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Robert A. J. Gagnon Home Articles Available Online Response to Book Reviews Material for "Two Views" Material for "Christian Sexuality" Answers to Emails
|
If you
need a free PDF reader,
click here.
 |
Obama to the
"Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender 'Pride' Month Reception"
hosted by the White House on June 29, 2009:
"Welcome to your White
House."
PDF
|
If you have any residual doubts about Obama's full
commitment to a homosexualist agenda for this country read these
excerpts from his speech before a homosexual-transgendered
reception "celebrating" the Stonewall riot 40 years ago. Obama
assures those gathered that "by the time this administration is
over, I think you guys will have pretty good feelings about the
Obama administration." O
|
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Why a Sexual
Orientation and Gender Identity “Hate Crimes” Law Is Bad for You
May
28, 2009; June 17, 2009
Part 1: Promoting hatred of people opposed
to homosexual practice and transgenderism
PDF
HTML
Part 2: The irrelevant and inaccurate claim that this bill will
not abridge your freedom of speech
PDF
HTML
Part 3: Inroads against personal freedom already made in the
United States by homosexual and transsexual political activism
PDF
HTML
For all four parts in a single PDF document click
here.
|
| |
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Why Homosexual
Behavior Is More like Consensual Incest and Polyamory than Race
or Gender
A Reasoned and Reasonable Case
for Secular Society
May 18-20, 2009
Part 1: The Initial Case
PDF
HTML
Part
2: What Disproportionately High Rates of Harm Mean
PDF
HTML
Part 3: The Illogic of
Homosexual Unions
PDF
HTML
Part 4: Responses to
Counterarguments
PDF
HTML
For all four
parts in a single PDF document click
here.
|
The attempt of recent "hate
crime" legislation to place "sexual orientation" and "gender
identity" alongside race and gender is logically misguided and
dangerous. A much closer analogy is one between homosexual
practice on the one hand and consensual (adult-committed) incest
and polyamory on the other.
|
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What the Evidence
Really Says about Scripture and Homosexual Practice:
Five Issues
Mar. 14, 2009
PDF |
This was written as a
resource for presbyteries to use in the current discussions
about the proposed amendment to remove the male-female sexuality
standard in the PCUSA (though it is also applicable to the
discussions in the ELCA and elsewhere). The five issues are:
Jesus, Eunuchs, Romans 1:24-27 and the Erroneous Exploitation
Argument, Analogies, and Significance.
|
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Statement
to the Allegheny County Council in Opposition to the Homosexual
“Non-Discrimination” Bill No. 4201-08
Jan. 16, 2008
PDF
HTML
|
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More than “Mutual Joy”: Lisa
Miller of Newsweek against Scripture and Jesus
Dec. 10, 2008
PDF
HTML
|
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Lisa Miller, Religion Editor, Newsweek
Jon Meacham, Managing Editor, Newsweek |
 |
Religious proponents of gay
marriage routinely ignore or twist the major arguments in
Scripture and philosophy against homosexual practice. The cover
story by Religion Editor Lisa Miller in the
Dec. 15, 2008 issue of
Newsweek, wholeheartedly
endorsed by Managing Editor Jon Meacham, is a perfect case in
point.
Also posted (and nicely
formatted) at
OrthodoxyToday.org.
|
|
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What Does the
Bible Say about Homosexuality?
A 28-Minute
video presentation
produced on Apr.
11, 2008 by Mastering Life Ministries for the Pure Passion
television series, available for viewing online at
http://www.vimeo.com/2126309
Also
available for purchase as a 16:9 Widescreen, High-Definition DVD
here at
www.purepassion.us for $15 plus $5 shipping and
handling. Or call 1-615-507-4166 to order.
If you live outside the
U.S. you must order by phone.
Note that the DVD
set is in NTSC form, which works in North America and a few other
regions. I believe that Europe uses PAL format and this DVD set won't
work on that format. However, Europeans who have DVD machines that will
play both formats can play these DVDs.
The DVD also
contains a 28-minute presentation by Jayson Graves, a
Christian Psychotherapist specializing in Sexual Addictions
Recovery and unwanted Same-Gender Attractions; co-producer of
the Pure Passion series.
