Category: Sexuality & Gender

The Vanished Soul and Quest for the Authentic Self in Modern Western Thought

Philosophical and Social Origins of Identity Politics and the LGBTQ Sexual Revolution. Part 1.

Due to the influence of the Bible, the majority of thinkers in Western society for centuries have acknowledged the reality of the soul which is distinct and yet intimately linked to the body. According to the Christian tradition, what we refer to as body and soul are aspects of one unitary reality and process, that is, the body and soul are viewed as a psychophysical unit, the human person. The physical body changes through time but the soul persists as the person interacts continuously with the world. It is the continuity of the soul, with its faculties of intellect and will, which ensures coherence and defines the personal identity of the person.1Due to constrains of a short article, the words “soul”, “self” and “mind” are used in this post interchangeably in the light of overlaps in their semantic domain. For example, the immortality of the soul is linked to the immateriality of the mind and the mind is a power of the soul. However, we should be sensitive to the nuances of each thinker in how he uses these words.

Knowledge of the soul is inseparable from knowledge of God.2John Calvin notes, “true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But, while joined by many bonds, which one precedes and brings forth the other is not easy to discern. In the first place, no one can look upon himself without immediately turning his thoughts to the contemplation of God, in whom he “lives and moves”… Again, it is certain that man never achieves a clear knowledge of himself unless he has first looked upon God’s face, and then descends from contemplating him to scrutinize himself.” John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (Westminster, 1960), Book 1.1.1, 2. However, from the 17th century, many Western scholars and scientists began to reject both the idea of God and the soul. Indeed, the soul has become absent or irrelevant in contemporary intellectual discourse. How did this happen?

To answer this question, we begin with the French philosopher, Rene Descartes. Continue reading “The Vanished Soul and Quest for the Authentic Self in Modern Western Thought”

  • 1
    Due to constrains of a short article, the words “soul”, “self” and “mind” are used in this post interchangeably in the light of overlaps in their semantic domain. For example, the immortality of the soul is linked to the immateriality of the mind and the mind is a power of the soul. However, we should be sensitive to the nuances of each thinker in how he uses these words.
  • 2
    John Calvin notes, “true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But, while joined by many bonds, which one precedes and brings forth the other is not easy to discern. In the first place, no one can look upon himself without immediately turning his thoughts to the contemplation of God, in whom he “lives and moves”… Again, it is certain that man never achieves a clear knowledge of himself unless he has first looked upon God’s face, and then descends from contemplating him to scrutinize himself.” John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (Westminster, 1960), Book 1.1.1, 2.

Video Recording of Talk on Bible and Homosexuality by Ng Kam Weng

You can view the one hour video at:
The Bible and Homosexuality

Outline of Talk

A. Getting the Facts Right
– possible causes of homosexuality and homosexual life-style.
– Can homosexual change?
– What the bible says about homosexual practice.

B. Relevant Biblical Texts
– Matt. 19:1-6 – God’s creation order of heterosexual marriage.
– Gen. 19:4-8; Jude 7 – Judgment on Sodom.
– Lev. 18:22; Lev. 20:13 – Homosexual practice as an abomination to the Lord.
– 1 Sam. 18 – Were David and Jonathan in a homosexual relationship?
– Rom. 1 – Homosexual practice is “contrary to nature” or disordered desire.
– 1 Cor. 6:9-10. Homosexual practice, along with other sexual sins condemned..

C. Affirmation
1. Sexual complementarity is good.
2. Marriage is good.
3. Sex is good – Sacramental reminder of the joys of first love.
4. Family Reproduction is good. Learning to love and give.

D. Final Challenge
– Fulfilment in Christ beyond sex.
– We seek humbly to share the wholeness found in God’s grace that brings liberation and substantial healing to our brokenness.

Related Posts
Nashville Statement (2017): A Coalition For Biblical Sexuality

 

 

Biden’s LGBT Inspired “Equality Act” Will Drive the Church From the Public Arena

 

Many Malaysian Christians who rely on CNN (aka the Democrats’ Ministry of Truth) for ‘news’ on the recent USA elections were gleeful when Biden won. I wonder how they would react to the so-called “Equality Act” which Biden has pledged to push through Congress in his first 100 days of power. Of course these Christians did not see the writing on the wall, given their great faith in CNN. This is only the beginning of Biden and the Democrats’ campaign to drive the church away from the public arena. Continue reading “Biden’s LGBT Inspired “Equality Act” Will Drive the Church From the Public Arena”

Amazon Bans Authors Who are Critical of LGBT

The LGBT movement in the USA pretended to be fighting for equality and coexistence with traditional Christianity and conservative religious values. Now that it controls the economic, educational, entertainment and political institutions in the USA, it proceeds to snuff out any opposing views, especially the view of traditional biblical Christianity.
Example: Amazon bans books written by authors who are critical of the homosexual and transsexual movement:
Robert Gagnon, Anne Paulk, Ryan Anderson, Joseph Nicolosi, Joe Dallas, Alan Mendiger etc.
One observes related restrictions and bans by Google, Facebook & Pay Pal.

Continue reading “Amazon Bans Authors Who are Critical of LGBT”

Saints and Social Justice Warriors

One of the reasons many Christians become defensive in the debate with the LGBT movement is because for too long churches have failed to acknowledge, much less teach and prepare their congregations on how to analyze, understand and challenge the anti-biblical foundations of the movement. When was the last time you heard a preacher addressing LGBT issues over the pulpit? Likewise, many Christians find themselves ill-prepared in confronting the current ideology of social justice that focuses narrowly on an intersectionality of sexual identity(ies) and Critical Race Theory (CRT). /1/ The ideology has become so influential in the USA that it threatens to split apart the Southern Baptist Convention with its 14.5 million members.

