One of the weaknesses in the emerging conversations among Christians, according to David Fitch, is that the conversation keeps going, and going, and going, and going, just like the energizer bunny, never arriving to truth. At some level, I am in agreement with him that we need to arrive at the truth.
Then at another level, I am with Brian McLaren (has he revealed his position on gays yet?) that we really need a thick view of gender dynamics and socialization. I don't think its a slam dunk that homosexuality is not according to God's heart and plan in the new kingdom. My postmodern hermeneutic of suspicion won't allow a Michael Jordan slam dunk special. For example, for years traditionalists have used Genesis 19 as a justification against homosexual practice. Yet there are some theologians who embrace the traditional view now, but say Genesis 19 shouldn't be anywhere close in the contemporary discussion.
Andrew Goddard points out that Christians arguing for homosexuality, "argue either that the biblical prohibitions are not universal moral laws and so no longer binding or that homosexuality today is something so different from that found in the biblical world that we cannot treat it as requiring a similar response to that found in Scripture" (Semper Reformanda in a Changing World in Alister McGrath & Evangelical Theology.
It's not a slam dunk.
Andrew Goddard continues, "In some circles, evangelicals and evangelical theology are understood as inherently conservative (even reactionary), with part of their popular appeal allegedly lying in the constancy and certainty they offer in a world of rapid change. Although there are elements of truth there, if evangelicals are serious about being heirs of the Reformation who seek to conform their lives and the life of the church to the voice of the living God, then mature evangelicalism should be a vital and dynamic theological movement neither resisting all challenges to its traditions (as if all challenges were a sign of unfaithfulness) nor adapting uncritically to trends in society."
I like that.
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