Viral Faith

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,  I know that full well. (Psalm 139:14) Once we understand the role of scripture in the formation of Christian ethics and morality (see previous blog entries for a more detailed discussion), knowing its strengths (understood as authentic revelation from God) and its limitations (often our interpretation can be culturally, contextually, and even politically bias), we are ready to look at some of the broader themes of scripture and apply them to the issue of sexuality. The first broad theme in all of the scriptures, which is faithfully preserved throughout, is God as creator.  The first two chapters of Genesis in the Hebrew scriptures, countless psalms, the first chapter of the gospel of John and Paul's letter to the church at Colosse all illuminate God as creator. In the Genesis account, God makes all of creation.  He creates matter from nothing.  Interestingly, all of his creation...

You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. (John 5:39-40) Last evening, New York became the sixth state to approve same sex marriage.  I suspect, that there may be some appeals to the process, but that the law is here to stay in one form or another.  I find it fascinating that there are Christian people passionately on both sides of the argument.  The purpose of this blog series is to try to develop a Christian ethic regarding sexuality, and specifically applying to the question of homosexuality.  We have already discussed how the morality of any issue, is shaped by Scripture, tradition, experience, reason, and culture for Christians.  All of these things help to shape our understanding of God's desire for us and His standards of morality.  These influences upon our morality are not equally important and their...

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. (I Timothy 3:16-17, NLT) We began this blog series looking at the Christian approach towards sexuality a few days ago.  In the first blog post, we began to discuss the forces that influence the formation of our morality and ethical systems.  Traditionally, those sources in Christian ethics are Scripture, tradition, experience, and reasoning.  As I mentioned before, all of these are often interpreted through the lense of our unique socio-historic cultural perspectives. While culture certainly shapes and molds how we understand Scripture, our tradition, our experiences, and our logic, it can provide for both healthy and unhealthy beliefs and practices.  Part of our challenge is to strip away some of our own ...

This week, in the New York State legislature, there is a debate going on regarding Gay marriage.  New York is not unique in this, as this debate has been argued from Hawaii to Maine.  The legality of formalized Gay and Lesbian unions has been the subject of Presididential campaigns, proposed state and federal referendums, and massive media campaigns.  Passions run deep for and against, yet there are very few public forums for authentic discussion and debate regarding this complex topic. Legality in its truest sense, is based upon concepts of justice and morality.  Laws are to be inacted that enforce or protect that which is considered just.  Justice is not only retributive (if you commit a crime, you will be punished), but restorative (If you are denied opportunity for life, liberty,or the pursuit of happiness), and distributive (equal access to the basics of life).  Each of these concepts of justice is based upon a moral understanding of right ...

Over the past several years, there have been the beginnings of some serious conversations in America regarding the roles and responsibilities of corporations in society.  In our society, where we sacralize capitalism, the ultimate beneficiary of community good is the financial success of corporations.  We tend to argue that a successful corporation means jobs and that the more a company makes, the more those working for it will make as well. A quick study of American history demonstrates that our militarization is connected to commerce.  Our first declared war after the revolutionary war, was against the nation of Tunisia, due to unaccessible and dangerous shipping lanes. The Civil War, which remains our deadliest war, was initiated by the Confederacy to protect the economic benefits of slavery.   In the late nineteenth century, historians site at least five military operations that we unilateral actions in foreign nations on behalf of corp...

"Do not eat any detestable thing."  Deuteronomy 14:3 In the Bible, eating is often used as a metaphor for those things we consume or partake of.  For example, Jesus tells his disciples in John 6:53 that unless they "eat the flesh" and "drink the blood" of the son of man (title he gave himself) that they will not have eternal life.  Eating and drinking are metaphors for the partaking by faith in his life, death, and resurrection.  In the Old Testament, the prophet Micah in describing the toll of exploitative leadership in Israel upon the citizens of Israel, states that the leaders "eat the flesh" of the people.  They were not cannibals.  They were leaders who consumed the resources of the people and left them with very little.  Again, eating as a metaphor for consumption. Jesus calls himself the "bread of life" and the "living water".  Again, Jesus knows that his listeners can identify with the staples of life: Food and wate...

Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7) I love history and sociology.  Understanding what people have done and how they behave grants us insight into future behaviors and attitudes.  Reading history and sociological texts from the filter of a Biblical wordview, allows us also to understand God's revelation to man, and man response to that revelation.  This response to God occurs again and again and agin in scripture and history.  These patterns happen so regularly that we can begin to anticipate themes and threads regarding how humanity responds to God and how he responds to humanity. Right now, there are some fascinating things happening in the world that calls to our attention that God is active and intervening in the lives of people.  Here are a couple of trends to follow: 1. An explosion in followers of Jesus all over the world .  Although the American Church, particularly in mainli...

Da Mayor: Doctor. Mookie: C'mon, what? What? Da Mayor: Always do the right thing. Mookie: That's it? Da Mayor: That's it. Mookie: I got it. I'm gone. Scene from Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It seems like our lives come down to a simple thing: Are we doing the right thing?  It doesn't matter if we believe the right things, confess the right things, and have the right attitude, if ultimately, we do not behave or do the right things. Jesus continually challenges his followers towards obedience to him.  The most ancient of Christian declarations is "Jesus is Lord!".  Christians are actually defined by this statement of faith (Romans 10:9).  Yet, our actual recognition of Jesus as Lord implies obedience.  Jesus himself would challenge the irresponsible status that we can call Jesus Lord, but choose not to obey him (Luke 6:46). The Bible is qui...