Jesus Christ: The Always Gift for All Our Days [from 2019 study of J.I. Packer]

Posted on December 25, 2023 by St. John Studies

I have had the pleasure of reading the Bible through a few times, but as you know, it is a complex book.  The Word of God provided a challenge to me [as I am sure, to you].  Some parts remain deeply ingrained in memory while other parts do not.  No one can expect to remember it all [or for that matter, understand it all].  Recently I was asked to read Scripture for my church on the third Sunday of Advent. I was asked to read Mary’s response to Elizabeth’s blessing in Luke 1: 46-56.  I decided to really do some serious study prior to my reading, so I could understand the magnitude of the Scripture and the context of Mary’s response. 

I found that I did not recall the context at all.  I did not recall that Elizabeth [the wife of Zechriah] was pregnant with her baby [John the Baptist] when she blessed Mary.  I did not know that when Mary encountered Elizabeth, Elizabeth’s baby was filled with the Holy Spirit and leaped for joy in her womb.  I did not recall that Elizabeth was far beyond child-bearing years and Zechariah had received an Angelic visit with the announcement that his wife was to have a son.

When I taught Sunday school the morning of my reading, I taught on the “Secret of the Christian Life.”  That secret is the secret of joy.  This was on the third Sunday in Advent, the Sunday when the Advent candle is pink, the liturgical color for joy.  I opened my class with “Fa La La La La” and I kept repeating that happy Welsh refrain from Deck the Halls.  I kept repeating it until several class members joined in [forced joyfulness?].

I asked tough questions like “What about your life right now is stealing your joy?”  I asked “Why should a Christian be joyful?”  Squirmy questions.  I often ask indirect questions, questions that can prompt a comfortable response that does not reveal things personal things.  I have even used rhetorical questions which are statements that are posed in the form of questions: no reply necessary.  On this Sunday I let the squirmy questions come out.

Why do we not approach the Christmas season with joy?  Some would say that it is a cultural problem.  We are influenced too much by “the world” which expects a big, glossy, loud and fast Christmas.  Turn on the television and you see it on the commercials and in many Christmas shows and movies.  We have to be ultimately happy and of course, the more presents we get under the tree, the happier we will be.  Christmas is a mad dash to purchase gifts, the more dear a person is in your life, the more difficult it is to buy them the “perfect” gift.  We wind up spending way too much money, wasting way too much time and for what? 

I truly do not know.

Ann Voskamp** says that at Christmas, we spend too much time at the foot of the Christmas tree.  We think we can understand the story of Christmas there.  Instead she thinks we should try to spend time at the Jesse Tree.  At that tree we will find hope; we will find true joy.

Isaiah 1 recounts the story of the tree [which really represents the family tree of Jesus]: “Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—yes a Branch bearing fruit from the old root….In that day the heir to David’s throne will be a banner of civilization to all the world.  The nations will rally to Him, and the land where He lives will be a glorious place.”

Imagine our obsession with that big real or fake evergreen.  Replace that with a stump.

What a contrast.

Imagine our obsession with what the world tells us to do during Christmas:  go for the big, glossy, loud and fast.  Instead focus on the miracles that are within each of us, focus on making time and space for Christ in the Christmas season, focus on being defiant in the face of a world that seems insane and too stressed.  Wait for the coming Christ.  Wait……..

What a contrast.

From out of that stump grows a sprig, a hopeful spring, a sign that hope still exists, is alive and well in this world.

The gift that really matters is coming; the gift of Jesus Christ.   On Christmas day we celebrate the greatest gift.  On Christmas day the Light comes into the world,  the Light that shines in all the dark places of this world, all the dark places in our hearts. 

When Christmas comes, the Jesus candle burns brightest, burns hot, gives its light to the world.  The greatest gift comes into the world for you and for me.  Christ came into the world for all of us; we come into the world for Him.

Like the shepherds at the manger, when we consider what we have been given, we want to spread the word to the world.  “When you’re a manger tramp who came with nothing but your ragged heart and leaned in close over that crèche, when you’ve beheld His glory, the white heat of a Love like this; who doesn’t tramp out of the manger and into the world with a glowing heart like hot embers in your chest?  A heart like this could catch the world on fire” [Voskamp, 258].  

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given” [Isaiah 9: 6].

When Christmas comes, we get our greatest gift….

God is with us…

“Christ, the always Gift for all our days.”***

When Christmas comes, we understand Christian joy.

Christ the Christian’s secret…Christ, the source of our joy…

*Commenting on J.I. Packer’s book Knowing God has been challenging.  Since beginning this blog on December 30, 2014 with Kyle Idleman’s AHA!, I realize how far it has come.  Idleman’s thoughts are exemplary, full of well-intended discussion of the “aha” moments we can find in our spiritual lives but Packer’s work is much more dense, more thorough and more complex.  I began in 2014 by posting almost every day.  Recently I have been posting on a weekly basis and that is ok, because Knowing God is so difficult.  Recently I have been commenting on chapters that are the hardest to comment on; “God the Judge” is not full of “happy” news as we have had to confront the fact that Jesus Christ will decide if our body of earthly work is good enough for salvation or condemnation. At this Christmas season, I have decided to suspend our discussion for one post because the next chapter is “The Wrath of God.”  I would like to be uplifting in my thoughts five days before the birth of Jesus.  Hopefully the discussion in today’s post will be acceptable for all who follow this blog and to anyone who visits…

