The Normalization of Porn Is Not Normal

Carl Trueman has some important reflections on the normalization of pornography in Great Britain, but I think his observations apply to this side of the Atlantic as well. He writes:

 

Internet pornography is probably the number one pastoral problem in the world today. I wonder if it is set to become yet more so: as the social shame dimension passes away, it will be harder to maintain discipline on this issue. The Christian church is currently mesmerized by developments relative to sexuality, not least because these development are couched in the rhetoric of civil rights and have serious legal implications. I wonder if a more serious and lethal internal issue for the church will actually turn out to be pornography. Holding the line on this will probably not come with direct legal and financial penalties attached; but when even The Spectator carries not one but two articles in a single week which assume the harmless normality of porn consumption, the pastoral challenge of preaching and maintaining basic sexual purity in the church is set to escalate beyond our wildest nightmares.

I think Trueman’s suspicions are right on target. The pornography epidemic is an absolute spiritual crisis in the church. Twenty-five years ago, it was normal to hear Christian men confess to one another about their struggles with lust. It was not normal to hear those men confess to a daily diet of hardcore pornography. That has all changed.  Continue at Denny Burk