B
Belcanto
Guest
I listened to it over the weekend. The subject was “Is Homosexuality Compatible with Authentic, Biblical Christianity.” It was interesting. It’s difficult to say who “won” since the two men have such different world views. Spong, for those of you who don’t know, is the retired Episcopal Bishop of Newark, and makes Rembart Weakland look like a raving traditionalist. He explicitly said several times in the debate that he did not believe the bible is the word of God, and that truth was always unfolding. James White believes that God spoke in scripture, and that we must follow God’s word.
I thought that White did well in articulating the Protestant Christian position on homosexuality. His basic thesis was scripture is God-breathed, and that Jesus Himself had a very high view of scripture. White says that Jesus clearly stated that “from the beginning it was not so…God created them male and female, and the two shall become one flesh.” Homosexuality, by definition, cannot meet that requirement, White says, because the 2 men or 2 women cannot become 1 flesh. In addition, he said, “Every sin, including homosexuality, was represented by the congregation there in Corinth, but they turned from those things and turned to Christ. They did not demand that Christ adopt their standard of morality and demand from God his blessing anyway. You can’t go around saying that God made you a covetous, or hateful, or [insert sin here] Christian, and I was just made that way, without being responsible for that sin. If we accept this kind of perspective, Jesus Christ died for nothing; without a sin, there’s no penalty for sin, and without a penalty for sin, there was no reason for Christ to die as an atoning sacrifice.” He comes at the issue from a different angle from the Catholic Church, but it’s an interesting perspective.
Spong talked about how his perspectives have changed over the years. He said he was raised in a “fundamentalist, Evangelical Episcopal background” in the deep south. He was taught to believe that the bible commanded segregation of the races, and that Jews were “Christ killers.” As for homosexuality, he didn’t even hear about it until he was 18. In his background, he said they were at best people to be pitied, and at worst, morally-depraved perverts. You can read more about the 2 opening statements here. Just scroll down some.
Spong did not follow the protocol of the debate. During cross-examination, Spong would launch into long statement before asking a question. In addition, when Spong began his first cross-examination, Spong told White that “that was the lengthiest 20-minute rebuttal I’ve ever heard. 40 minutes, wasn’t it? I thought you were just getting warmed up.” But White was within his time limit, and 20 minutes for a rebuttal was what was agreed upon, and the moderater clearly said, “White will now have 20 minutes for a rebuttal.”
Those are just my thoughts.
Pax Tecum,
Jay
I thought that White did well in articulating the Protestant Christian position on homosexuality. His basic thesis was scripture is God-breathed, and that Jesus Himself had a very high view of scripture. White says that Jesus clearly stated that “from the beginning it was not so…God created them male and female, and the two shall become one flesh.” Homosexuality, by definition, cannot meet that requirement, White says, because the 2 men or 2 women cannot become 1 flesh. In addition, he said, “Every sin, including homosexuality, was represented by the congregation there in Corinth, but they turned from those things and turned to Christ. They did not demand that Christ adopt their standard of morality and demand from God his blessing anyway. You can’t go around saying that God made you a covetous, or hateful, or [insert sin here] Christian, and I was just made that way, without being responsible for that sin. If we accept this kind of perspective, Jesus Christ died for nothing; without a sin, there’s no penalty for sin, and without a penalty for sin, there was no reason for Christ to die as an atoning sacrifice.” He comes at the issue from a different angle from the Catholic Church, but it’s an interesting perspective.
Spong talked about how his perspectives have changed over the years. He said he was raised in a “fundamentalist, Evangelical Episcopal background” in the deep south. He was taught to believe that the bible commanded segregation of the races, and that Jews were “Christ killers.” As for homosexuality, he didn’t even hear about it until he was 18. In his background, he said they were at best people to be pitied, and at worst, morally-depraved perverts. You can read more about the 2 opening statements here. Just scroll down some.
Spong did not follow the protocol of the debate. During cross-examination, Spong would launch into long statement before asking a question. In addition, when Spong began his first cross-examination, Spong told White that “that was the lengthiest 20-minute rebuttal I’ve ever heard. 40 minutes, wasn’t it? I thought you were just getting warmed up.” But White was within his time limit, and 20 minutes for a rebuttal was what was agreed upon, and the moderater clearly said, “White will now have 20 minutes for a rebuttal.”
Those are just my thoughts.
Pax Tecum,
Jay
)
James White appeared on Ankerberg in their “KJV only” series from 1995. That was fun.