**author of The Greatest Gift

***Voskamp, The Greatest Gift, 259.

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Kevin DeYoung’s “Ought Nots”

Posted on December 19, 2023 by St. John Studies

It is time to examine the issue of homosexuality and Christianity and how Scripture addresses this from another point of view.  As I indicated in the previous post, Peter Gomes is playing what I would describe as a “long game.”  He points out “hard texts” where Christians have taken Scripture and gotten it wrong [e.g. prohibition of alcohol, slavery and the Bible and Anti-Semitism and the Christian faith].  His line of reasoning is inductive, essentially that all these examples are misinterpretations so LGBTQ+ condemnation is also a misinterpretation.  This line of reasoning takes some time as case after case is built one on others, but it is time to look at another point of view that I would describe as direct, Kevin DeYoung and his discussion of Romans 1: 18-32.

Today Romans 1: 18-32 is considered a “text of terror” among LGBTQ+ people.  Some Christians have used Paul’s epistle to bolster their arguments against same-sex marriage, transgender identity, and adoption and parenting by LGBTQ+ people.  Whereas Gomes would decry this type of interpretation, DeYoung uses this text to support his view.

Note how DeYoung starts Chapter 4 of his book* entitled “The Romans Road in the Wrong Direction.”  “The most detailed and significant treatment of homosexuality is found in the first chapter of the most important letter in the history of the world.  Romans 1 reinforces with unambiguous clarity all that we’ve seen up to this point from the Old Testament; namely, that homosexual practice is a serious sin and a violation of God’s created order” [DeYoung, 49].

That phrase “created order” is the crux of DeYoung’s argument.  The “wrath of God” is reserved for all men who are ungodly and unrighteous.  God has given man the path of righteous living through the message of the Gospel.  That message is our guide as we know we cannot be saved by faith apart from knowledge of The Scripture.  God does not condemn the innocent and the ignorant, but “none are innocent because none are wholly ignorant” [50].  Righteous behavior is known by the “the law written on our hearts” and observation of the natural [God made] world.  What the Apostle Paul is saying is that we live in a fallen world.

Wasting no time, DeYoung turns to verses 21-23 where he elaborates upon Paul’s message that ungodly men exchange the glory of the Lord for the “foolishness of idolatry” [v. 23]  We should give thanks for God’s creation for that creation itself guides us in our behavior.  Verses 24-25 talks about lusts that lead man astray.  Lust causes man to perform more and more ungodly behavior, especially sexual immorality. By doing so, man dishonors a wonderful gift from God, the human body.

Verses 26 and 27 deal directly with behaviors contrary to the “natural order,” the idea of same sex intimacy.  DeYoung says “in Paul’s mind same-sex intimacy is an especially clear illustration of the idolatrous human impulse to turn away from God’s order and design” [52].  The main issue here is that turning from the natural heterosexual relationship to same-sex relationships that is a move toward the unnatural.  Paul is blunt and so is DeYoung:  people who are capable of heterosexuality “become dissatisfied with their usual sexual activity, lust after new experiences and seek out homosexual encounters….Homosexual behavior is a sin….Every passion directed toward illegitimate ends is considered excessive and lacking in self-control” [DeYoung, 53].  DeYoung considers the basis for Paul’s argument the idea that homosexual behavior is “contrary to nature.”

The Creator of the world set this world in place.  The creation is a plan that anyone can see in the world of animals, birds and creeping things.  Man is part of this created world and man should follow God’s created order.  When man does not follow that order, he is following a lie and should feel shame.  Hence “homosexual practice is sinful because it violates the divine design in creation” [DeYoung, 55].

Paul goes further in expressing his thought about this sinful practice.  Verses 28 through 32 condemn same-sex practice in very strong terms.  People who do not acknowledge God and practice debased behavior are “full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness.  They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless…[they] deserve to die.”

“They deserve to die.”

Is there a stronger condemnation than that? 

Now I must admit that Paul is not focusing solely on same-sex behavior as “the only sin.”  He’s not.  He points to same-sex intimacy as an example of a heinous sin.  In the larger context of his argument he, is really saying that everyone is guilty of sin; we all fall short of the standard that God expects and the model that Jesus Christ presented for us in His life here on earth.  In the larger context, he is making a case for the fact that we all need a Savior. 

Revisionist theologians point out that excess was the real problem that Paul speaks about.  Excessive use of same-sex intimacy was the real problem that Paul was addressing.  Paul was also trying to set a trap for the super-righteous Pharisees who felt their behavior was beyond reproach. 

DeYoung says no to that.  “There is no way to rescue Paul from his strong condemnation of homosexual behavior.  We can’t make unclean mean ritually impure.  We can’t make contrary to nature mean out of the ordinary….We can’t make this text about nothing more than pederasty, exploitation, or excess passion.”

DeYoung looks at the Apostle Paul and Romans 1 and unleashes the “terror.”  Is it a message that is friendly to LGBTQ+ individuals that seek acceptance by all Christian Churches?  It is not friendly at all.  It is condemning.

Whereas Gomes slowly works toward his message of reconciliation of same-sex behavior and Christian faith, DeYoung says no, this will not work.  The last lines of Chapter 4 express his views is no uncertain terms:  “God’s people ought not engage in homosexual behavior or give approval to those who do.”

