{"id":318,"date":"2014-02-20T14:41:52","date_gmt":"2014-02-20T14:41:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.dminlgp.com\/?p=318"},"modified":"2014-08-12T22:16:18","modified_gmt":"2014-08-12T22:16:18","slug":"sensitive-thinking-and-critical-emotion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/sensitive-thinking-and-critical-emotion\/","title":{"rendered":"Sensitive Thinking and Critical Emotion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Real theology can be real messy. \u00a0A few days ago I traveled from Kyiv, Ukraine to Odessa, Ukraine by van with three others. \u00a0We drove for over nine hours in fog, sometimes so dense that it was really difficult to see the white line in the road in the middle of the afternoon! \u00a0Since I had traveled to Ukraine by air and am a frequent traveler, I could not help but be reminded that just above us, probably no more than a few kilometers, the sunshine was uninhibited and you could see for a great distance. \u00a0It all depends on your altitude! \u00a0Theology can be messy if you decide to penetrate the darkness of a lost world or one can avoid the mess by ignoring it or distancing oneself from it. \u00a0However, for the believer, is there really such an option? \u00a0To avoid the real world mess is to avoid the call of God to be an ambassador, representing His Kingdom, and to bring the very solution so needed to make sense of the mess.<\/div>\n
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Did God really know what He was doing when he created male and female? \u00a0Could He not just as easily made the male \u201ccomplete\u201d without the female? \u00a0Or vice versa? \u00a0Imagine, we would not even have the word homosexual in our vocabulary! \u00a0And by the way, in my reading of the two assigned books for this week I do not remember much said about this idea of completeness. \u00a0If my hermeneutic is correct, completeness, according to the creation narrative is only possible when male and female come together. \u00a0If that is correct, then two of the same (male or female) cannot be complete, therefore falling short of the creative will of God. \u00a0That being said, the fog of sexuality is thick these days. \u00a0The two books assigned for reading each made some important points.<\/div>\n
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Love is An Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with The Gay Community<\/span>\u00a0offered some beneficial input. \u00a0In bullet format this is my take away from the book:<\/div>\n
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\u2022 \u00a0Andrew Marin writes, \u201cI propose a new paradigm: it is possible to disagree and yet still peacefully listen, learn and dialogue so that something significant can happen for the kingdom\u201d (Kindle Location 370). \u00a0I agree with him that evangelicals in general are not used to listening. \u00a0They are used to telling. \u00a0I am more of a teller than a listener so I stand in the face of his rebuke and I have and am learning to listen for the sake of the kingdom.<\/div>\n
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\u2022 \u00a0A problematic Marin statement: \u201clove the sinner, hate the sin\u2019 is the most disdained phrase in the Christian vocabulary. \u00a0If behavior equals identity, then hating gay sexual behavior is the same thinking as hating the gay person\u2019\u201d (Kindle Location 454). \u00a0Sin can be expressed in thought and deed. \u00a0Much of what is identified as sin in both the old and new testaments was behavioral. \u00a0Jesus identified sinful behavior and talked with people directly about their behavior and yet he did not hate the person. \u00a0Marin made a broad statement and caught fish that must be thrown back!<\/div>\n
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\u2022 \u00a0The most beneficial content in the book for me was the list of five questions in Marin\u2019s conclusion. \u00a0He encourages believers to prepare answers for these questions as they will surely be asked. \u00a0They are:<\/div>\n
1) Do you think that gays and lesbians are born that way?<\/div>\n
2) Do you think homosexuality is a sin?<\/div>\n
3) Can a GLBT person change?<\/div>\n
4) Do you think that someone can be gay and Christian?<\/div>\n
5) Are GLBT people going to hell?<\/div>\n
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Andrew Marin\u2019s book said, over and over and over and over again, that believers must love and listen and accept those in the GLBT community. \u00a0I got it. \u00a0He could have used less paper and made his point.<\/div>\n
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God, Sex, and Gender<\/span>\u00a0by Adrian Thatcher was a good read, helpful to assist the traditional evangelical to recognize different explanations for the critical texts concerning gay and lesbian theology. \u00a0I affirm his desire to encourage a fresh look at the texts and consider alternative view points. \u00a0I also conclude he too easily distances himself from views simple because they are traditional and not evolving according to his perspective that tradition must evolve with it\u2019s culture and therefore change is necessary. \u00a0Here are some bullet points about the book from my perspective:<\/div>\n
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\u2022 \u00a0Thatcher poses questions that are worded so that a negative response is devalued. \u00a0Case in point: \u201cRe-read Genesis 19:1-11. \u00a0The traditional interpretation of the story is that God punishes homosexuality. \u00a0Can you think of some reasons why this interpretation might no longer be sound?\u201d (Pg. 160). \u00a0Thatcher should take the advice of Marin about open ended questions! \u00a0Thatcher could have asked the reader if there were other valid interpretations.<\/div>\n
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\u2022 \u00a0In the same location as the above passage, the author makes a point, that failure of hospitality was the sin. \u00a0Does he not think that two sins could be taking place simultaneously? \u00a0I was disappointed that Thatcher made much of his point while not even allowing that more could be taking place and not just this one possible sin.<\/div>\n
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\u2022 \u00a0On page 161 the author asks why the passage may not be applied to sexual behavior today. \u00a0Then he makes a shallow comment, \u201cI think the most obvious reason is that there are many laws in the Holiness Code and elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible that Christians do not regard as binding upon them.\u201d \u00a0This is a generalization without qualification! \u00a0Yes, he is right, there are many laws that we do not regard as binding! \u00a0So, does that mean I can throw out any I do not like without qualification (reason)?<\/div>\n
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\u2022 \u00a0Thatcher writes, \u201cWe have discovered, have we not, that the blanket proposition that the Bible condemns homosexuality is hard to sustain?\u201d \u00a0No! \u00a0We (I) have discovered that there are other textual and contextual implications that we must be careful to consider but that does not mean that the proposition that the Bible condemns homosexuality is hard to sustain. \u00a0It just means we must be open and careful.<\/div>\n
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One reading my post might think I did not like either book. \u00a0That would be a wrong conclusion. \u00a0The first book took many pages to say an important message about loving and listening for the sake of the Kingdom. \u00a0It could have been said more quickly. \u00a0The second book helped me to see other alternative understandings of the text. \u00a0I do not agree with all of them, but it is indeed helpful to understand other views.<\/div>\n
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The issue is still foggy for me. \u00a0But I know that it is clear above and for the sake of the Kingdom I discipline myself to listen and love and change as God transforms me.<\/div>\n
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Marin, Andrew.\u00a0Love is An Orientation.<\/em>\u00a0Downer\u2019s Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2009.<\/div>\n
Thatcher, Adrian.\u00a0God, Sex, and Gender.<\/em>\u00a0West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Real theology can be real messy. \u00a0A few days ago I traveled from Kyiv, Ukraine to Odessa, Ukraine by van with three others. \u00a0We drove for over nine hours in fog, sometimes so dense that it was really difficult to see the white line in the road in the middle of the afternoon! \u00a0Since I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,122],"class_list":["post-318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dminlgp","tag-thatchermarin","cohort-lgp3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1641,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318\/revisions\/1641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}