over the issue. I have already discussed the … Read more
Before examining what Jesus and the apostles have to say about the topic of homosexuality, we should first examine the teachings of the Old Testament on the topic, since this provides the background for understanding what the New Testament authors have to say about it. There are two Old Testament texts which explicitly forbid homosexual … Read more
The Ethical Consequences of Progressive Christianity It is no secret that progressive Christianity’s abandonment of historic Christian orthodoxy is often motivated by a desire to be free of the constraints of traditional Christian sexual ethics. While the Church has always believed that human sexuality should be expressed either through celibacy or through a lifelong covenant … Read more
Obsessed with Sex? The contemporary Church is way too obsessed with sexual morality. It wastes so much time and energy preaching an extreme, prudish standard of sexual ethics, rather than focusing on more important ethical issues. Obviously, justice is much more important than chastity. Insisting on the extreme, traditional standards of Christian sexual ethics does … Read more
Transgenderism is the phenomenon of people choosing to identify as a gender other than their biological sex. Various controversies about how to respond to this phenomenon have caused transgenderism to become a hot button political, social, and moral issue in contemporary American culture. For example, if a person identifies as transgender, should they be allowed … Read more
According to traditional Christian teaching, divorce is an evil which can be justified, if at all, only in rare circumstances, such as when one’s spouse is guilty of adultery. There was a time in our civilization when this Christian teaching about divorce was dominant. Marriage was understood to be a lifelong commitment, and divorce was … Read more
In the last three entries in this series, I examined what Scripture has to say about homosexual behavior, and concluded that: 1) the Old Testament forbids all homosexual behavior among God’s people, 2) we have no reason at all to think that Jesus would have been in favor of modifying this Old Testament teaching, and … Read more
The majority of Christians who believe that the Church should approve of homosexual behavior acknowledge that the apostle Paul teaches the homosexual behavior is wrong; they argue that, for other biblical and theological reasons, the Church should now approve of homosexual behavior in spite of this.[1]See, for example “Homosexuality and the Bible” by William Loader, … Read more
It is very common for Christians who believe that the Church should approve of homosexual behavior to point to the teachings and example of Jesus in support of their position. Jesus, they argue, never said anything about homosexuality being wrong. Therefore, the Church should not condemn it. Furthermore, Jesus did not condemn tax collectors, prostitutes, … Read more