*What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality?

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Don’t Lose Sight

Posted on December 16, 2023 by St. John Studies

As I jump from one author to another, I feel I have to post a “Don’t Lose Sight” post. 

I have just spent three posts on Peter Gomes and his book entitled The Good Book.

Gomes is an author who represents a particular view, a view that is “friendly” to the LGBTQ+ community in the Christian church. 

My comments in those posts had to do with Anti-Semitism in the Christian community, but it is imperative to know that Gomes has a bigger idea in mind. He is trying to produce some “wiggle room” within Scripture for his eventual argument that this is nothing wrong with LGBTQ+ people in the church. After all, Gomes was a gay pastor of Harvard’s Memorial Church. 

Essentially what Gomes is doing is arguing that Christians have taken God’s word and have used it against others. Essentially, there are instances when Christians have not gotten “it” right. Is this what we have done to homosexual people?

Kevin DeYoung says no.

In fact DeYoung presents the exact opposite viewpoint from Peter Gomes. Scripture does not have it wrong. Homosexual behavior must be condemned.

Don’t lose sight of what I am doing here. I am trying to understand this controversial issue of the day by looking at the opinions of three authors: Peter Gomes in The Good Book, Kevin DeYoung in What does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? and Preston Sprinkle People to be Loved: Why Homosexuality is not Just an Issue.

In my next post, we move from “friendly” to extremely unfriendly– Pastor Kevin DeYoung.

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God’s Word and Antisemitism: Abuse by the Powerful and Ignorant

Posted on December 6, 2023 by St. John Studies

Peter Gomes has spent six chapters of his book entitled The Good Book trying to convince the reader that some people have used God’s book to do evil in this world.  As a country, we banned alcohol consumption on Scripture that did not exist.  As a country [especially southern slaveholders] we tried to justify the practice of chattel slavery.  As a faith, he states that Christians use scripture to justify Anti-Semitism.*

Gomes says Christians have done that very thing.

In the previous post “Say it Ain’t So” [November 27] Gomes provides evidence that Anti-Semitism is alive and well in the Christian community. 

In this post, we will ask how can that be?

Recently, I have hungered to return to Bible reading on a regular basis, but I have not felt comfortable with how I have been reading the Bible.  Bible reading plans are ok; they push you through The Text at a pace that is comfortable.  The Bible can be broken down into small parts and one can easily read through all of the Scriptures in one year.  But what is lacking is a deeper understanding.  Over the years, I have been more motivated to meet my daily goal than always understanding the The Text.  Some Scripture bears closer reading, serious interpretation, even meditation.  A Bible plan reader can read the words but can forget to ask what do the words mean.  Helps are available but often they are quite simple, written to express a little extra meaning but not too much.  After all, most of us are not trained theologians, people who have been to seminary to learn the art of hermeneutics** or the skills of exegesis.***

How does this all relate to Anti-Semitism?  Gomes says that Christians who dislike Jews should not turn to the Bible for support.

Since the Second World War and the massive extermination of six million Jews by the Third Reich, much has been done to dispel the idea that any human being could justify this mass murder.  No one in the Christian community would state that Hitler helped rid the world of people who were responsible for the death of Jesus Christ.  That statement is just too horrible.  But the confusing facts are there.  Some Christians point to the idea that the Jews who demanded Christ be crucified did do just that.  Some Christians [like Bailey Smith from the previous post] think that God does not answer the prayer of the Jew because they don’t recognize Jesus as Messiah.  Some Christians know of the violent acts perpetrated by Christians on Jews [even though some refuse to own that history].  Gomes points to the German soldiers who were Christians at Auschwitz, conducting the work of extermination and taking weekly communion in the Catholic parish church.

Confusing, very, very confusing…

Gomes writes that Christians need to have a serious, close study of the Bible.  Anti-Judaism was evident in the New Testament but one has to ask why.  Taking Scripture out of context allows all kinds of meanings to emerge, but trying to read Scripture in context helps one to understand the source of Anti-Semitism.  Jesus was a Jew and He did not come to earth to provide an impetus for the destruction of His own people.  He came to earth to show that the Jewish status quo was wrong.  The Jewish religious leadership sought to maintain their status and power over their people rather than inspire their people to lead devout, God-fearing lives.   They put their own power-hungry need above God and Jesus knew that.  Was He critical of their role in Jewish society?  Yes He was, but a careful, thoughtful interpretation of Scripture can find nothing that would say that Jesus wanted Jewish leaders exterminated.  He just wanted them to do their jobs correctly.  He wanted them to lead their followers to God.

One turns to Paul and his comments regarding Jewish regulations and the needs of Christian converts.  Did he disagree that some Jewish laws [e.g. circumcision] should not apply to the Christian?  Yes he did, but does that mean he advocates that Jews were wrong in their thinking?  Gomes writes “the Torah of the Jews was, and remains, the way of salvation for them.  Paul’s argument is that the cross of Jesus is to Gentiles what the Torah is to the Jews and that both are means to salvation and righteousness…. Paul’s good news was never intended to be bad news for Jewish people” [Gomes 116-117].   Paul never argued that Jews had to embrace Christ but he did argue that God spoke to the Jews through the Torah.  God also speaks to Christians through the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  

Of course, my discussion of these matters is just cursory.  Biblical scholars have been applying their learned approaches to Scripture for some time now, especially since the Second World War.  Gomes says that they have worked very hard to get back to the root of Anti-Semitism in the Christian faith.  My discussion does not do their work justice. 