The vigorous promotion of this ideology by the Western academia, media and entertainment industry has managed to persuade the younger generation (including younger Christians) to become “Woke,” that is, becoming aware of alleged social discrimination and aligning oneself to social justice warriors. Continue reading “Saints and Social Justice Warriors”

The Most Authoritative NT Greek Lexicon (BDAG) Tones Down its Gender References

Setting the Context: Compare the following translations of 1 Cor. 16:13
a) Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. (ESV)

b) Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. (KJV)
To contemporary readers, “quit” means “to stop” or “to give up,” but in King James English, it can also mean “to conduct oneself in a specified way.” Hence, “quit you like men” means “to play the man”, or “act manly”.

c) Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. (NIV)

———–
The ESV has “Act like men” (andrizesthe). Some readers in their conformity to political correctness may take offence and consider the ESV translation to be guilty of sexism.

It should be instructive to look into the Greek words. Continue reading “The Most Authoritative NT Greek Lexicon (BDAG) Tones Down its Gender References”

How I Left the Social Justice Cult

Virtue signaling in solidarity with “social justice warriors” is becoming popular among Christian social activists. “Wokeness” is sweeping across mainline denominations and some conservative seminaries. Even the Southern Baptist Convention (historically the bulwark of theological conservatism) is experiencing division as some of its influential leaders eagerly join the bandwagon.

We are puzzled when highly intelligent and idealistic people are caught up in the ideological madness of crowds currently sweeping across the USA. We are troubled by incidents when some social activists who started their mission with righteous ideals end up becoming self-righteous and judgmental towards people who don’t share their avant-garde views. Continue reading “How I Left the Social Justice Cult”

The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self and the Sexual Revolution

Carl Trueman, a distinguished Reformed theologian and historian has just published a new book which has been described as “perhaps the most significant analysis and evaluation of Western culture written by a Protestant during the past fifty years,” – The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution. Not surprisingly, the book deals with the Western obsession with sexual identity and sexual freedom, that is, homosexuality and sex outside the bounds of marriage.

The controversy over sexuality in the West may seem far away and one wonders why we should bother with this Western obsession? But the reality is that many of our younger generation (including Christian youths) have bought into the same sexual revolution because of the dominance of the West ideas in the global media.

Trueman’s analysis builds on the writings of Philip Rieff (The Triumph of the Therapeutic), Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue) and Charles Taylor (The Secular Age), but he has the virtue of zeroing onto the roots of the sexual revolution – expressive individualism in an age of authenticity. To this we may add (1) the loss of divine transcendence which grounds objective morality. Morality becomes a matter of personal taste and manipulative power games, (2)  the death of the soul which historically served as the basis for human significance and identity. Human nature becomes devoid of intrinsic essence or meaning. Selfhood is focused on the inner life of emotions of the individual. According to Freud, our sexual desires are ultimately decisive for who we are.

With the triumph of the therapeutic and erotic, personal aesthetics replaces ethics, and the therapeutic ‘self’ becomes a social construct which may be deconstructed and reconstructed at will, especially in the area of sexual identity. Based on Nietzsche’s genealogical approach to morality and Marx’s dialectical materialism, activists for transgenderism and sexual freedom reject Judeo-Christian morality (bourgeois family morality) as the source of sexual oppression and portray themselves as heroic liberators and champions of human rights. Continue reading “The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self and the Sexual Revolution”

Amazon Bans Books on Homosexual “Conversion Therapy.”

Any suggestion that homosexuality is a choice (rather than being inborn), or that homosexual desire can be overcome through conversion therapy is increasingly not tolerated by the elite which controls the Western mainstream media and institutions of higher learning. Amazon has joined these guardians of social thought by banning books that support conversion therapy – Amazon Pulls Books By Catholic Writer Who Promoted Conversion Therapy. According to NBC News:

Amazon has removed English-language books by a man largely considered “the father of conversion therapy” from its site following mounting pressure from LGBTQ activists.

Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, founder of the now-shuttered Thomas Aquinas Psychological Clinic, as well as the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), authored several how-to guides directed to parents of LGBTQ youth, including “A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Homosexuality.” His books are some of the most well-known works about conversion therapy, the pseudoscientific practice of trying to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

Christian blogger, Denny Burk rejects the ban by Amazon as “chilling” even though he is personally no fan of Nicolosi. Burk also finds the secular models of Reparative Therapy (RT) inadequate as “they attempt to explain sinful problems without the category of “sin.” Continue reading “Amazon Bans Books on Homosexual “Conversion Therapy.””

The LGBT Movement as a Religious Movement

It is arguable that homosexuals face social and legal discrimination in Muslim-majority countries. As an example, one could point to the Penal Code of Malaysia which prohibits homosexual acts or “carnal intercourse against the order of nature.” In contrast, the public institutions in Western countries not only affirm the rights of homosexuals, but increasingly legislate public policies that promote homosexual practices. The recent court cases brought by homosexual activists against Christians in Western countries suggest the likely possibility that eventually Christians will be compelled to comply with public policies that promote homosexual practices. The conflicting views on homosexual practices between Western and Muslim-majority societies may well be irreconcilable.

Advocates of the homosexual movement justify their cause in terms of human rights. But this justification is rejected by Muslim authorities. One may interpret the conflict between homosexual activists and Muslim (or traditional religious) authorities in terms of “conflicting value systems,” or “culture war.” But, perhaps the conflict reflects something more fundamental as the rhetoric from the LGBT movement increasingly acquires religious overtones. Continue reading “The LGBT Movement as a Religious Movement”