Category: Ethics

Call No Man Father, Castor and Pollux, Contraception

~ Alastair Roberts ~ Leave a comment

1.) How can Paul call Timothy his “true child in the Faith” (1 Tim 1:2; cf. 1 Cor 4:17, 2 Tim 1:2) when Jesus forbids calling anyone Father besides God (Matt 23:9)? I’m assuming Jesus meant “call no man a spiritual father” but that seems to not clear up the issue since it seems like Paul is referring to himself as Timothy’s spiritual father (maybe in a nuanced sense). Is this situation analogous to how, in the next verse, Jesus tells us to call no man instructor except for the Christ, but we obviously have instructors in the church?

2.) What is the significance of Luke mentioning in Acts 28:11 that the boat Paul was sailing on had the twin gods (Castor and Pollux, I think) as figureheads? That might be an historical detail but was curious.

3.) What should Christians think of contraceptives (specifically non-abortive contraceptives, like condoms and birth control)? Should Christians only use methods of “family planning” or are any methods (artificial or natural) of preventing children from being conceived immoral?

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Richard Rohr on Scripture

~ Alastair Roberts ~ 7 Comments

I came across this post from Richard Rohr on how Jesus interpreted scripture (https://cac.org/jesus-interpreted-scripture-2017-01-10/). Here is a quote from the post:

“Jesus consistently ignored or even denied exclusionary, punitive, and triumphalistic texts in his own inspired Hebrew Bible in favor of passages that emphasized inclusion, mercy, and honesty. He read the Scriptures in a spiritual and selective way. Jesus had a deeper and wider eye that knew which passages were creating a path for God and which passages were merely cultural, self-serving, and legalistic additions. That becomes self-evident once you know enough to see the “comparative meaning” of an incident or statement.

When Christians pretend that every line in the Bible is of equal importance and inspiration, they are being very unlike Jesus. This is precisely why Jesus was accused of teaching “as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matthew 7:29, RSV), and why they hated him so much. Jesus even accused fervent and pious “teachers of the law” of largely missing the point. “Is not this why you are wrong, that you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?” he asked them (Mark 12:24, RSV). We cannot make the same mistake all over again—and now in Jesus’ name.”

How would you respond to the idea that Jesus read the scripture in a spiritual and selective way and that he emphasized some while ignoring or denying others?

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Singles Adopting

~ Alastair Roberts ~ 3 Comments

I am curious about your thoughts regarding the growing trend of singles in the church adopting children. More specifically- is the Biblical prohibition of sexual immorality simply a nominal command to keep sex within marriage for its own sake because God commanded? Or is it also a safeguard that ensures children, the natural consequence of sexual intercourse, are birthed into a covenanted relationship? If the answer is the latter, should it also inform our view of singles adopting? Or does it matter since the family structure is already fractured and the single person is trying to repair the breach? Does single adoption betray any aspect of God’s designs? Or should an unmarried believer consider other factors?

There was recently a single adoption at my church, and largely the women gushed with how brave this woman was to take this child on alone, how this is caring for widows and orphan like James commands, etc. The men I spoke with were much more skeptical and reserved in their praise. But they couldn’t put their finger on why they were flummoxed.

Wondering if you could give some wisdom….

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