Within Chapter Six of Gomes’ book he has a subtitle.  His title for Chapter Six is “The Bible and Anti-Semitism” but one of his subtitles is “Could We Have Got It Wrong?”  That’s exactly what he is saying in his discussion.  When it comes to the idea that Christians should have Anti-Semitic feelings, yes we have got it wrong.  “Paul would be appalled at Bailey Smith or with anyone else who said that the prayers of the Jew did not reach the ears of God.  What utterly silly and profoundly unbiblical nonsense” [119].

People have always and will always be prone to act on such nonsense as we see in our world today.  Some opinionated “talking head” on television expresses his idea as if it is news and people change their minds.  A politician spews hatred and leads people to commit violent acts.  Websites promulgate falsehoods that support certain viewpoints and those viewpoints provide mental foundation for human behavior.

Too often, people do not take the time to examine the information that flows their way.  They read and they react.  Would all Christians be better served by reading God’s word in a more careful manner?  It matters what the New Testament writers meant, what they meant in the timeframe when they said it.  We cannot take writings from so long ago and just forget the context. 

There are those that posit that God’s word is timeless and I agree with that to a degree.  But I also know that God’s word can be misused by individuals who have an agenda.  We have seen that too much in human history.  It is hard to own up to this fact, but to ignore it is to turn our backs on how human beings can do gruesome things to other human beings. 

Yes, in my opinion, one of the most deadly uses of God’s word is when it is combined with people who are powerful and people who are ignorant.

*Let us not lose sight that Gomes was a homosexual and he will continue his theme of the misuse of “The Good Book” in future discussions of women in the church and homosexuals in the church.

**hermeneutics is the methodology of interpreting biblical texts, a discipline that deals with the art of understanding the word of the Bible.

***exegesis is the detailed analysis of the biblical text, focusing on its context and its historical background.

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“Say it Ain’t So!” Christians Hated Jews?

Posted on November 27, 2023 by St. John Studies

In this blog I could not ignore the fact that Israel is now very much in the news.  The whole Israel-Hamas war [if that is the proper name for the conflict] has been on the minds of many around the world.  I felt I should acknowledge this war in my last post* and caution any reader who runs across my ideas that the situation there is not simple.  It is certainly not easy to comprehend.  It may also not be easy to “pick sides” as war often kills innocent civilians.  Some would say that this current conflict is rooted in the long-standing hatred for the Jewish state that was created in 1948 when Israel was declared a nation by the United Nations.  The “losers” in 1948 were the Palestinians who had to give up part of their territory when Israel was created.  At that time, the Palestinians were under the control of Great Britain and when British troops withdrew in 1948, the first Palestinian-Israeli war began.  The Palestinian state was never an independent country, but has been designated a “non-member observer state” by the United Nations in 2012.  However, the hatred began in 1948 and is ongoing.

Some would say that this is completely understandable; no one would be happy if their land was taken away and given to someone else, but Peter Gomes is not really focusing on the ongoing wars of Israel in his Chapter Six, “The Bible and Anti-Semitism: Christianity’s Original Sin”.**   He is discussing a topic much harder to deal with: the history of Christian hatred for the Jewish people.

I tend to socialize with Christians and since the recent conflict broke out, support for Israel among most Christians has been very common.  Gomes writes that this has not always been the case.  What I will be commenting on in this post and the next one will not be popular among today’s Christians.  It is a look into the past, a past when the Christian did not hold the Jew in high regard.  Most would rather not acknowledge this history; it can be seen as painful by the Christian community, but it was real.  We live in a time when denial of history is at an all-time high.   Some Americans would rather act like the travesty of slavery in America did not occur rather than admit that it did.  In the frenzy of fear in World War Two, a large group of Japanese Americans suffered in American internment camps because of concern about their collusion with the Japanese navy off the shores of the west coast. The indigenous people of America have suffered throughout American history because the “white man” wanted their land. 

And yes, American Christians hated Jews.  Gomes cites a representative letter from Pastor Bailey Smith [former president of the Southern Baptist Convention] who writes that other gods beside Jehovah and His Son Jesus are strange gods.  “God Almighty does not hear the prayer of the Jew.  For how in the world can God hear the prayer of a man who says that Jesus is not the true Messiah?”  This letter was written in August 22, 1980 and was reproduced in every major newspaper in the United States.  It ignited a firestorm. 

Gomes comments on the critical question this letter raises: “Is it possible to believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and to believe the New Testament as the living and true word of God in which Jesus is revealed, and to not be anti-Semitic?…must the Good News for Christians always be bad news for the Jews?” [Gomes, 107].  Sadly, that’s the way many Christians have always felt.

What does the New Testament say about the Jews?  Of course, Jesus was a Jew but he suffered at the hands of his own people.  Jesus was sent to the cross by Jews who begged that Pilate release the common criminal Barabbas.  The Jewish people were deemed responsible for the death of Jesus: “His blood be on us and on our children” [Matthw 27:25].  This sets up what Gomes calls a “blood curse” upon all Jews down through the centuries.  This curse shows up in Latin homilies, is “enshrined in the great passion music of Christian composers” and has influenced Christian biblical scholars for centuries.   As it says in Numbers 35: 33-34 “You shall not thus pollute the land in which you live and no expiation can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of him who shed it.”  For violent Christians in the past, there has been a license to kill Jews to revenge the death of Jesus.  It is hard to read of medieval Christians on their way to the crusades killing any Jews they encountered on the way.  It is incomprehensible to consider the massacres of the Jews in European countries and the creation of ghettos to house Jews away from Christians.   

