Cooling Twilight

Tag: homosexuality

  • Homosexuality: The Issue facing the Church

    Homosexuality: The Issue facing the Church

    divided-churchIs there currently a more divisive issue within Christianity than that of homosexuality? Sure there are plenty of other issues that Christians fight about, but of all the topics mentioned in my post “Can you be a Christian and still believe … ?”, homosexuality and abortion easily garnered the most attention. And though abortion is undoubtedly a contentious issue, Christendom stands in virtually unanimous opposition to it — the discussion there is largely regarding the extent to which the practice should be legally regulated or fully prohibited.

    But homosexuality — is this the key issue in what some have labeled a New Reformation? Are we in the middle of a foundational schism? Or will this issue fade into irrelevancy as time passes, just as slavery (at least in the Western world) is now only a sad memory from the past?
    (more…)

  • Follow-Up: Can you be a Christian and still believe … ?

    Follow-Up: Can you be a Christian and still believe … ?

    Chi RhoMy post Can you be a Christian and still believe … ? caused quite a bit of furor on the interwebs, so I’d like to take a moment to offer a few explanatory notes as well as provide some resources for further exploration of these topics.

    First, the point of the post wasn’t to provide a litmus test for Christian faith (liberal or otherwise). The moment we use any of these issues to judge someone else’s relationship with God, we’ve stepped into dangerous territory — territory that belongs not to us, but to God alone. What you believe about these things doesn’t include you in or exclude you from the Kingdom of God. (more…)

  • Can you be a Christian and still believe … ?

    Can you be a Christian and still believe … ?

    Chi RhoGuess what? You can still be a Christian even if you believe that:

    1. Evolution is true.
    2. The Bible isn’t inerrant.
    3. Women have the same rights as men.
    4. Homosexuality isn’t a sin.
    5. Owning a gun isn’t a God-given right.
    6. America isn’t God’s chosen country.
    7. Republicans aren’t God’s chosen political party.
    8. The modern state of Israel isn’t God’s chosen people.
    9. Decisions about abortion should be left up to individual women.
    10. Non-Christians won’t burn for eternity in hell.

    And you just might be a bit closer to the Kingdom of God if you do believe some of those things.

    Update #1:
    For those of you on Facebook, I’ve created a nice little meme of this post.

    Update #2:
    I’ve provided a list of resources regarding these beliefs in my follow-up post, coincidentally titled: Follow-Up: Can you be a Christian and still believe … ?

  • Love vs. The Bible

    Love vs. The Bible

    I’d like to take a more focused look at one of the criticisms I discussed in my post All You Need Is Love. Specifically, progressive Christians are often accused of overlooking, ignoring, tolerating and even accepting clearly sinful behavior because of their infatuation with love. This is perhaps no more evident than in the ongoing debate within Christianity regarding homosexuality. (more…)