#applying biblical principles

[thinkingonscripture]

Mastering Focus as We Walk by Faith

Living by faith is both a science and an art due to the interplay between objective truths and subjective experiences that characterize the faith journey. Faith is grounded in the objective truths of Scripture. Just as science relies on established laws and principles, living by faith involves understanding and applying biblical truths. This includes doctrines such as God’s character (i.e., He is…

[iamentertainmentclub-blog]

Proverbs Daily Reflection – February 18, 2025

James Lawson was not drawn to reactionary violence—he understood that true power is found in wisdom and discipline. #josephmekaelpageministries

The Strong Tower: James Lawson and the Power of Divine Refuge Foundational Scripture: Proverbs 18:10 (KJV)“The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” The Civil Rights Movement was more than a fight for justice. It was a spiritual battlefield. Men and women of God took refuge in the Lord to withstand unspeakable violence. James Lawson was one of those…

[mindfulldsliving]

Insights and Applications from Neal A. Maxwell's 'The Promise of Discipleship': Living Faithfully Today

Available for purchase through my Amazon Affiliate Link: Your Purchase helps support Mindful Latter-day Saint Christian Living and Apologetics Neal A. Maxwell’s writings on discipleship offer steady guidance in a world where faith often feels tested. In the opening chapter of The Promise of Discipleship, he presents timeless lessons on living with integrity, staying anchored in Christ, and…

[nerdygaymormon]

Scriptures for queer people

I like that the scriptures show life is messy and complicated. God works with really flawed people and they learn to measure up and do amazing things. The scriptures are full of contradictions as people try to figure out God’s will and how it applies in their situation. The scriptures show that God’s people are a mess and often get it wrong. These are the chosen people? In that case, I’m doing alright. 

God is an out-of-the-box thinker who wants to be inclusive. The scriptures teach me that God values a relationship with me, will adjust things so the gospel works for me and my situation, and God can help me do amazing things.

I'm not claiming to be an expert or that people should agree with my interpretations. I'm simply sharing how I am thinking of these verses when I apply my viewpoint and experience as a queer Latter-day Saint

Instead of concentrating on all the specific answers & rules, I look for the overarching themes of the scriptures, I can apply those principles in my life and to my life’s situations. Some principles & teachings are more important than others, we can use the more important ones to help us think about the rest. The Bible emphasizes love, equality, & justice, we can use these to filter which messages are important for us and which should remain in the past as part of ancient cultures. For example, the Biblical principles of loving other people as yourself and treating others how you want to be treated should cause us to dismiss slavery even though the Bible allows it. Would forbidding someone from marrying who they love while allowing yourself that opportunity fit with the Biblical principles of love, equality, & justice? No.

I think most people view the Bible as decidedly anti-queer because certain “clobber passages” are regularly used against queer people. A closer inspection of those “clobber passages” shows when put back in context they’re not quite what people think. For example, ‘don’t have gay sex...as part of worshiping a pagan god.’ For the record, straight sex that is done as worship of another god is also condemned, but nobody goes around saying all straight sex is banned.

The verses people like to use to condemn homosexuality, when put back into their cultural context and original language, they are condemnations of sexual exploitation and abuse which was common in the ancient world. They are not condemnations of loving, consensual same-sex relationships. The marriage doesn't define what marriage is, so how can people claim the Bible is against same-sex marriage?

There’s queer-positive scriptures that are usually ignored because they don’t fit the anti-queer narrative people want the Bible to have.  

We’re also taught in Matthew 7 that good principles don’t bring forth bad results (“a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit”). If teachings are bringing forth bad outcomes for a whole group of people, then we should discard those, they aren’t good.

It's sad to me that so much of modern Christianity identity is about being against LGBTQ people and against abortion when those things are not condemned in the Bible, but the Bible goes on and on about forgiving debt, liberating the poor, healing the sick, and loving others. Where are the sermons and Sunday School lessons on forgiving student debt, guaranteeing health care to every person, loving our LGBTQ+ neighbors, and decrying racism? The Bible has a lot to say about protecting women and children. Do we preach more about queer people and abortions than we do condemning domestic violence, sexual assault, and molestation?

If every Christian church congregation in the United States decided to provide resources to help every child in foster care reconnect with their family or get adopted, each church would need to help only 1 child and there'd be none left in the foster care system. Same for the number of homeless people each church would have to help get into a home for there to be no more homeless people. Christians could transform the nation and the world if they actually applied the lessons taught by Jesus.

