Here We Go Again - Again

Brian McLaren's Leadership Journal article on the "agonizing" difficulty in how to respond to homosexuality in a pastoral setting has caused quite a stir. First a blogger named Jeff published a response, then another "emergent" church leader, Mark Driscoll of Seattle’s Mars Hill church, posted a satirical report. Then McLaren wrote another fairly long piece in response to all the fuss. All this is to be expected. There is no hotter issue on the burner on a day when Brokeback Mountain gets nominated for best picture.

But the significant number of comments generated by readers is also intriguing. I have not done a scientific count, but I would say a bit less than half are critical of McLaren's ambiguity on the issue. I would guess a bit more than half are either supportive of McLaren's "understanding" tone or critical of the biting sarcasm in Driscoll's and others’ response. Whether my estimates on the percentages are correct or not, a significant number of readers are, like McLaren, unable to simply say that the homosexual lifestyle is always sinful.

McLaren's defense of his original statement is every bit as vague as the statement itself. Two paragraphs in particular, reveal the unfortunate reasons.

Here We Go Again

I blogged just a bit ago about the problem with the 50 most influential christians, all of whom were influential, but which I'm not sure are all Christians, (if historic Trinitarian orthodoxy is the main consideration). I mentioned Brian McLaren, whose "Generous Orthodoxy" has caused quite a stir in the evangelical community. Folks are never quite sure what to think about McLaren because he never seems willing to explicitly say what he believes.

Today, McLaren writes in Chritianity Today's Leadership Journal, in an article entitled No Cowardly Flip-Flop about a couple who asked him his position on homosexuality. He says that he hesitated in answering, for pastoral reasons. Which might be understandable. It is a hot-button issue these days and some seekers of truth might forever be turned away if the first thing they hear from a Christian pastor is words of self-righteous condemnation. Certainly gentleness and respect for all who are created in God's image is a valid stance.

McLaren tosses phrase about, "Radio-Orthodoxy" which he defines as "the religio-political priorities mandated by many big-name religious broadcasters." In context he is describing the various "sides" of this issue, including the viewpoint of ex-gays who need the help of the church in fully recovering. So there is a pastoral concern, one cannot minister to anyone who has been tossed out of the church at first contact.

Liberal Critics of Roe v. Wade

Timothy P. Carney has published a list of quotations from folks on the pro-abortion side of the fence who recognize that the Supreme Court decision in 1973 was a poorly reasoned and constitutionally ridiculous decision. Hopefully the next time there are confirmation hearings and Arlen Specter holds up a giant prop with all the decisions since that reaffirm Roe, someone will be kind enough to read a few of these quotes.

Specter's insistence that the numerous decisions made by a liberal court make Roe settled law - something ingrained in the consciousness of the country, begs the question of why, if it is settled law, it keeps getting challenged again and again and again in the courts and keeps winding up back at the highest court. Doesn't seem very settled to me.

50 Most Influential ... Christians?

I have long had problems with the broad definition of what makes an "evangelical". In the old understanding of the term, an evangelical was one who accepted the unique and final authority of scripture, and considered justification by grace alone through faith alone as the central tenets of belief. Most evangelicals took for granted the doctrines of the Nicene Creed even if that creed was not something emphasized in local church Christian Education or recited as part of the order of weekly service. Doctrinal statements restated the basic Trinitarian beliefs for most evangelicals.

But thirty years of experience in "evangelical" circles made me increasingly uncomfortable with the drift of the times. I had not read Mark Noll's "Scandal of the Evangelical Mind" or David Wells' "No Place for Truth", but I knew that theology had come to be considered the domain of scholars and largely irrelevant and unimportant for church life and particularly church growth.

The Church Report.com, which describes itself as "the online resource for Christian leaders, pastors and Para church executives" has published a list of the 50 most influential Christian leaders in America. This list only solidifies my belief that evangelicalism is drifting further and further from orthodoxy.

Christmas Wars

Note to David Letteman, ABC News and others. The alleged "war on Christmas" is not something Christians made up out of whole cloth. Neuhaus at First Things has a compiled list about the Christmas Wars. He recommends Christians keep it on file for next year when it all starts up again.

Historicity of Christ Debated in Italian Court

The Washington Times reports today on a court case in Italy in which a seminary trained atheist is suing to prove that Christianity is a massive hoax.

Maybe Ron Howard will turn it into a movie.

Islam, Benedict and the West

Hugh Hewitt interviewed Father Joseph Fessio, Provosty of Ave Maria University in Naples, Florida, on January 5 and posted a portion of the interview on his website. This was a very interesting exchange. Father Fessio is part of a group that has long met for topical discussions with Joseph Ratzinger and groups of Graduate Students, a practice that is apparently continuing now that Ratzinger is Pope Benedict XVI. Their most recent meeting discussed Islam. A couple of quotes struck me.

First, regarding the spread of Islam and the response to it by Christians in the West...

"... I want to say without exaggeration, and without trying to become histrionic here, I see the trends...I've seen them for years, in Europe, of depopulation as you've mentioned. And their immigration is coming from the South, which is mainly Islamic. And there are, I think there are 98 Islamic countries in the world, and 97 of them do not have religious freedom... And that's what's going to happen to Europe. Once there's an Islamic majority...it's going to eliminate religious freedom...and therefore, Western civilization as we know it. However, in the United States, we also are not having children. There's abortion. There's contraception. There's the ideal of a one or two child family. But where is our immigration coming from? From Ecuador, from Mexico, from Cuba, from Guatemala. And these people are Christians. And so, I believe without being...you know, having hubris as an American, I believe that Christians in the United States are the ones who will be able to save not just Christianity, but Western civilization, if we maintain our fidelity to the scriptures, our fidelity to Christ, our fidelity to family life, and our fidelity to fertility and fruitfulness in marriage."