Also
available for purchase from Mastering Life Ministries is a
4-hour 3 DVD presentation (not HD) by Dr. Gagnon entitled "Love,
the Bible, and Homosexual Practice" ($35 plus $7 shipping and
handling). Order
here or call 615-507-4166.
(Note that
Dr. Gagnon does not receive any remuneration from the sale of
these DVDs; profits go to Mastering Life Ministries)
|
| |
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Obama's Coming
War on Historic Christianity over Homosexual Practice and
Abortion
Nov. 2, 2008
PDF
HTML
Or for a real html
version, minus a few minor updates and corrections, go to the
Orthodoxy Today site
here.
Click
here for a response to an
evangelical British biblical scholar who had strong reactions
against the article.
|
|
Even though the Iraq
War and the economy are often cited as the main issues in this
election the only assured, long-term "sea changes" that will arise
from this election involve homosexual practice and abortion and
then only if Obama is elected. If the latter happens, the outcome
will be a national policy of persecution against persons who
believe that homosexual practice and abortion are immoral acts. |
 |
Barack Obama’s Disturbing Misreading of the Sermon on
the Mount as Support for Homosexual Sex
Oct. 23, 2008
Click
here for article
Published on
the Republicans for Family Values website.
|
Regardless of how one votes on election day, it is important to
be aware of how this presidential candidate interprets Scripture
to fit his political views and what kind of impact this will
have on his policies regarding government endorsement of, and
incentives for, homosexual practice should he become president.
For Obama's policy objectives on these issues see the article
just above this one.
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|

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A Book Not To Be Embraced:
A Critical Review Essay on
Stacy Johnson’s A Time to Embrace
PDF
HTML
completed Mar. 2008; posted online Sept. 30, 2008
This essay will appear in a very slightly
revised form in Scottish Journal of Theology (Cambridge
University Press), likely in vol. 62:1 in Feb. 2009; © 2008
Scottish Journal of Theology Ltd.
Also:
More
Reasons Why Stacy Johnson’s A Time to Embrace Should Not
Be Embraced: Part II: Sodom, Leviticus, and More on Jesus and
Paul
PDF
HTML
completed Mar. 2008; posted online Sept. 30, 2008
The material in this
essay could not be included in the Scottish Journal of
Theology article, owing to word count limitations; but it
shows how poorly conceived Johnson's arguments are in a range of
other biblical texts not covered in the SJT article.
More
Reasons . . . : Part III: Science, Nature, History, and Logic
PDF
HTML
completed Mar. 2008; posted online Sept. 30, 2008
|
|


The mean-spirited homosexualist website,
boxturtlebulletin.com,
is aptly named, for the box turtle is easily confused and frightened by reality
(though I don't attribute meanness to the poor box turtle). A main writer
for the site, Timothy Kincaid, underscores his
own difficulties with logic, truth, and civil discourse in his
multiple caustic postings regarding me. The more that I show,
through rational argument, that his claims are baseless, the more
he lashes out with bitter ad hominem attacks, referring falsely to
my alleged "anti-gay" bigotry, "frothing indignation,"
"homophobia" and "rants," "laughable proclamations," "pomposity,"
"tortured logic," "wacky way of thinking," "wild presumptions,"
and "blatherings on." In puerile fashion he asks where I went "to
grammar school," and what "junior high writing class" I had. Then
he whines that he is a victim of "personal insults and hostility"
simply because I patiently show why every one of his claims is
without merit. Remarkable stuff.
|
Is
Box Turtle Kincaid Logic-Challenged?