What is the Christian attitude toward solving this problem?  Jews just need to accept Christ as the Messiah and become Christians. 

Now before we go too far, is this discussion saying that all Christians are inherently anti-Semitic?  Gomes would say no to that, but his words about anti-Semitism are chilling:  “The virus of anti-Semitism is in the bloodstream of inherited Christianity” [109].

We must never lose sight on Gomes’ perspective.  His view is that God has room in the church for the LGBTQ+ community, that Christian hatred for the Jews just shows how wrong Christianity can be, how the Bible can be twisted and how Christians must own up to their past and take responsibility for past hateful acts. 

I recently watched a painful Public Broadcasting show called “The U.S. and the Holocaust” by Ken Burns.  That documentary was a harsh look at the pathetic attempts that the U.S. made to help the Jewish people escape the concentration camps of Hitler’s Third Reich.  Some of the American leaders of that time enacted legislation and government regulation based on their “justified” dislike for the Jews.  They made it harder for Jews to immigrate. The facts were obvious; Hitler was rounding up Jewish people and killing them because they were blamed for all kinds of ills within the German homeland.  The spilling of their blood was a way to purify Germany.  The Jew became Hitler’s scapegoat.

As I stated earlier, some Americans would rather act like unpleasant acts of history never occurred. It is better to ignore the past or deny that it ever occurred; maybe that will make it better.  Maybe that will even make the problem go away.  Maybe that will make us feel sin free.  I will use an oft-quoted wise statement to close this post.  George Santayana said “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  A current revision would be those who choose to ignore the past are condemned to repeat it.

Is Anti-Semitism alive in the world today?  Yes it is.

Is Anti-Semitism alive in America today?  Yes it is.

I will explore this topic more in the next post; the next section of Chapter 6 in Gomes’ book is entitled “After Auschwitz.”

*”Acknowledging the Contemporary Context”… November 17, 2023.  St. John Studies.

**From Gomes’ book entitled The Good Book

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Acknowledging the Contemporary Context… “The Good Book” and Anti-Semitism.

Posted on November 17, 2023 by St. John Studies

Peter Gomes’ chapter is entitled “The Bible and Anti-Semitism.”  Gomes was a homosexual pastor of Harvard’s Memorial Church where he served from 1974 to 2011.  Harvard was struggling with recognizing the LGBTQ+ community on their campus at the time that Gomes ministered at Memorial and he grabbed national headlines by announcing his sexual preference and also his celibacy.

His book entitled The Good Book is his argument for the acceptance of gay people by the church and so far he has built his case that the Bible does not have it “right” 100% of the time.  When it comes to the prohibition of hard drink, that was not really based on actual Biblical prohibition; it was human interpretation.  When it comes to justifying slavery in the antebellum South, the slave-owners’ justification of slavery as Biblical falls flat on its face.  Now he turns to the topic of Anti-Semitism.  This would be hard to comment on in ordinary times but in November of 2023 we are living in extraordinary times.  We are living through another war being conducted by Israel against Palestinian terrorists. 

Before we get into the main idea that Gomes discusses, we have to try to provide some perspective on this issue today.  Perspective for many is something that is sorely lacking.  There is too much grandstanding for or against Israel based on extremely shallow information.  I won’t be able to provide “expert” commentary but maybe I can attempt to shed some light. 

Let’s provide examples.  Many Americans of younger generations have been very concerned by horror stories of the suffering of the people of Gaza.  That is understandable.  This is a densely populated urban strip of land next to Israel [between Israel and the Mediterranean].  It is located right above the country of Egypt [a border crossing that has not been always open].  When missile strikes slam into buildings there, it is inevitable that civilian casualties will occur.  Many citizens of Gaza are too poor to leave their homes and it has been difficult to get aid from the world into the area.  Hamas is a Palestinian terrorist organization that launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, killing many innocent Israeli citizens [men, women and children].  That action began the current conflict.  The citizens of Gaza are Palestinian but they are not all members of Hamas.  They are caught in the crossfire of a hot war.

“The attacks began in the early morning of October 7, 2023 with a rocket barrage of at least 3,000 rockets launched against Israel and vehicle-transported and powered paraglider incursions into its territory.  Hamas fighters breached the Gaza–Israel barrier, killing civilians in neighboring Israeli communities and attacking Israeli military bases. In a single day, 859 Israeli civilians and at least 345 Israeli soldiers and policemen were killed in nearby towns, kibbutzim, military bases and at a music festival near Re’im.  Around 200 Israeli civilians and soldiers were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip, of which the number of kidnapped children is about 30.” *

Pictures of dead people will cause viewers to react, especially if those dead are women and children.  There has been real concern for the amount of negative news about Israel that has been generated on a daily basis because Israel has retaliated,  but let’s not forget who started this: Hamas.  The first dead women and children we saw were Israeli; Hamas has 30 Israeli children captive.  Forty-four nations have condemned Hamas for conducting a terrorist act against Israel. 

