The Other Nashville Statement

Preston Sprinkle is a great NT scholar (see his BBR articles on homosexuality in the ancient world), but he also has a real pastoral heart. In addition, he heads up The Centre for Faith, Sexuality, and Gender, and I frequently recommend to students his book People to Be Loved: Why Homosexuality is Not Just an Issue.

Sprinkle has a generous yet critical response to the Nashville Statement, noting its pros and cons. He begins: “It is ironic and possibly prophetic that the Nashville Statement (NS) was published the very same day that I released a short film on LGBT people in the church titled Dear Church: I’m Gay.”

Read Preston’s blog post and then please, Please, PLEASE watch the video he just launched, you won’t regret it.

Sprinkle offers one really good remark that made me chuckle:

I know that several of the signers have publicly argued that the biblical story of Sodom, where the entire male population of the ancient city tried to gang rape two angels, provides sound evidence that homosexuality is sin. I personally have never met a gay person who was oriented toward gang raping angelic beings.

I think the evangelical churches need a biblical position and a loving posture when it comes to addressing LGBTI issues, same-sex marriage, and discussions about transgenderism. Sprinkle’s work gives you some great resources to do just that!