A
Response to His Claim That I Used "Tortured Logic" in Evaluating
the Effect of 2008 PCUSA General Assembly Actions on Ordaining
Homosexually Active Candidates
July 30, 2008
PDF
HTML
Why Box
Turtle Kincaid Continues to Be Logic-Challenged and Now Also
Principle-Challenged
On the High Court’s Role in
Interpreting the Actions of the 2008 PCUSA General Assembly
regarding Homosexually Active Candidates
Aug. 3, 2008
PDF
HTML
Box Turtle Kincaid Peddles
Distorted Orthodoxy Test While Promoting Immorality
Part 1: The Problem with the
Call for Retranslating the Heidelberg Catechism
July 31, 2008
PDF
HTML
Part 2:
Jesus’ Distance Healing of an Official’s “Boy”
Aug. 2, 2008
PDF
HTML
Box Turtle Kincaid Continues
to Attack with All Heat, No Light on the New “Authoritative
Interpretation”
Aug. 11, 2008
PDF
HTML
Box Turtle Kincaid's Failure
to Address Arguments on the Heidelberg Catechism and the
Centurion Story
Aug. 12, 2008
PDF
HTML
Note:
Compare Kincaid's regular vitriol with his website's
"principles": 1. "We are compassionate." 2. "We are tolerant."
3. "We are civil." 4. "We are honest." 5. "We are hopeful"
(honest, I'm not making this up). Based on the kind of remarks
noted in the left column and their regular insults of
others (to name just a few, "nutbaggery," "frothing lunacy,"
"lunatic ranting," "despicable coward," "bigot," "incoherent,"
and "paranoid"), apparently the only things that they left out
of their "principles" are: 6. "We are modest"; and 7. "We are
self-deceived." Kincaid and other similarly abusive proponents
of homosexual practice should be loved while not tolerating
their abusive ways and deliberate distortions.
|
|
 |
Now available
online:
Robert A. J.
Gagnon, "Scriptural
Perspectives on Homosexuality and Sexual Identity" in Journal
of Psychology and Christianity 24:4 (Winter 2005): 293-303.
PDF
|
Thanks to the editor Prof. Dr.
Peter Hill for permission to put the material on my website. I quote here from the
introductory paragraph of my article and the conclusion:
"The purpose of this article is
to address specific themes from Scripture and theology that
might be helpful for Christian psychologists who work with men
and women who experience same-sex attractions. I shall begin by
first discussing the relationship of Christian identity to
biologically based orientations: does the latter necessarily
determine the shape of the former? Then I shall look at the
implications of this exploration for whether there is
justification, or indeed necessity, for Christians who
experience same-sex attractions to construct an identity
distinct from such attractions. Finally, I shall suggest three
additional scriptural principles for Christian psychologists."
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|
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The Faulty
Orientation Argument of the Anglican Primate of Ireland
July 6, 2008
Posted on the
British-Anglican "Open Evangelical" Website Fulcrum (www.Fulcrum-Anglican.org)
here
|
Archbishop Alan Harper, Anglican
Primate of Ireland, has produced a paper that misreads the
rejection of homosexual practice in Rom 1:24-27 in an effort to
promote a “revisionist” interpretation favorable to committed
homosexual unions. The paper is entitled, “Holy Scripture and
the Law of God in Contemporary Anglicanism in the Light of
Richard Hooker’s ‘Lawes’” (online
here). My response shows how
far off the mark is the Archbishop's "orientation argument,"
unknowingly a rehash of John Boswell's argument from thirty
years ago.
The London Times has
given major coverage to Harper’s work, posting his full paper
and giving first-article coverage online to it in an article by
Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent for the Times, entitled “Archbishop
of Armagh invokes scripture in defence of homosexuality” (July
4, 2008
here). Here is an excerpt from
Gledhill’s article: "The Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Rev Alan
Harper, who is one of 38 primates in the worldwide Anglican
Communion, said today that if 'reason' were applied to the Bible
texts that seem to condemn homosexuality, a different
interpretation would be found. He challenged the intellectual
rigour of conservatives who use St Paul's epistles — in
particular the first chapter of his Letter to the Romans where
the Apostle condemns men who commit 'unnatural' acts with other
men — to bolster their argument that homosexuality is wrong." In
her blog (here)
for July 4, 2008, Gledhill exuberantly states: "Archbishop
Alan Harper ... has perhaps not received the attention he has
deserved since taking over from the high-profile Robin Eames,
lead author of the Windsor Report. My mission today is to change
that. He has this morning delivered a powerful and, I have to
say, rather convincing address making the intellectual case for
a new look at St Paul's texts on homosexuality."