But to provide more context, not all nations have condemned this attack on Israel as terrorism.   Arab and Muslim countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria, Iran and Iraq have blamed Israel for the attack.  Since the United Nations created the Jewish homeland in 1948, the country has been in several wars with its surrounding neighbors [eleven to be exact].  The Jewish homeland was given to the Jews with Palestine paying a territorial price and this has never been accepted by many in the middle-eastern Arab-Muslim world.

Let’s provide some more history to understanding this tense part of the world.  Since the 1960’s the United States has been a strong supporter of Israel.  According to Wikipedia, Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid [the U.S. providing $150 billion dollars in assistance since the 60’s, an average of around 3.5 billion dollars per year].  To avoid going into too much detail, let’s say the U.S. has provided financial aid, military aid and political support for the Jewish state for many years. **

One must ask why? 

The short and very inadequate answer to this question is that support for Israel is in the best interest of the U.S.  The middle-east is a tinder box and Israel is a stabilizing force, even though it may not appear that way right now.  Russia is very interested in its ties to middle-eastern countries and is actively trying to support terrorist actions in the area.  Will Israel ever be truly stable?  This will always be a hard situation, a Jewish country surrounded by Muslim countries that don’t like the Jewish state, hounded by terrorist groups that try to kill its citizens and viewed as a people who have stolen territory from Palestine.  These factors don’t lead to stability, much less long-lasting peace.

Why is the situation in the Gaza strip so hard to understand?  It takes study, cultural appreciation, knowledge of history and practical experience with the region to understand this part of the world. 

Sadly, many don’t have any of this but they do have the ability to react. 

As I considered what to write on this first post about Anti-Semitism, I knew I had to address recent news.  Only people who are living “off the grid” are unaware of the current scary world situation.  I also know that many in our world today don’t have any interest in attempting to understand anything that is complex.  They just react.  A political commentator commenting on recent events and the extreme reactions among younger people said “younger people today see some TikTok video and they have a visceral response.  They don’t employ research skills in order to understand what they are watching.  They don’t employ critical thinking skills to understand what they are watching.  They just react in the moment.”  This can lead to some outrageous comments that are really based on almost nothing, yet we are shocked and concerned.

Should we be?

No.

People should study a situation before they comment; they should listen to and read experts who know about the complexity of this area, but they don’t. 

Gomes is not addressing the situation in Gaza in his book, but he is trying to apply his faith to the attitude that many have against the Jew in this world.  His discussion is complex and it requires thoughtfulness.  As I have written, the U.S. has provided financial aid, military aid and political support for the Jewish state for many years.  What has the Christian community done?

Very little…

And that’s a problem…

*from Wikipedia  “2023 Attacks on Israel” accessed on 11/17/2023.

**from Wikipedia “Israel-United States Relations”  accessed on 11/17/2023.

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Don’t Lose Sight

Posted on November 11, 2023 by St. John Studies

Yes it is time for me to explain the direction of this blog.

It is confusing at times, even for me.

I am discussing three books, representing three views on LGBTQ+ participation in the church.

Preston Sprinkle has just tackled what he called the “clobber passages” of the Bible, you know those passages that Christians use to beat up the LGBTQ+ community: the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, and verses from Leviticus 18 and 20.* As I studied his words, he tried to find a way around the negative attacks. However in the end, the Scripture was not affirming for people who engage in same-sex behavior.

What is his next direction?

He will do a “deep dive” into the Greek and Roman culture of the day. He is hoping to provide context for the “clobber passages.” He is hoping to enlarge our understanding of the idea of homosexuality in Bible times. We will see where he goes.

But before we get there, it is time to return to Peter Gomes who will extend his argument about groups that have not been accepted in the Christian church. His discussion will center on Anti-Semitism. As today’s headlines discuss this topic in reference to the current Israeli-Hamas war, being fought in the Gaza strip, it will be enlightening to hear what Gomes says about Anti-Semitism in his book entitled The Good Book.

My next post will be on his chapter “The Bible and Anti-Semitism.”

His subtitle is “Christianity’s Original Sin.”

*See St. John Studies, October 24, 2023 and November 1, 2023.

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Considering the “Clobber Scriptures”

Posted on November 1, 2023 by St. John Studies

In considering the issue of LGBTQ+ acceptance in the church, Preston Sprinkle spends chapter three of his book* discussing Sodom and Gomorrah.  My comments on his ideas are in the previous post “Building Bridges or Accommodation Theology.”  He also deals with what he calls “clobber passages” in Leviticus [18 and 20].  If the story of Sodom and Gomorrah cannot be seen as a way to “clobber” gay people, certainly Leviticus 18 and 20 are.  These passages are very direct in their condemnation of same-sex intimacy.

Let’s look at these verses.  Leviticus 18: 22 says “Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.”  Leviticus 20:13 says “If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable.  They are to be put to death; their blood is on their own heads.”

Of course, these are very strong words.  They sound like there is no room for discussion.  Sex with a member of the same sex is bad.

Sprinkle tries not see it that way.

Number 1:  Do these verses refer to all forms of homosexual acts or just to what he calls “exploitative” acts [e.g. rape or prostitution]?  What if a couple is engaged in an consensual, monogamous, loving relationship?  Number 2:  Do these verses carry authority for Christians today or is this just another example of outdated Levitical law?

