Musings of a Seminary Grad

This is the second post in my discussion of biblical sexuality taken from a chapel workshop I did at the school where I currently teach. The previous post is entitled "What is a Human?" and in it I make the case that, before we can understand biblical sexuality, we must define what a human being is. Scripture teaches that humans are made in God's image, are the crowning glory of creation, and are therefore of infinite value to God, and should be valued and treated as such by other people. The Problem: Rejection of God I referred briefly in my first post in this series to the manifold problems modern society is experiencing with regard to gender; I will list some of them here in more detail. Homosexuality : Engaging in sexual relations with a member of the same gender Bisexuality : Engaging in sexual relations with members of both genders Transgenderism : Either living as or receiving an operation to resemble the opposite gender Multi-genderism : Belief that there ...

The Bible is not an anthology of books any more than it is merely a collection of stories. The Bible as a whole is the one story of God and man, and God’s plan to redeem man from sin so that we can enjoy fellowship together. As New Testament believers, we are often tempted to devalue the Old Testament. While it is true that most of the Old Testament commands do not apply to our lives today, the truths and principles found in it clearly do, for above all else they tell us about our God and how we should relate to Him. This post is a summary of the entire Bible with a focus on the Old Testament. It is intended as a tool to help believers better grasp the overall story of Scripture so that they can better understand their place in the plot of God’s working with humanity and how they ought to live as a result. I have tried to be comprehensive, so it is a longer post (but a lot shorter than whole Old Testament). The Old Testament contains the history of God’s working with humanity, fr...

This is the first post in my discussion of biblical sexuality taken from a chapel workshop I did at the school where I currently teach. What is a human? Before we can begin to discuss the nature of sexuality, we must first ask the question "What is a human?" At different times, science and religion have proposed different answers to this question: A highly-evolved animal (evolution) A being physically resembling God (Catholicism) A part of the universal deity (Hinduism) A three-part conglomerate of body, soul, and spirit (traditional theology) Each of these answers attempts to identify a human by its composition. The primary focus of much Western thought and especially theology has been to answer the question "How is a human different from an animal?" Eastern thought it seems attempts to identify man's place in the infinite, grand design of existence. Philosophy has at times denied that individuals even exist. Suffice it to say, defining what exactly a ...

Sexual Confusion Sexuality is a huge issue in the world today (and always has been).  Toxic masculinity asserts (either overtly or by implication) that men's comfort is more important that women's safety. The people have largely responded to movements like #MeToo with scorn and distrust. On the other extreme, toxic femininity asserts (again, either overtly or by implication) that men as a whole should be punished either for the crimes of a few today or the attitudes of many in the past. At both extremes as well as between them, anger, hurt, and emotions abound. We see this struggle also in the quest of many today to find meaning in life as a member of the opposite sex, whether that be through a sex-change operation or simply dressing and living as a member of the opposite sex. Unfortunately, it seems as we observe the world around us that, regarding the matter of sexuality, the  overwhelming majority of people find themselves in a state of confusion . Others in...