|
Why a New Translation of the Heidelberg Catechism Is Not Needed:
And Why Homosexualist Forces in the PCUSA Seek It
June 19, 2008
PDF
HTML
|
Advocates of a
homosexualist agenda seek a retranslation of the Heidelberg
Catechism so that they can remove references to homosexual
practice not present in the original German but certainly
present in the New Testament text of 1 Cor 6:9 that the
Catechism cites. The Reformers would not have omitted the
references out of any affirmation for homosexual practice but
rather out of a desire to protect naive children from knowledge
of what was then viewed universally as "monstrous" behavior.
|
|
A Response to
the ACC’s Recommendation regarding Item 05-10: The Pittsburgh
Presbytery Overture Amending G-6.0108b to Include a Freedom of
Ordaining Bodies “within Certain Bounds”
June 22, 2008
PDF
HTML |
The
decision of the PCUSA Advisory Committee on the Constitution
(ACC) to recommend disapproval of Pittsburgh Presbytery’s
Overture 05-10 (“On Amending G-6.0108b
Freedom of Conscience ‘Within Certain Bounds,’ to Include a
Freedom of Ordaining Bodies within Certain Bounds”)
is
based on multiple inaccuracies and misunderstandings that
suggest systemic advocacy problems with the ACC.
|
 |
Going in the Wrong Direction:
A
Response to David Atkinson
June 14, 2008
Available at Fulcrum, an online British Evangelical-Center
Anglican website
here
(as pdf
here)
Extensive
interaction about the article between Dr. Gagnon and others at
Fulcrum Forum
here
For just Dr.
Gagnon's comments on the Fulcrum Forum go
here
Bishop
Atkinson's comments can be viewed
here
|
David Atkinson is
an evangelical scholar-cleric in England who in 2006 contributed
an article entitled "The Church of England and Homosexuality:
How Did We Get Here? Where Do We Go Now?" for the apparently
one-sided book Other Voices, Other Worlds: The Global Church
Speaks Out on Homosexuality (ed. Terry Brown; Church
Publishing, 2006), 298-313. In the article Atkinson briefly
critiques my first book. A leader in the Episcopal Church
informed me that the book may have been sent to all Episcopal
bishops as "preparation" for the upcoming 2008 Lambeth
Conference--part of a plan by the left to make their stance on
homosexual practice look centrist. The leader asked me to do a
response, which I here supply.
|
 |
Did the
Archbishop of Canterbury's Remarks on Romans 1:24-27 Undercut
Somewhat the Historic Christian Teaching on Homosexual Practice?
A Friendly
Dialogue with Prof. Ephraim Radner Fulcrum Article "The Present
Purpose of the One Anglican Communion"
June 2008
See my postings
on June 19 and June 30, and Radner's response on June 20
here
For Radner's original
article go
here
|
Prof. Dr. Ephraim Radner (Professor
of Historical Theology at Wycliffe College, Toronto),
who is of solid faith, argued in a recent Fulcrum essay that the
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams in his 2007
Stuart-Larkin Lecture in Toronto did nothing to "undercut the
overall reality of the Scriptural prohibition" against
homosexual practice in Rom 1:24-27. He found my argument in a
previous article ("Rowan Williams' Wrong Reading of Romans"
[below]), which made the opposite point, "unconvincing." I wrote
a response on the Fulcrum Forum on June 19; Radner responded on
June 20; and I offered a rejoinder on June 30.
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An Open Letter to a
University President regarding the Suspension of a Black Female
Administrator Who Challenged a Comparison between Homosexual
Practice and Being Black
May 6, 2008
PDF
HTML
Plus see my response to a
critic of my letter, along with the critic's change of heart
here
Also my comments to a
WorldNetDaily reporter
here
... and my response to
another critic who charged that Dixon had to be fired because of
conflict between her position and the goals of the school
here
Note that Dixon was fired on May
9.
|
Update: Jacobs later
fired Ms. Dixon (go
here). She is being legally
represented by the Thomas Moore Law Center in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Ms. Dixon was apparently offered a reassignment out of Human
Resources that involved both a demotion and a pay cut (May 5).
