Recently a book came out saying that Christians have a moral and Biblical obligation to accept same sex relationships. No longer does the Bible just tolerate homosexuality, but now it demands that the Church accept it and smile upon it. Here are some responses to the foolishness if you are interested.
Here is a free e-book that includes short chapters by Al Mohler, Denny Burk, and Owen Strachan. I read it this morning and found it helpful in cutting through the fog that these types of books like to put in our minds.
Here is a list by James Hamilton of some of the logical fallacies in the book.
Here James Hamilton calls upon the author to repent and turn from his sins.
Here is a review by Andrew Walker over at Canon and Culture.
These reviews are excellent to remind Christians of what the Bible actually teaches and to strengthen their faith in Christ and trust in the Bible. But it will not convince homosexuals to change. This debate may have been about exegesis at some point in the past, but it no longer is. The Bible is no longer the real authority. The ultimate authority is my own experience. Below is a quote from a liberal New Testament scholar who believes homosexuality is fine. Unlike the author of God and the Gay Christian he is honest. He thinks the Bible is wrong and that his experience his right. All those “Christians” who think homosexuality is fine should just come out and say it as plainly as Luke Timothy Johnson does.
I have little patience with efforts to make Scripture say something other than what it says, through appeals to linguistic or cultural subtleties. The exegetical situation is straightforward: we know what the text says. But what are we to do with what the text says? … I think it important to state clearly that we do, in fact, reject the straightforward commands of Scripture, and appeal instead to another authority when we declare that same-sex unions can be holy and good. And what exactly is that authority? We appeal explicitly to the weight of our own experience and the experience thousands of others have witnessed to, which tells us that to claim our own sexual orientation is in fact to accept the way in which God has created us.
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That’s an astounding quotation there at the end! Where is it from?
Michael, I should have given credit. It was quoted in the free e-book I mentioned in the chapter by Denny Burk. It is from a journal entitled “Commonweal.”