“Biblical faith always swings for the fence” (Empires of Dirt, p. 233).
Not the Same Thing at All
“The impulse to theological perfectionism is a deep one in every theological tradition because imperfect creatures such as ourselves like to believe that God’s perfections are more like a proof out of Euclid than anything else. But God is perfect . . . not a perfectionist” (Empires of Dirt, p. 232).
Audio Reading of Post
Liberty, Not License
“Free societies can function only when the authority of restraint is found in the old fashioned virtues of self-restraint and self-control. Free governments presuppose self-government” (Empires of Dirt, p. 228).
And Maybe Two Bedroom Czars
“They want to keep the government ‘out of our bedrooms.’ What are they talking about? I have to live in their society, remember. And I built my house, which means I built my own bedroom. The government told me how far apart the studs had to be in my bedroom wall, they dictated how thick …
Or From Multiple Billboards
“The more the law of God is written on hearts and minds, which is what happens under the new covenant, the less necessary it is to have standards of public decency urged upon us from billboards” (Empires of Dirt, p. 227).
Taking Tolerance Back
“Christians invented the most open and tolerant society in the history of the world” (Empires of Dirt, p. 227).
Tolerance Can Be a Virtue
“If we were to say that Smith tolerates X, we do not yet know if Smith is a hero or a skunk. Does he tolerate respectful dissent, responsibly offered? Child porn? Smokers in bars? Transfats in restaurants? Ethnic violence? What does he tolerate?” (Empires of Dirt, p. 226).
One or the Other
“If the Church is not transforming the culture around her, then the culture around her is transforming the Church” (Empires of Dirt, p. 225).
Jesus Values, Not Traditional Values
“This is why Christians can’t fight this on the basis of ‘traditional values.’ The sexual traditions of humanity, considered apart from God’s Word, have contained way too many child brides, harems, serial polygamists, and concubines to provide us with the appropriate guidance here” (Empires of Dirt, p. 223).
He Who Says A Must Say B
“These marriage ‘reforms’ clearly have not solved the problem of the bisexuals. With our arbitrary limitation of marital status to two and only two people, we are plainly telling the bisexual that he must choose between a heterosexual marriage or a homosexual marriage, but that he can’t do both. ‘But I am both!’ he wails …