She refused on the grounds that she had done nothing wrong. On
May 9 she was notified of her termination (go
here). For those who argue
that the termination was justified on the grounds that she could
not do her job properly in Human Resources see my response
here.
Ms. Dixon needs your financial
support. I received the following message from her:
I am represented by local
counsel at my own expense on several elements and the Thomas
More Law Center on the constitutional front. Please take a moment
to visit my website – your support is greatly needed for this
cause:
To contribute to help
defray our survival expenses while engaged in this fight, you
may send contributions to:
Crystal Dixon
P.O. Box 140062
Toledo, OH 43614
Or to make a
tax-deductible contribution to our 501(C)(3) legal defense
fund, you may send contributions to:
Grace In Action
Crystal Dixon Defense
Fund
2902 Auburn Avenue
Toledo, OH 43606
(You will receive
a tax-deductible receipt from Grace In Action
for contributions to this defense fund).
|
|
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New Book with an article by Robert
Gagnon:
God, Gays
and the Church: Human Sexuality and Experience in Christian
Thinking
eds. Lisa
Nolland, Chris Sugden & Sarah Finch (London: Latimer Trust,
2008), 249 pp.
|
A good new book has come out in
England on the subject of the church and homosexuality. It
contains narratives, including a philosophical piece by J.
Budziszewski, personal testimonies by those coming out of the
homosexual life, and a personal testimony about male homosexual
promiscuity by someone who has come out of the homosexual life
(Dr. Ronald Lee); articles on how homosexuality develops (by
Neil Whitehead, Jeffrey Satinover, and Joseph Nicolosi);
biblical theology articles by my colleague Edith Humphrey
("Women's Ordination, Homoeroticism and Faithfulness") and
myself ("A Faithful Church: The Bible and Same-Sex Sex," a
response to a professor of philosophy [John Thorp] whose article
on "Making the Case: The Blessing of Same Sex Unions in the
Anglican Church of Canada" was circulated to all the delegates
at the 2007 General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada); an
article on pastoral care by Mario Bergner; and several articles
by Lisa Nolland on the social and medical impact of endorsing
homosexual practice. Some of the articles have been previously
released (including my response to Thorp, available on this
website) but it is convenient to have even these in a single
collection.
|
|
Neglected References for a Forum on Homosexuality and the Church
at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
PDF |
Out of a forum on “Homosexuality and the Church” at Louisville
Presbyterian Theological Seminary on Apr. 20, 2008 came a
two-page bibliography of references that excluded every book
defending the scriptural standard of a male-female prerequisite
for sexual relations. It contained 13 books and articles, of
which 11 works were devoted exclusively to the homosexualist
agenda and two books consisted of articles on both sides of the
debate but predominantly the homosexualist side. Not a single
mention was made of any of my work. This list circulated
privately to some people for further suggestions.
The public revision that has gone out to
the LPTS community, which can be viewed
here, was
allegedly “quite intentional [about] including diverse voices …
so that we as a community might begin to dialogue together on
this topic wherever we may be theologically and personally” (so
the author of the list who emailed me after my initial posting).
However, it added only two pieces defending the historic
scriptural position (my first book and a book by Marty Soards),
but then added also three more books on the homosexualist
side (by John Boswell, Jack Rogers, and Letha Scanzoni/Virginia
Mollenkott) and another piece by the Campolos that is mostly
supportive of the homosexualist side. So the revision which is
suppose to be “intentional [about] including diverse voices” now
lists 14 works devoted exclusively to the homosexualist line, 3
that are predominantly supportive of that agenda, and only 2
that are exclusively devoted to uphold a two-sexes prerequisite.
How can a list like this be “intentionally diverse” when 90% of
what is contained therein exclusively or primarily supports only
one side?
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|

 |
The Bible and Homosexual
Practice: A Critique of Stacy Johnson's A Time to Embrace
Three Lectures Delivered at
Princeton Theological Seminary (Mar. 4-5, 2008) on CD or through
online download
Talk 1: "Did the Apostle
Paul Reject Only Hedonistic and Exploitative Forms of Homosexual
Practice?"
