The Young Christian’s Guide to Sex at Seminary

I was not a geek in high school.  I know this because I never had a slushee tossed in my face (which, according to no less an authority than Glee, is the leading indicator of geek status in high school), and I never suffered the distinct indignity of a “wedgie,” and I never went to high school.  As a top-ranked gymnast, I worked through our high school’s “independent study” program, which meant that every person in every class I took thought I was perfectly wonderful.

Neither was I particularly uncool at college.  I was a varsity athlete, a relatively sociable person, and a leader in student Christian fellowships.  There were times when my counter-cultural Christianness was painfully clear.  I did not go to drinking parties, had no interest in joining a fraternity, and made no effort to bed the young ladies at Stanford University.  But, honestly, I never felt like an outsider.  Stanford had many thousands of students from hundreds of different cultures and faiths and value systems.  I was just a part of the mosaic.

It surprised me, therefore, when I found that I felt like an outsider at seminary. 

We were all Christians.  Princeton Theological Seminary is a fine institution, and I enjoyed my time there.  I formed friendships with fascinating people, found mentors in excellent professors, and enjoyed the classes immensely.

And yet…I did feel like an outsider.  There was a single prevailing culture there — and I did not belong to it.  I am an evangelical with conservative leanings.  I came to PTS at the recommendation of my famously-agnostic undergraduate mentor, Van Harvey, who strongly believed that I should gain a three-year seminary education before going on to a secular research institution for the more specialized work of a doctorate.  (He was right, but more on that later.)   Keep Reading >>>

See Also: Series on Sex in Seminary

Dude, Where’s Your Bride?

As I speak at different venues across the country, one of the recurring questions I get comes from women, young women in particular. Their question usually goes something like this: “What is up with men?”

These aren’t angry women. Their question is more plaintive than petulant. I’m not quite sure why they ask me. Maybe because they’ve read Just Do Something and figure I’ll be a sympathetic ear. Or maybe they think I can help. They often follow up their initial question by exhorting me, “Please speak to the men in our generation and tell them to be men.”

They’re talking about marriage. I have met scores of godly young women nearby and far away who wonder “Where have all the marriageable men gone?” More and more commentators–Christian or otherwise–are noticing a trend in young men; namely, that they don’t seem to be growing up. Recently, William Bennett’s CNN article “Why Men Are in Trouble” has garnered widespread attention. The point of the post is summarized in the final line: “It’s time for men to man up.” Sounds almost biblical (1 Corinthians 16:13).  Keep Reading  >>>

The Devil is in the White Spaces

It is always shocking to me when people tollerate, follow, and even adore teachers who clearly flaunt biblical standards for conduct, and then act surprised when false teachers and outright heresy are entertained in the church. “Naïve” doesn’t even begin to describe this kind of complicit partnership with false teaching. Because the Scripture warns that “Satan comes as an angel of light,” we simply cannot marvel when his deceptions have somehow “crept in unawares.”

Second Timothy 4:3 predicts that, “the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching.” Too often people assume these opening words to mean that one day, as evangelical ministry marches on with expansive gospel-momentum, a blatant, rather foul stench straight from hell will mount an offensive against sound doctrine so sudden and obvious that all who love Christ will cry out in unison, “Damn the heresy!” If only that was the way it worked.

Instead of opposing the truth with blatant lies, Satan does a far greater work in the white spaces between Paul’s words. When the Apostle warns that “a time is coming,” we shouldn’t imagine a sudden plunge from the heights of doctrinal precision, but rather a slow, imperceptible decline via subtle spiritual optical illusions. The enemy knows that discerning shepherds would never allow their sheep to suddenly deny truth and turn aside to doctrines of demons. His tactics have to be implemented over long periods of time, introducing slight, unnoticeable deviations to the truth. So just exactly how was the enemy able to bring us to the place where we no longer endure sound, in-depth preaching and teaching, and yet celebrate casual conversations with false teachers?    Keep Reading...