JonathanBenz.com

The Gay Debate: The Bible and Homosexuality

In this video Matthew Vines offers a thorough, systematic, and scholarly treatment of what are commonly known as the six "clobber" verses used against same-sex attraction and relationships.

The video will take about an hour to watch. His last ten minutes is an excellent summary of the talk. His full transcript is available here.  His lecture occurred on March 8, 2012 at College Hill United Methodist Church in Wichita, Kansas.

I began studying these six scriptures in their cultural context and original language about ten years ago and came to similar conclusions as Matthew. Not exact conclusions, but very similar.

His treatment is respectful, humble and definitely food for thought for any thinking, religious person or serious student of Scripture.

Some of my readers might struggle with this view. If you are not interested in amending your position on this subject, I recommend you not watch. This is probably not for you.

However, if you are looking to view the Scriptures in their original language and cultural context, you might find this talk enlightening and thought-provoking. I think most of my readers will benefit greatly so I commend the lecture to you.

  

A Christian Approach to Physical Abuse of your "Effeminate or Butch" Kids

If you are reading this post it might because the title caught you. Full disclosure, I intentionally put some shock in the title. But it's not nearly as shocking as what Pastor Sean Harris at Berean Baptist in Fayetteville, NC had to say:

 

So this clip has outraged a lot of people, Christian and non-Christian alike. He clearly advocates physical violence against children. 

Truth be told, there are a lot of Scriptures in the Bible that advocate for physical violence, even murder. The difference is most thoughtful, spiritual people don't take them literally today. Thank God we've given up stoning, severing limbs, and gouging eyes (although some would argue we still do it figuratively).

I read his retraction and you can hear him in his audio file trying to express his heart while navigating inconsistent ethics and conflicting theology. He says it was hyperbole and talks about Jesus using it in his sermons as well. But Jesus was pretty adamant on condemning any harm done to children.

I really feel for this pastor. Layers of disconnect come through--theologically, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually. He now finds himself in a firestorm.

This is when I have to trust that somehow God is working through ALL things, even things like this.

There must be a better way to dialogue on this subject. Here's an article I found helpful which the blogger calls "A Nicodemus Approach." 

Right relationship rather than being right.

Thoughtful discussion rather than thoughtless diatribe.

We can do better than this. In the Church and outside of it.

Religion is not an excuse to be a bigot.

"Religion is not an excuse to be a bigot." So says Pastor Jay Bakker in this interview on MSNBC about changing views in the Church on sexuality.

What say you?

Agree?

Disagree?

Does opposing equality in the name of God for certain groups of people amount to religious bigotry?

Or does God as expressed through the Bible support intolerance if it violates one's moral beliefs?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

 

Patrick and Spiritual Experience

I found my copy of The Confession of St. Patrick this morning.

I was struck again by this man's story. He was taken into slavery out of Roman Britain (probably modern day Wales) around the age of 15. He was held captive in Ireland and during his literal captivity he found spiritual liberation through prayer and meditation.

It was there that he connected to his spirit and found the Spirit speaking to him which would then lead him away from his slave master, onto a ship to his voyage of freedom to Gaul and back to Britain.

Yet once again through spiritual experience and great faith, he would return to Ireland to minister to others the spiritual freedom he had found while in captivity in that land.

I love how he framed the voice of Spirit to himself through dreams and visions:

And on another night, I do not know, only God knows, whether in me or outside of myself, I heard the most wise words which as yet I could not comprehend...And once again, I saw him praying within my soul; it seemed as if I was still inside my body, and then I heard him above me, that is, over my inner man. So that there he was praying with many a groan, and as all this was happening, I was stunned and kept marveling and wondering who he might be, who was praying in this wise within me. But as this prayer was ending, he declared that it was the Spirit.

His description resonates with me for often I don't know if it is within me or outside of me that I hear what I believe to be the voice of the Spirit. Sometimes, the Spirit sounds similair to my human spirit, indistinguishable as it were.

The point for me is not to quibble over which it is but to discern good, clear direction when these kinds of experiences happen and answer "yes" to the call. 

Sixteen hundred years later, Patrick's Confession is a primer for spiritual experience that reflects the 21st Century human condition as we struggle in a time of conflict to follow faithfully the heart's call in spite of great turmoil or opposition. He wrestled with his culture, his religion, and his God to follow his heart and live authentically.

As the poet e.e. cummings wrote: "It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."

Patrick did just that.  His story inspires me to do the same today.

What is Ash Wednesday?

This is probably the best explanation on Ash Wednesday I've seen yet, done in 2 minutes 20 seconds!

Why I Grieve Whitney

 

I have grieved the death of Whitney Houston. I have had close friends and family say they have grieved her too.

I have grieved her death more so than other celebrities of past years. 

I think the reason we grieve her so is because her humanity was so tangible. We could identify with her humanity in a way that we couldn't with other celebrities and people of renown.

Sometimes people become famous and they don't seem quite as human to us. They seem remote, distant, reclusive, or eccentric. But somehow Whitney didn't seem to become more distant with time and fame; she only became more real and relatable to us.

So today I join with others around the world who remember her voice, her life, her pain, her struggle. We remember and celebrate her because as we do so, we remember and celebrate the complexity of our own humanity. She was one of us.

  

Franciscan Blessings

The following blessings appear around the Internet in different forms but I like them nonetheless!   May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart. Amen.   May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace. Amen.   May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy. Amen.   May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done. Amen.