Talk 2: "Genesis and Jesus
on a Male-Female Prerequisite for Sexual Bonds"
Talk 3: "What Nature
Arguments and Science Have to Say about Homosexuality"
Each lecture runs about 1 hr. 15
min. plus an additional half hour of questions and answers
Available through Educational
Media at Princeton Theological Seminary
Contact:
media@ptsem.edu
|
Price: There are two options available to purchase the
recordings—
CD Format
The cost of each recording/lecture is $5.00 in CD format.
Payment can be made by check made payable to “PTS” and mailed to
Princeton Theological Seminary, P. O. Box 821, Princeton, NJ
08542-0803; or payment can be made by credit card online via
PayPal. The cost for the three lectures would be $15.00, plus a
shipping and handling charge of $7.50 per order, within the
U.S. NJ residents would be subject to a 7% sales tax.
Downloads
The cost per download is $1.99; for all 3 lectures $5.97.
Downloads are provided in wav, mp3, and wma56k (Windows dial-up)
formats. A “Read This First” is included which provides
information about PTS downloads. Once
media@ptsem.edu receives your
request, Princeton Seminary will initiate an invoice through
PayPal. PayPal will forward the invoice to you and request
payment, which is made by credit card. PayPal will then notify
Princeton Seminary of payment and Princeton Seminary will
forward the links for the downloads to you at your email
address.
To download
you must first contact
media@ptsem.edu. This allows them
to process requests and payments.
|
|
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No Ordination
Essentials “For All Time and All Persons”? Ten Reasons Why the
Achtemeier Overture Is Extremist and Invalid
Feb. 24,
2008
PDF
HTML
|
Do you believe that when presbyteries and sessions examine
individual candidates for ordained office they should have a
right to declare faith in Christ and abstinence from adultery
nonessential requirements? If you are among the overwhelming
majority of reasonable persons in the church who think
otherwise, you disagree with Mark Achtemeier, a professor of
theology at Dubuque Seminary, and the majority of voting members
attending the Feb. 16 meeting of the John Knox Presbytery. For
such would be the theologically insane effect of the overture
that Achtemeier pushed for and the John Knox Presbytery passed,
if the overture were interpreted according to its Rationale.
This article previously appeared in installments as a
guess Viewpoint on
www.presbyweb.com.
|
 |
General Assembly
Court Scraps Scruples on G-6.0106b But Constitutional Amendments
Still Needed
Feb. 18, 2008
On the Presbyterian Outlook
website
here
and click "printer friendly version"
(where there are fewer errors in
formatting)
For properly formatted PDF
version click
here
|
The high court of the
Presbyterian Church U.S.A., the General Assembly Permanent
Judicial Commission (GAPJC), has rightly struck down attempts to
"scruple" the "fidelity and chastity" portion of G-6.0106b in
the Book of Order; namely prohibiting to candidates for church
office sexual relations outside the covenant of marriage between
a man and a woman. But the GAPJC failed to recognize the
implications of its own logic, specifically, that the
determination of essentials is not limited to ordaining bodies
in the act of examining individual candidates for ordained
office. Some essentials are already predetermined in the Book of
Order and, moreover, presbyteries and sessions have a
constitutional right to affirm as essentials standards whose
essential status in the Constitution is unclear.
|
|
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Was Jesus in a
Sexual Relationship with the Beloved Disciple?
Feb. 10, 2008
PDF
HTML
|
Some homosexualist readers of
Scripture are so desperate to find anything supportive of
homosexual bonds in the pages of Scripture that they even
propose that Jesus was in a sexual relationship with the
"disciple whom Jesus loved" mentioned in the Gospel of John.
Here are seven arguments why this claim is false.
|
Pittsburgh Presbytery Forwards
Overture Defining Some Clear Indicators of Ordination Essentials
. . . and Other Overture Results of the Feb. 7 Meeting
Feb. 8, 2008
HTML
|
| A summary of what overtures were passed
and what overtures were not passed at the Feb. 7, 2007 meeting of
the Pittsburgh Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) |
 |
Three Clear Indicators in the
Book of Order
regarding
Ordination Essentials:
A Plea
for Theological Sanity and Constitutional Honesty
A Presbyweb
Viewpoint Article
Feb. 5, 2008
PDF
HTML
|
If you can believe it, there are
actually a lot of people in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.),
especially in the leadership, who think that standards in the
Book of Order that are put in ordination vows (i.e. confessing
Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord) or explicitly singled out from
amongst all other confessional standards to stress compliance
(i.e. the requirement that ordained officers not have sexual
relations outside of marriage between a man and a woman) or
repeatedly mentioned in diverse contexts (i.e. the affirmation
of women's ordination) are not necessarily being portrayed in
the Book of Order as essentials. This is constitutional
dishonesty and theological insanity.
