Marginal Christianity

http://thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-principles-of-the-new-sexual-morality Five Core Principles Alastair Roberts posted an article at The Gospel Coalition recently that attempted to probe beneath the hot-button issues of sexuality to some of the moral principles that appear to underlie the debates.   For those who affirm what he calls the “new sexual morality” he finds the following to be chief among them. “First , sexual acts don’t have intrinsic meanings or purposes. They don’t relate to a deeper natural order, which we must honor and not violate. Their meaning is merely constructed, by society and the persons engaging in them. Sexual relations between a man and a woman need not involve the natural significance of making them “one flesh,” with all that entails. ‘Meaningless’ sex is a genuine possibility.  “Second , our sexuality is a subjective sense and intrinsic to our self-identity. Provided no harm is caused to others, we have a duty of car...

Alastair Roberts Aug 15, 2014   The sociologist Mark Regnerus recently published a  piece  for the Witherington Institute’s Public Discourse, suggesting that support for same-sex marriage in some Christian circles correlates to broader shifts in morality surrounding sexuality and relations. Survey respondents were asked to declare their level of agreement with seven statements relating to the issues of pornography, cohabitation, no-strings-attached sex, the duty of staying in a marriage, extramarital sex, polyamorous relationships, and abortion.  The results illustrated pronounced fault lines between those committed to historic Christian stances on sexual morality and supporters of same-sex marriage. As conservative Christians, we often see such data and reach for one or both of two related narratives: the narrative of the rejection of morality and the narrative of the slippery slope. I’m convinced both approaches typically oversimplify matters and obsc...