{"id":65981,"date":"2017-12-04T16:21:39","date_gmt":"2017-12-04T21:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=65981"},"modified":"2017-12-04T19:29:12","modified_gmt":"2017-12-05T00:29:12","slug":"ct-when-it-comes-to-sexuality-we-cant-simply-review-the-verses-anymore-pastor-todd-wilson-wants-to-recover-the-deeper-theological-and-moral-meaning-of-being-made-male-and","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=65981","title":{"rendered":"(CT) When It Comes to Sexuality, \u2018We Can\u2019t Simply Review the Verses Anymore\u2019 Pastor Todd Wilson wants to recover the deeper theological and moral meaning of being made male and female"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sexuality is one of the touchiest subjects in the church today. From same-sex marriage to the transgender phenomenon, the issues can threaten to overwhelm our pastoral and theological resources. In the midst of this turbulence, Todd Wilson, pastor of Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, Illinois, wants to seek out the solid ground of the Christian tradition. His book\u00a0Mere Sexuality: Rediscovering the Christian Vision of Sexuality<\/span>\u00a0invites evangelicals to see the theological and moral significance of humans being created male and female. Derek Rishmawy, a PhD student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and CT columnist, spoke with Wilson about this vision.<\/p>\n

In a world that recognizes so many variations of sexuality, what does it mean to champion \u201cmere sexuality\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The \u201cmere\u201d is a play on C. S. Lewis\u2019s\u00a0Mere Christianity<\/span>. It\u2019s not Baptist, Presbyterian, or Anglican Christianity, but the convictions most Christians at most times have believed. I\u2019m trying to capture what most Christians at most times have believed.<\/p>\n

In my time as a pastor, I\u2019ve been confronted with the reality that your average, Bible-believing Christian lacks a deep understanding of the theological vision of sexuality given in Scripture. We don\u2019t see male and female sexuality as theologically significant in their own right. And as a result, their moral significance in the context of marriage is not obvious. But there really is an aesthetic beauty and coherence to the logic of male and female in marriage. And while I\u2019ve seen a number of books giving the \u201cbiblical response\u201d or the \u201cpastoral response\u201d to our sexual controversies, it struck me that the theological response was missing. We can\u2019t simply review the verses anymore; we need to see the logic of \u201cmere sexuality\u201d behind the verses and have it take hold of our imagination.<\/p>\n

Why have evangelicals lost appreciation for the deep logic of \u201cmere sexuality\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

First is the loss of functional biblical authority. It\u2019s not that evangelicals don\u2019t affirm the authority of Scripture. But sociologist Christian Smith talks about the problem of \u201cpervasive interpretive pluralism\u201d\u2014the suspicion that the Bible doesn\u2019t speak decisively on some important issues. That erodes people\u2019s confidence in the Bible\u2019s ability to shape Christian ethics.<\/p>\n

Second, the younger generations of evangelicals have essentially had their basic moral intuitions radically refashioned. Ever since the sexual revolution, we\u2019ve had those intuitions about sexual intimacy\u2014and especially same-sex intimacy\u2014rewired. What was instinctively wrong for our parents\u2019 generation seems perfectly normal to someone in their teens or 20s.<\/p>\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sexuality is one of the touchiest subjects in the church today. From same-sex marriage to the transgender phenomenon, the issues can threaten to overwhelm our pastoral and theological resources. In the midst of this turbulence, Todd Wilson, pastor of Calvary…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more ›<\/a><\/div>\n

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