Poor Albert Mohler: Now, even one of the most influential Christian Reformed theologians is backing-away from hostility to LGBT relationships.
He [Nicholas Wolterstorff] went on to say,
“If homosexual orientation is not morally blameable or a disorder, and if members of the church are to accept people as they are, then why is it wrong for people with [homosexual] orientation [to act] on their desires in a loving and covenantal relationship?”
In the controversy centering on Jen Hatmaker, I made the point that what is missed I think by many is the key issue of whether or not a same-sex relationship can be holy. In the case of Nicholas Wolterstorff, I think what needs to be noted in particular is his argument that same-sex relatedness and same-sex sexual behaviors are not rooted in the Fall, but rather represent what he calls a “creational variance.” That is a massively important argument.
Mohler grounds his objection in the Genesis creation story, of course, and what Mohler has to say is, right out of the gate, unworthy of serious consideration.
Let me repeat that, so that there is no confusion about what I am saying here: Albert Mohler is an intellectually unserious man, and does not deserve the attention of people who are serious-minded grown-ups. His argument rests on a fairy tale.
He is intellectually dishonest, too. After all, according to the Inerrant Bible …
Genesis 2:18 Then the Lord God said, “I see that it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make the companion he needs, one just right for him.”
19 The Lord God used dust from the ground and made every animal in the fields and every bird in the air. He brought all these animals to the man, and the man gave them all a name.
20 The man gave names to all the tame animals, to all the birds in the air, and to all the wild animals. He saw many animals and birds, but he could not find a companion that was right for him.
21 So the Lord God caused the man to sleep very deeply. While he was asleep, God took one of the ribs from the man’s body. Then he closed the man’s skin where the rib had been.
22 The Lord God used the rib from the man to make a woman. Then he brought the woman to the man.
23 And the man said,
“Finally! One like me,
with bones from my bones
and a body from my body.
She was taken out of a man,
so I will call her ‘woman.’”
It’s clear, I think, that the Big Guy had, at best, a pretty vague idea of what would fire-up Adam.
Morality has nothing whatever to do with the diktat of an Invisible Wizard. Morality is that set of behavioral conventions that make it possible for people to live together more-or-less peacefully in communities that thrive. At the time Genesis originated people still lived in tribes, and the tribe’s perpetuation required that every man … contribute.
Now, for what it’s worth, I agree without caveat with Mohler’s protests that Christianity has historically regarded same-sex relationships as sin, and as being a manifestation of The Fall. The Fall was not an actual historical event, however, and Christian teaching crashes pretty quickly when you try to utilize The Fall as an allegorical way of saying we should all be nicer, et cetera, et cetera.
And so much for The Fall. It is a preposterous myth that has worked extraordinary evil over the millennia, and it is time to put it in humanity’s childish past. Does Mohler not know what St. Paul wrote?
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.