So, I can’t stop thinking about the Phil Robertson thing not because I watch Duck Dynasty (I’ve seen season 1) but because I believe this event like so many others in the past two years is a watershed moment for our society. Just for the record, his anatomical statements were meant to highlight the inherent unnatural nature of gay sex aside from biblical prohibitions. He was right on that point. He included homosexual behavior in a list with bestiality which Leviticus 18 does as well along with incest. And finally, he almost perfectly paraphrased 1 Cor. 6:9-11. These are his offenses. In our society, your choices currently are as follows: 1. “Get in line” (direct quote from gay rights activist speaking on CNN), 2. Be persecuted for accepting the Bible as the inspired Word of God. I pick #2.
Well Bro, it’s been a while since you last posted anything. Missed your observations.
It’s hard to not like the Robertsons, even if’n I ain’t no duck hunter ;o) I appreciate their honesty and simplicity.
It strikes me odd that the network would not have expected Phil to speak in those terms. Very naïve on their part. Just goes to show that the predictability of CofC’ers is still surprising to the culture at large.
Thanks, Tom. I agree about A and E’s naivete. I don’t think Phil’s words reflected the C of C position as much as the position of the Scripture from time immemorial. The naivete which I was attempting to combat was that of members of the religious right who are surprised that the world hates us. In times like these, we are receiving the blessed gift of overt persecution. We must embrace it and stay the course. Satan rarely asks that the church deny Christ outright. There is usually some societal or supposed moral issue over which believers are expected to compromise. In Rome, we were accused of incest and cannibalism. In China, subversion. In America, bigotry. While Fred Phelps has misrepresented Christ, so do Christians who minimize the Bible’s clear teachings on homosexual activity. We want to love gays and win them into the kingdom but when they join we should be able to say with Paul, “such WERE some of you.”
Nathan, do you think that homosexuals generally choose to be homosexual?
No, Tom, I don’t. I have no affinity for sexual contact with other men and don’t think I could choose to if I wanted to. I also do not believe pedophiles choose to to be pedophiles. Do you think God made some people to be attracted to members of the same gender?
No, I do not think God “makes” some people sexually attracted to others of the same gender. I think homosexual attraction, theologically speaking, is a product of the Fall. It is one form of brokenness in human sexuality. I suspect that most, if not all of us, are on a continuum of sexual attraction that can be affected by circumstances–biological/physiological, psychological, sociological, etc.. Also, in focusing on sexuality alone, all of us have some “broken-ness” in that area.
“Sin” is not essentially “transgression of the law”, rather it is missing the bull’s eye of what it is to be fully human as created in the image of God. Perverting/marring that image is like spreading dog dirt on the Mona Lisa.
Well said, sir. I totally agree.