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Genesis 1 & 2 - Adam & Eve AND Adam & Steve : The purpose of this story isn’t to discount being gay or trans, in fact queerness fits into this story

Genesis 2 - Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil : Humans have been messing up what to do with the concept of good & evil. Gender roles are a result of the Fall

Genesis 3:20; Genesis 17:5 & 15; Genesis 32:28; Numbers 13:16; Matthew 16:17-18 - Changing Names : The Bible has much to teach about our obligation to respect a person’s name

Genesis 4:9-10 - Your Brother’s Blood Cries Out to Me from the Ground : The blood of queer people is crying from the ground

Genesis 6:9 - Noah’s obedience led to destruction : Kindness & inclusion are more important than obedience

Genesis 7:2-3 - Noah and the Ark : Some people point to the animals on the ark as proof God only honors male/female pairings, however for many animals Noah didn’t just bring 2 of them but 14, which offers opportunities for diversity

Genesis 9:13-16 - Rainbow : Queer people carry the promise of the rainbow

Genesis 9:20-27 - Noah & Ham : It’s wrong to use this passage to justify the enslavement of people, or to be against love between consenting gay adults

Genesis 12:1-3 : A blessing to all families - If we choose to harm rather than to bless queer families, then we are not the people of God

Genesis 16 - Hagar : We may still be required to deal with difficult situations, but we have a God who hears us, a God who knows us

Genesis 19:1-11 - Sodom & Gomorrah : It’s ironic THIS story is used against queer people when its message is the opposite

Genesis 19:26 - Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt : She became a memorial to the destruction of two cities and likewise we need to witness and bear record of the suffering and marginalization of queer people

Genesis 21 - Hagar, Part 2 : God finds all of us in the wilderness

Genesis 22 - Rejection of Ishmael and Binding of Isaac : We aren’t asked to sacrifice our queer children, doing so may cut us off from God

Genesis 25 - Jacob & Esau : The great blessing didn’t belong to the manly man but to the effeminate one

Genesis 34 - Rape of Dinah & the Response : Diverse viewpoints are needed in positions of power & decision making

Genesis 38 - Tamar : It is a sin to deny people fair treatment & they are justified to find solutions when basic rights are denied

Genesis 37-46 - Joseph Sold by his Brothers into Slavery : Life gets better and there may come a time for forgiveness and reconciliation

Genesis - The Bible teaches that wealth is destructive

Exodus 1 - Pharaoh Seeks to Murder the Hebrew Baby Boys : The right thing is to defy the oppressors in order to protect the innocent and the vulnerable

Exodus 3:14 - I AM THAT I AM : I am who I am

Exodus 3:15 - The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob : Why not say “the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob”?

Exodus 10: 7-11, 24-26 - Passover is an annual reminder that we do not negotiate at the expense of others : Civil rights aren’t to be given sparingly, we fight for all.

Leviticus 18:5 & Ezekiel 20:11 - Doing what You Need to Live : Living is more important than obeying commandments

Leviticus 18, 20 - Lie with a Man as with a Woman : These verses forbid Jews from engaging in male-male sex done as part of pagan worship

Numbers 9:1-14 - Second Passover : God finds ways to include people

Numbers 21:6-9 - The Brass Serpent : The people’s tradition of not worshiping idols made them misunderstand what God wanted from them. What traditions do we have that blind us from what God wants for us?

Deuteronomy 22:5 - Cross Dressing : This verse isn’t about performing drag or living as a trans person, it’s meant to avoid harming others

Deuteronomy 23:17 - Whores and Sodomites : The word “sodomite” is used for male prostitutes

Lessons from Moses’ life for Queer Folks

Judges 4-5 - Deborah : A woman prophet? What else is possible?

Judges 19 - Murder of the Levite’s Concubine : Despite this horrific story, we don’t condemn heterosexuals & heterosexuality

Ruth & Naomi : The Bible celebrates this relationship of 2 women

1 Samuel 16:7 - The Lord Looketh on the Heart : Gender & orientation are matters of the heart and God knows us for who we are

Jonathan & David : The possibility this is a same-sex relationship blessed by God is why this story has been a favorite of queer Christians

1 Kings 14:24; 1 Kings 15:12; 1 Kings 22:46; 2 Kings 23:7 - Sodomites : The Hebrew Bible condemns worshiping a different god

Esther : By ‘coming out,’ Esther changed how the king viewed a marginalized group, and gender non-conforming people are the unsung heroes of this story

Book of Job : God had a different path for Job, and queer believers know God has a path for us