Sprinkle has a Ph.D. in New Testament theology from Aberdeen University in Scotland.  He has never shied away from difficult theological topics.  His website describes him as “Preston loves talking and writing about hot-button cultural and theological issues with thoughtfulness, honesty and grace. He is passionate about approaching topics that everyone wants to know about, but few are willing to talk honestly and graciously about. Topics like sexuality, gender, race, violence, patriotism, hell, politics, war, and what it means to follow a Jewish prophet-king who was executed for treason. He works hard to challenge himself and others to read the Bible with conviction and humility, while holding their predetermined beliefs loosely.”**  Maybe he will attack Leviticus 18 and 20; maybe he will hold his predetermined beliefs loosely.  We will see.

He admits that the defense for Leviticus 18 and 20 revolves around the idea that both verses refer to exploitative sex [rape, temple prostitution or a man forcing himself on a boy].   Remember, I chose Dr. Sprinkle as the “bridge-builder” between an openly gay pastor [Peter Gomes] and a pastor who condemns same-sex behavior as a mortal sin [Kevin DeYoung].

He does not accept this defense.  He states “A close reading of the texts suggests not.”  “There is no mention of rape, coercion, age difference or anything else that we saw in the Sodom story” [45].  The verses are referring to consensual sex and both partners are condemned.

Other interpretations point to the idea that the verses refer to cultic prostitution, but Sprinkle knows a lot about that subject.  He references study he has done on this topic and says that continuing to assume that the ancient world was filled with cultic prostitution is a mistake.  “It probably did not exist in the world at that time, let alone in Israel.” 

Another interpretation is that Israelite culture had a “high view of men and a low view of women.”  To have Scripture to support the idea that men should not have sex with other men is understandable in this male-centered society.  This would put one man as a passive partner in the homosexual sex act and that would be very unacceptable.  Scripture should support the idea that no man should assume a passive position in the sex act. Sprinkle condemns this view as “Neanderthal.”  This also makes the Levitical verses highlight gender differences, the idea that one sex is inferior to the other.  The interpretation moves away from condemning homosexual sex.

Ok, we see that Dr. Sprinkle sees little support for defending these Scriptures as cultic sexual abnormality or inappropriate for a male-dominated society, but are they relevant today?

In essence, are these just weird laws that no one follows anymore?  The Bible forbids tattoos, but that seems irrelevant today.  One is not supposed to wear mixed fabrics, eat pork or seed lawns with mixed grasses.  Those laws seem outdated and peculiar to most Christians.  What about other laws, especially laws regarding sexual behavior.  Incest is forbidden.  Adultery is forbidden.  Bestiality is forbidden as well as using one’s daughter for prostitution income.  Those  laws are binding but what about same-sex activity?  Do we just declare Leviticus outdated and say that we should dismiss Leviticus 18 and 20 because well, after all, it is Leviticus?

It is not that simple.  Sprinkle is not willing to dismiss 18 and 20 regarding same-sex  behavior just because “it is Leviticus” and nonaffirming*** interpreters should not do that either.  He feels evidence should be provided for these laws being binding or not.  A further point is these verses appearing in The New Testament.  If Old Testament law is referenced  in The New Testament, what does that mean?  Same sex judgement occurs in Leviticus but Paul also refers to this very idea in Romans as well as in First Corinthians and First Timothy.  If Christians look on The Old Testament as a book for the Jewish people, what does it mean when the same laws get referenced in the Christian book, The New Testament?

When we come back to Sprinkle’s discussion he will widen his discussion to understand the world of The New Testament. 

“We’ll look at how Judaism viewed same-sex relations within the context of the Greco-Roman environment.  After all, Christianity was born out of Judaism, and despite some theological disagreements between Jews and Christians, they still agreed on a good number of ethical questions” [53].

But for now, we will return to the discussion of The Good Book written by a gay pastor, someone who affirms the acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community in the church.  His focus will be timely.   Given the nature of current events, Gomes’ topic will be “The Bible and Anti-Semitism.”

*People to Be Loved: Why Homosexuality is Not Just an Issue

**from the website Theology in the Raw accessed on 10/31/2023.

***nonaffirming means “not affirming LGBTQ+ Christians.”

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Building Bridges or Accommodation Theology?

Posted on October 24, 2023 by St. John Studies

Does Pastor Preston Sprinkle try to “bridge the gap” between those who advocate for LGBTQ+ participation in church and those who do not?

We have looked at two chapters of his book People to be Loved: Why Homosexuality is not Just an Issue and he has tried to explain that the Bible does provide evidence that sexual difference is necessary in marriage, but the Bible does not “directly” address questions about homosexuality.  Can homosexuals be married?  In two chapters of his book he states: “None of the texts [Genesis 1 and 2*] we’ve looked at were written to refute same-sex relationships.”

Now we look at what Sprinkle calls clobber passages.

What are these “clobber” passages?

Genesis 19: 1-9 when Abraham went to Sodom and Gomorrah and a gang of men visited the home of Lot demanding they have sex with Lot’s angelic visitors [homosexual sex?]

Leviticus 18: 22  “Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.”

Leviticus 20: 13  “If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”

Romans 1: 26-27   “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.  In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.”

