Must Read Monday: Marriage, Identity and A Praying Atheist
February 12, 2018The sanctity of marriage:
At first glance, the commitment of two people to marriage even beyond when “death do us part” seems sweet. However, Jesus makes clear that the reality of marriage in the Kingdom of God is the reality of one Bridegroom, Jesus, and one Bride, the Church. Marriage here and now is given by God so that we might have a foretaste of the mystery of the union with Christ which is to come.
God intends human marriage to be entered into seriously and as a covenant lifelong union between one man and one woman. God gives us marriage for the full expression of love and the only context in which sexual union is to be expressed and experienced. God gives us marriage for the ordering of family life, for the birth and nurture of children.
This story about two individuals who embrace the notion of transhumanism and in which a man leaves his wife and children, committing to be joined to another woman in a marriage that they imagine will transcend life is evidence of just how selfish and self-interested marriage has become.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/02/10/fashion/weddings/a-commitment-for-more-than-one-lifetime.html?
Identity crisis:
A month ago the Brits issued new guidelines for their National Health Service providers. Among the new protocols is the recommendation for women’s health care providers to replace the use of phrases like “expectant mother” with gender-nonspecific language like “pregnant people.”
They also announced national protocols for screenings that allow for biological men who identify as women to have regular pap smears as part of their gynecological exams. There is outrage among the sexual revolutionaries that the protocols do not include regular mammograms for those same gender-dysphoric men.
The decision we each have to make is how much of the culture-wide delusion we are going to participate in. To help us navigate how to respond to the transgender moment, see Ryan Anderson’s new book: When Harry Became Sally.
The persistent reality of God:
Patton Dodd shares about his effort to get rid of God and his failure to live as an impersonal atheist because, well, we live in a theistic, personal universe. This aspiring atheist was prepared for the propositional apologetic arguments, what he admits he could not resist are the spiritual yearnings to pray, the peace which passes understanding that comes by prayer, and the reality of a God who pursues a restored relationship with His children. The takeaway? If you know an atheist, argue with them less and pray for (and with) them more.
https://relevantmagazine.com/god/stop-praying-id-good-atheist/
On evangelicalism:
Since the 2016 Presidential election much has been said, speculated and spewed about those who identify as evangelical Christians who voted for Donald Trump. We have highlighted many of the articles written over time and sought to equip readers to process and respond to accusations and insinuations of all kinds. There’s an interesting roundup of pieces posted on the Religion & Culture Forum. Thinking through whether or not the term evangelical means what you think it means in the culture today is a necessary undertaking.
In the DON’T READ category is the New York Times Book Review which was included in yesterday’s Sunday edition of the paper. In anticipation of Valentine’s Day, the paper published a “Pleasure Reading” edition — “an entire issue devoted to books about orgasms, porn, kissing, vibrators, bedroom fantasies, extramarital affairs and even teenage hookups.” Yes, really, in the Sunday paper. This Wednesday is also notably Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent and a time of spiritual preparation for the events of Holy Week and Easter. Notably, that did not find feature coverage in the NYTimes. My counsel: read the Gospels and ruminate on the goodness, beauty and truth of the Gospel in lieu of the porn recommended by the Times.