Psalms 27 - With the Lord’s Strength, We don’t need to Fear : The Lord won’t abandon us even if our parents do

Psalms 126:5 - Shall Reap in Joy : Life gets better

Psalms 133:1-3 - How Pleasant it is for Brethren to Dwell Together in Unity 

Psalms 139:13-14 - I am Fearfully and Wonderfully Made : Our sexual orientation & gender identity is woven throughout our bodies

Proverbs 6:16-19 - The 7 Things the Lord Hates : Being Queer ain’t on the list

Isaiah 3:9 - Declare their Sin as Sodom : Sodom’s sins are not taking care of the poor or visitors & not feeling guilt for committing sins (notice being gay isn’t one of the sins of Sodom)

Isaiah 43:1 - I have Called Thee by Thy Name; Thou art Mine : God is with us no matter whether our church is

Isaiah 51:1-2 - Abraham and Sarah are Intersex? : A traditional Jewish understanding for why they’re infertile is that they were intersex

Isaiah 54:2 - Enlarge the place of thy tents, and let them stretch forth the curtains : We need to make room for not just more people but for more diversity 

Isaiah 56:3-7 - Eunuchs Welcomed by God : God’s way is radical inclusiveness, God doesn’t marginalize people

Jeremiah 1:5 - Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee : You are not a mistake. God loves you and intentionally made you into who you are

Jeremiah 16:1-2 - God tells the prophet Jeremiah not to marry nor have a family : How does this fit with the Latter-day Saint idea of exaltation where marriage is required? Maybe we need to expand our vision of heaven

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7, 11 - God Plans to Give You Hope and a Future: God’s plan includes blessing & prospering You

Ezekiel 16:49-50 - Two types of forbidden things, To’evah is forbidden for Jews and Zimah is an injustice or a sin : The gay sex acts prohibited in Leviticus 18:22 & Leviticus 20:13 are to’evah, not forbidden for anyone but the Israelites

Daniel - Daniel & Ashpenaz : God supports a loving gay relationship

Hosea 6:6 - God desires mercy, not burnt offerings : True religion isn’t about practicing rituals, it’s about extending love and mercy

Joel 2:28 - Restoration of Gospel Leads to an Increase in Knowledge : Science is providing knowledge about queer people

Amos 5:23-24 - God Wants Justice, Not Our Hymns : Enough with the talk, let’s enact real change to achieve justice

Jonah - Jonah was swallowed by a fish because he was okay with genocide : prophets are not infallible, they carry personal prejudices and biases with them

Micah 6:8 - "What does the Lord require of us?" Are we to kill our enemies for a vengeful God? No!!! Micah teaches "To do justice, to do kindness, and to walk humbly with God." That is the whole point for the prophet Micah." : Are we just & kind to our queer siblings?

Malachi 4:6 - The human family is going to be united : if queer people are excluded then the whole is cursed

Socially Queer Jesus & Disciples : Queerness fits naturally with the life and teachings of Jesus Christ

Matthew 1 & Luke 3 - Jesus’ genealogy : Think what this means for chosen family 

Matthew 1 : Joseph chose mercy over the Law - Joseph preserved Mary’s dignity and life

Matthew 2:1-12 : The Magi visit the Christchild : The Magi knew of the Savior’s birth but not those who read the Hebrew Bible. Knowledge, wisdom, and truth come from many sources and those inside a religion may be blind to what is apparent to others 

Matthew 4 - Denying Identity is a Tactic of the Devil : Understanding who we are is an important part of facing the challenges of life

Matthew 5:30 : And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee : if a church continues teaching queerphobic things, it may be necessary to cut it from your life in order to survive and thrive

Matthew 5:21-48 - Ye have heard that it was said...But I say unto you : Jesus is saying this text has been interpreted one way, but He is giving a better way. With all that God taught about loving others and about all being alike unto God, what is a better way to interpret how we treat and love queer people?

Matthew 5:43-48 - Love Your Enemies : These verses refute the idea that the two great commandments to Love God and to Love Our Neighbor are in conflict 

Matthew 6:9-13 - The Lord’s Prayer : We’re meant to build heaven on earth. There’s an idea that queer people will no longer be queer when they die and then can have joy and all the blessings. That’s wrong! We’re to have joy in THIS life. We’re to have justice in THIS life. We’re to have all the blessings in THIS life. We’re to be treated alike in THIS life. 