1 Corinthians 6:9   “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men.”

1 Timothy 1: 10   “The Law is made for…for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine.”

I reproduce these passages here because they are the passages from Scripture that are at the heart of this contentious issue.  Sprinkle calls them clobber passages because “Christians have ripped them out of their life-giving context and used them to club gay people” [41].

Ok, I can see that but what are we to do with these passages?

Are we supposed to take razor blades and cut them out of our Bibles?  Are we supposed to believe them or ignore them?

Sprinkle keeps coming back to the idea that there are people involved here when these passages are used to condemn them, real people who respond to hurtful words.  When we throw these passages at them, we are calling people “abominations”.  “These texts are dripping with blood.  When gay people hear them, they immediately think of hate, not love; abuse, not embrace;  ignorance, not understanding”.

Is there painful abuse of people when Christians misuse these scriptures?  Of course that could be the case.  No one is debating that.

But again, what are we to do with these passages?  Whether they are used to hurt other people or not, are we supposed to play like they don’t exist?

Sprinkle begins his discussion with Genesis 19.  Sodom has been synonymous with God’s hatred of gay people in the minds of many Christians.**

Sprinkle does not see this episode in Scripture as a “contribution” to the discussion of homosexuality.  He feels that Lot’s guests were angels [who appeared as men].  We also know that Lot offers up his virgin daughters to the crowd that is clamoring to be with the angels.  This is his effort to protect the angels  [not exactly what I would call a “moral” act]. 

Does this story have anything to do with “consensual, loving, monogamous same-sex relations today?”  Sprinkle feels that it does not.  At worst, this is a story of gang rape of men by other men.  There is nothing that says this is acceptable. 

Sprinkle also points to other instances of Sodom being mentioned in other Scriptures.  Isaiah 1: 10-17 refers to Sodom but does not refer to gay sex.  Isaiah 3: 9 also does not mention gay sex.  Jeremiah 23: 14 likewise does not refer to homosexuality regarding the city of Sodom.  Lamentations 4: 6 does not bring up the subject either as well as Matthew 10: 5-10.  What are we to make of that?

Some scholars feel there is too much focus on sexuality in the city of Sodom, the idea being that the whole city was full of homosexuals.  Sprinkle thinks otherwise; the main reason the city was destroyed was inability to help those less fortunate, an overabundance of pride and gluttonous behavior etc. [see Ezekiel 16: 49]. 

Ok, is Sprinkle parsing his words or does he have a point?  What about those other scriptures that are very direct: Leviticus 18 and 20 and others?  He writes “As we read these verses, we’re faced with two questions;  first, do these verses prohibit all forms of homosexual acts or just certain exploitative forms of it (rape, prostitution etc.)?” [45].   Are these verses relevant for the consensual, monogamous, loving gay couples of today?  

We will turn our attention to the “very direct” clobber passages in my next post, but for now let’s consider what Sprinkle is trying to do.  Some would say he is trying to be a peacemaker between more accepting Christians who are willing to invite LGBTQ+ people into the church for full participation and those Christians who say you can come into church but don’t ask for marriage or expect to be a leader if you are gay.

I would be naïve if I don’t state that there are those who feel that Sprinkle is practicing “accommodating theology,” twisting God’s words into a contemporary framework.  That contemporary framework is accepting of the LGBTQ+ community.  Maybe God did not really intend to be that “accommodating” at all.

Ok, maybe I can see his point about the aggressive behavior of the people of Sodom toward Lot’s visitors not being relevant but as we turn to other passages, will the argument that God’s words don’t appear to be relevant really apply?  Is Sprinkle really bridging a gap or just making allowances with accommodating theology?

We will see…

*see August 28, 2023   St. John Studies “The Need to be Affirmed” and September 4, 2023  St. John Studies  “Male Female Pairing…A Necessity in Marriage.”

**see August 19, 2023  Kevin DeYoung  St. John Studies  “Sodom and Gomorrah and Revisionism”.

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Don’t Lose Sight

Posted on October 16, 2023 by St. John Studies

Sadly, on October 16, 2023 it seems like the world is ready to wage another war.  As if the war between Ukraine and Russia were not enough, we are ready to begin another war in the middle- east between Israel and the Palestinian terror group Hamas.  Today, the world awaits the imminent invasion of Gaza, where 2.38 million Palestinians live.

My wife shakes her head, saying “why can’t people live together in peace?” 

It is a good question.

This past year has been a year of strife and separation in my church as a social issue has rocked the church.  As of June of this year, 5,800 churches have left the United Methodist Church over the issue of LGBTQ+ participation in the church [conducting same-sex weddings and LGBTQ+ leadership].  This year alone, 4,172 congregations left the church. 

“Why can’t people live together in peace?”

Besides my wife, maybe Pastor Preston Sprinkle thinks this too, for the next post will be from his book People To Be Loved: Why Homosexuality is Not Just an Issue. Sprinkle states that he is trying to bring peace and mutual understanding to this issue.

Peter Gomes was a homosexual pastor at Harvard University, and I have commented on his book The Good Book.  Kevin DeYoung is a straight pastor with a church in Matthews North Carolina.  DeYoung absolutely disagrees with Pastor Gomes.  I have commented on his book What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality.

Sprinkle tries to “bridge the gap” between these two opposing views.  The next post will be from his book and I will focus on Chapter Three: “From Sex in the City to Law and Order.”

We will see if a gap gets “bridged.”

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