I Wish Had Said That

Since I wrote the book, I suppose it is safe (OK?) for me to say, “I Wish I’d Said That.” I read an article by Dr. Tomas Howe. (Dr. Thomas Howe is professor of Bible and Biblical Languages at Southern Evangelical Seminary. He received his Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion with concentration in the Philosophy of Hermeneutics from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.) When I finished reading it, I thought, “Wow. Not exactly how I might have said it all, but I am glad it has been said – either by him or me.

I will just give you two excerpts. Read and think. I like this guy. He is out there where it really is. If you want to read the full article online, check: RedState: Getting The Words of Jesus Straight On Gay Marriage.

Of course, anyone who wants to can claim to be a Christian. A person can take what he wants from the Bible and leave the rest and can call himself a Christian (and there will be those who will condemn me [to hell?] for using a masculine personal pronoun). There is no law against deciding what you want to believe. Yet, it is always curious that those who pick-and-choose are quick to justify their choices. I guess everyone is quick to do that, however. People have gotten angry at me; “You just think you are always right!!” Well, OF COURSE!! I don’t believe things that I think are wrong, duh! Everyone thinks that what they believe is right. I always try to research everything I believe to see whether it is right. I may not always succeed. But don’t I have the same right as you to believe what I think is right?

Of course, if Jesus was fully human and fully divine, then we have a problem with the above characterization. Was Jesus’ human thinking dynamic and always on the move, or was it His divine thinking? Did Jesus have two minds? Two different memories that were compartmentalized so that they did not interact at all? Did the Divine part of Jesus not keep the human part of Jesus from making mistakes? And if the human part of Jesus made an error, and since Jesus is supposed to be fully human and fully divine, doesn’t it follow that God made an error too? And if God made an error, how can we trust Him? He could have made any number of errors for all we know. That means, we are just going to have to pick-and-choose what we want to believe, and then just call ourselves Christians, like everyone else. But, if I choose to hold to inerrancy of the Bible, and if I choose to believe all of it, don’t treat me like I’m a leper. Don’t tell me that it’s stupid, or unscholarly, or anti-intellectual to believe the way I do. If I want to believe that homosexuality is morally wrong, and if I want to believe that the Bible teaches that, don’t I have the right to believe this? Then don’t bomb my house, or threaten my family; all actions that have befallen those who have come out against homosexuality. If you want to believe that the Bible does not teach against homosexuality, that is your right. And if you want to discuss the issue in a calm, non-combative engagement, then I would be glad to do so. I won’t condemn you for your beliefs. Don’t condemn me for mine. You believe I am wrong. You have that right. But I have the right to believe that you are wrong. 

Wow! I call that, “saying it like it is.”