Matthew 6:27 - Can’t change your height or extend your life just by thinking about it : Queerness is not something we can simply choose to change. Thoughts, prayer, & faith aren’t going to change this part of who we are 

Matthew 7:9-12, 16-20 - If his Son Asks for Bread, Will He Give Him a Stone? : Our Heavenly Father is more liberal in his views, and boundless in his mercies and blessings, than we are ready to believe or receive

Matthew 8:2-3 - Jesus touched the leper : Contact with queer people heals others of their anti-queer bigotry, which leads to the question of who actually needs to be healed? 

Matthew 8:5-13 - The Centurion and his ‘Servant’ : Jesus holds up a gay man as an example of faith for all to follow

Matthew 9:10-11, Mark 2:15-16, Luke 5:29-30 - Jesus invited sinners & disciples to His house and fed them : We also can invite people to our homes for meals as a way to show we love them and want them in our lives. As Ben Schilaty likes to say, “Love the sinner, invite them to dinner.”

Matthew 9:18-26; Mark 5:21-34; Luke 8:41-56 - Woman touched the hem of Jesus’ garment : She persisted in getting what she needed. Queer people have to persist to get what they need

Matthew 10:29-31 - God knows of every sparrow that falls to the grown and has numbered every hair of your head. You are worth more than many sparrows : You can trust that God isn’t squandering souls, isn’t creating queer people while simultaneously condemning them for being queer

Matthew 12:50 - Who does Jesus proclaim as brother, sister, and mother? : Chosen Families

Matthew 13:24-30 - Parable of the Wheat and the Tares : This parable teaches that the wheat and the tares can’t be separated until the very end. That to pull up tares would also uproot the wheat. Whichever one we are, we’re inseparable from each other. We can’t remove them without removing ourselves. Only Christ can tell them apart and will separate them. However, a lot of people think they can tell, and unsurprisingly, they always think they’re the wheat, and often they assume queer people are the tares

Matthew 14:22-23 - Peter Walks on Water : Queer people need to believe in ourselves, that’s when miracles happen

Matthew 15:7-14 - But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men : Some churches are misguided and teach the biases of humans rather than God’s message of love

Matthew 15:10-20 - The things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them : Racist, transphobic, and homophobic words make us unworthy

Matthew 15:21-28 - Yet the Dogs Eat of the Crumbs which Fall from their Master’s Table : God’s love is so expansive it can surprise and stretch even Jesus Christ 

Matthew 17:1-9; Luke 9:28-43 - Jesus Comes Out : Jesus revealed the deepest truth about Himself to His closest friends

Matthew 18:6 - Do not Offend the Little Ones who Believe : Being queer isn’t the problem, it’s the church experience that is broken and defective

Matthew 19:5-12 - Marriage & Eunuchs : Jesus declares men who aren’t attracted to women are exempt from a male+female marriage

Matthew 19:14 - Let the little children come to me, and DO NOT HINDER THEM, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these

Matthew 19:16-23 - Obey the commandments to have eternal life : There is no commandment to live a heteronormative life

Matthew 20:1-16 - Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard : Queer people are relying on the goodness of the Master to bless us the same as others

Matthew 21:18-22; Mark 11:12-25 - Jesus curses the fig tree : The only time Jesus cursed a fig tree was for not being fruity enough, maybe we should contemplate on that as we consider how to love our LGBTQ+ neighbors

Matthew 21:31 - The Publicans and the Harlots go into the Kingdom of God before You : Church leaders are setting themselves up to go from ‘First’ to ‘Last’

Matthew 21-27; Mark 11-15; Luke 19-23; John 12-19 - Final Week of Jesus’ Life : Many lessons from Jesus’ life apply to queer lives

Matthew 22:17 - Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's : Jesus says to follow the law, and the law say that same-sex marriages are legal.

Matthew 22:23-32 - When His disciples asked about marriage and about whose wife someone will be when they reach heaven, this was Jesus’ answer, “You are in error because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage, they will be like the angels in heaven.” : Sounds like no heterosexuality in heaven. Sorry.