|
|
How
Bad Is Homosexual Practice According to Scripture and Does
Scripture’s Indictment Apply to Committed Homosexual Unions?
January 2007; slightly modified December 2007
PDF
HTML
|
| This 11-page essay was previously
published online in January 2007 as two appendices to a similarly
entitled article responding to some remarks by R. Milton Winter in
a Presbyterian journal entitled Perspectives. Because the
appendices were self-standing, not making any reference to Winter,
and treat two very common questions in the church about homosexual
practice, I offer them here as a separate piece so that the
arguments therein will not be overlooked. |
|
Don’t
ENDAnger Your Liberties in the Workplace
Oct. 23, 2007
PDF
HTML
|
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Why the so-called "Employment
Non-Discrimination Act" should be strongly opposed. |
|
 |
Debating Barry
Lynn and Jimmy Creech on Barry Lynn's "Culture Shocks" Radio
Show
Sept. 28, 2007
Go
here
to listen
(If this
does not work go to
http://www.cultureshocks.com/archives.html
and scroll down to Sept. 28.)
Go
here
for a follow-up letter to Barry Lynn
|
| On
Sept. 28, 2007 I was invited to speak on the issue of the Bible,
Politics, and Homosexuality by Barry Lynn (executive director of
"Americans United for the Separation of Church and State") on his
radio show, "Culture Shocks" with Jimmy Creech, executive director
of the misnamed homosexualist group "Faith in America." Lynn and
Creech pushed the homosexualist line. Listen to the talk and read
my follow-up letter to Lynn (neither Lynn nor Creech, who was
cc'ed, has responded). |
Transsexuality and
Ordination
Aug. 2007
PDF
|
| |
 |
Calvin on Unity and Sexual
Immorality
A Comment on a Presbyterian
Coalition Document
Aug.
13, 2007
PDF
HTML
|
Some even in the renewal movements of the PCUSA think
that John Calvin would not have sanctioned departure from a
Christian denomination that affirmed homosexual practice. Here's
why I think that assumption is wrong.
|
|
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PCUSA
Moderator Goes Awry in Her Claims of a "Deeply Pernicious
Heresy"
Aug. 10, 2007
PDF
HTML
|
Rev. Joan Gray, current moderator of the General
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., declares that
refusing membership to persons who are actively and
unrepentantly engaged in homosexual relations have committed a
"deeply pernicious heresy." She even goes so far as to charge
that the apostle Paul himself would support her view. One little
problem exists with her pronouncement of "heresy": The evidence
from Scripture and even from the PCUSA's Constitution does not
support her view. In fact, her declaration makes the apostle
Paul a heretic.
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CHURCH POLICY AS REGARDS
HOMOSEXUAL PRACTICE: MEMBERSHIP AND ORDAINED MINISTRY
A 'lost' chapter of my
first book
(written 1999;
publicly released Aug. 2007)
PDF
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The following chapter was written for my first book
The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts
and Hermeneutics (Nashville:
Abingdon Press, 2001) back in 1999. Because the powers-that-be
at Abingdon Press were predominantly supportive of homosexual
unions, they did not want me to become “too practical.” They
disagreed strongly with the policy decisions that I took in this
chapter and so refused to publish it. I did nothing with the
chapter because I was headed for a tenure decision and knew that
my stances on these policy issues would further jeopardize my
tenure—a tenure already (and ironically) jeopardized by
publishing a book on the Bible’s view on homosexual practice
that supported the official stance of the Presbyterian Church
U.S.A. (with which my seminary was and is affiliated). After
being awarded tenure in 2002 I more or less forgot about the
chapter. However, a recent editorial in
Presbyweb.com
by the moderator of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. labeling as
“A Deeply Pernicious Heresy” (Aug. 4, 2007) any attempt at
withholding membership from persons who repetitively and
unrepentantly engage in homosexual practice has served as a
catalyst for me to release this chapter. It’s long overdue.
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Letter
to an Evangelical Leader on Exploring “Gay Rights”
Aug. 7, 2007
PDF
HTML
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In late June 2007 an evangelical leader contacted me with the
questions about "what rights [I] believe that gay and lesbian
people should have." The questions were asked in view of my
opposition to so-called "hate crime sexual orientation"
legislation. Here is the response that I sent on June 21, 2007.
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Case Not Made:
A Response to Prof. John
Thorp's "Making the Case" for Blessing Homosexual Unions in the
Anglican Church of Canada
June 19, 2007
PDF
HTML
Also:
A response to a critic of my argument against Prof. Thorp
here.
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A week or so before the 2007 General Synod of the
Anglican Church of Canada a paper by Prof. John Thorp, professor
of philosophy at the University of Western Ontario, was sent to
every delegate to the Synod, timed to push the case for blessing
homosexual unions. Thorp's paper, which can be viewed at the
Anglican Church of Canada website,
is not well done but it might convince some of the uninformed.
Here is my response.
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Putting one's
money where one's mouth is?
Jack Haberer's editorial supporting "Sexual Orientation Hate"
crime legislation
May
30, 2007
(A Presbyweb.com Viewpoint article)
Click
here
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The editor of the Presbyterian Outlook has written a poorly
reasoned and poorly informed editorial in support of the "Sexual
Orientation Hate" Crimes bill already passed by the U.S. House and
currently being considered by the U.S. Senate. Here is my
response. |
Let the
“Sexual Orientation
Hate” Bill Pass and Invite Your Own Oppression
May
2, 2007
PDF
HTML
Also: A letter to members of
Congress:
here
Also: An exchange will a homosexual
man upset with this article:
here
For an excellent legal analysis
see the memorandum on this "hate crimes" bill by the Alliance
Defense Fund
here
Also: Questions and Answers about
the Federal Hate Crime Bill
here
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IMMEDIATE
ACTION NEEDED: CONTACT CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT |
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"Jesus and the Centurion" by Veronés
(1528-88). |
Did Jesus
Approve of a Homosexual Couple in the Story of the Centurion at
Capernaum?
Apr. 24, 2007
PDF
HTML |
A rebuttal of the oft-repeated
but historically baseless argument that Jesus approved of a
homosexual relationship in the story of centurion at Capernaum.
Contrast the baseless billboard message to the right:
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Rowan Williams'
Wrong Reading of Romans
(. . . and John
14:6)
Apr. 21, 2007
Click
here
for PDF version,
here
for HTML
An abridged
version is now available in the May 4, 2007 edition of The
Church of England Newspaper, pp. 22-23 under the title "Is
Rowan Williams Wrong on the Meaning of Romans?" Go
here
to the "The Record"
section and select the 04/05/07 edition for download. It's free.
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A response to the Archbishop's claim
that Paul's primary point in Romans 1-2 was to critique the
self-righteous who judge others, a point that challenges the
position of persons today who judge those engaging in homosexual
relations. With due respect to the Archbishop, Paul never argued
that believers should not judge sexual immorality committed by
those inside the church. To the contrary . . . . He also
truncates and misapplies the context of John 14:6 ("I am the Way
and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except
through me") to suggest that we can go into interfaith dialogue
with the view that salvation does not depend on explicit
confession of Christ.
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Dale Martin's
Poststructuralist Persona and His Historical-Critical Real Self
An Exchange
Between Robert Gagnon and Dale Martin over Martin's Critique of
Gagnon in Sex and the Single Savior
Oct. 2006
(posted 3/6/07)
Click
here
Click
here for
some responses
Click
here
for the beginnings of a more detailed response to Martin's book:
Dale Martin and the Myth of Total Textual Indeterminacy
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Dale Martin, professor of New Testament at Yale University
and a self-identified "gay man," devotes six full pages of his
recent book Sex and the | |