Matthew 22:36-40 - The 2 Great Commandments

Matthew 23:37 - Even as a Hen Gathereth her Chickens under her Wings : Jesus uses feminine pronouns and imagery to illustrate His role

Matthew 25:1-13 - Parable of the 10 Virgins : the foolish bridesmaids listened to those who said they weren’t worthy to meet the groom

Matthew 25:14-30 - Parable of the Talents : telling queer people not to “act” on their queerness is akin to telling us to bury our talent and to go back to the Lord without doing anything with it

Matthew 25:31-46 - Jesus will use how I Treat Others to Determine if I Inherit his Blessings : Mistreating queer people isn’t a qualifier for Christ’s blessings

Matthew 26:36-46 - Garden of Gethsemane : Asking for help & seeking emotional support is Christlike

Easter & Queerness - Jesus' resurrection can be read as a coming-out story : Jesus came out into a changed body and new way of life. Likewise, queer people come out into a new identity

Mark 1:10-11 - God Knows Us, We aren’t a Mistake : Many queer people get messages of love from God

Mark 1:32 - Jesus is teaching that under certain circumstances it’s okay to break the rules about the Sabbath.

Mark 2:1-13 - Friends Lower a Paralyzed Man through the Roof to be Healed by Jesus : Better to break the house than to break the person

Mark 2:27 - The Sabbath was Made for Man, not Man for the Sabbath : We don’t have to break ourselves against the commandments. They’re for our benefit, not our harm

Mark 9:17-27 - This is a story of demonic possession which causes the individual to act in strange ways, and when the demon(s) is cast out the person is healed : Today we use medicine and counseling because we understand diseases and mental health issues. When we know better, we should do better.

Mark 10:46-52 - Ask People Questions and Listen : “We need to listen to and understand what our LGBT brothers and sisters are feeling and experiencing”

Mark 12:30-31 - Love God and Love People : There’s no greater commandments. How do we love queer people, and do they recognize how we treat them as love?

Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4 - The Widow’s Mite : Jesus condemns making the widow impoverished and the same applies to queer people who are asked to sacrifice all they are

Mark 13:24-37 - Fig Tree’s Leaves Show Summer is Near : Members are trying to build a church that’s more inclusive of LGBTQ+ people. Maybe summer isn’t near, but perhaps it is Spring as it seems the winter chill is thawing

Luke 1:27 - Mary is a virgin : The Greek term parthenos normally referred to an unmarried woman of marriageable age, because in their society an unmarried female typically hadn’t yet had sex. As a missionary, I learned the Korean language does the same thing, all unmarried women of marriageable age can be referred to as a virgin, even though some unmarried women have had sex. But if we keep with the tradition that Mary was in fact a virgin as we think of that term in English, and she did not conceive through ordinary means but through the Holy Spirit she produced an offspring without a human father, then that raises some interesting questions. For example, the Y chromosome is inherited from the biological father, which calls into question how is Jesus a male? Could this suggest Jesus is trans?

Luke 1:37 - Nothing is impossible with God...except for LGBTQ+ people getting into the Celestial Kingdom, at least that’s what some Christians believe

Luke 1:78-79 - Give Light to Them that Sit in Darkness : Going from the darkness of the closet to the dayspring when we learn our Heavenly Parents love us

Luke 2; Matthew 1:18-25 - Nativity Story : Queer people can see ourselves in this story

Luke 2:52 - Jesus Increased in Wisdom and Stature, and in Favour with God and Man : Jesus didn’t marry, as a church we need to reprioritize what is important 

Luke 3:12-14 - Jesus was able to meet people where they were at. He didn't ask the Roman soldiers to stop being a Roman Soldier. Jesus told him to be just and virtuous in his soldier duties. How does this apply to queer people?

Luke 3:23 - Jesus began His ministry at age 30 : There’s no rush, come out when you’re ready

Luke 4:16-30 - No prophet is accepted in his own country : Jesus understands the hardships & joys of ‘coming out’

Luke 4:17-21 - What did Jesus come to do? : Do we liberate or oppress queer people? Do we share God’s abundance with them or withhold it?

Luke 7:36-50 - Woman who Anoints Jesus’ Feet : Queer people’s tears wash Jesus’ feet 

Luke 10:25-37 - The Good Samaritan : Members of the church avoid the injured man, or perhaps are even the ones who hurt him

Luke 13:24-30 - The First Shall be Last and the Last First : We’re gonna be surprised at who gets into heaven

Luke 14:15 - an ass or an ox fallen into a pit : Under some circumstances it’s okay to break a commandment/covenant

Luke 15:1-7 - The Lost Sheep : The 99 sheep are also sinners but they think it’s just the 1 who is lost

Luke 15:8-10 - The Lost Coin : The woman’s joy at being reunited with her lost coin is like God’s joy at being reunited with a queer person.In this case, the coin didn't ever leave the house, it was hidden, buried under dirt and dust. Only when she cleaned did she find the coin. If we truly make space for queer people, we will find they're here waiting. They will make themselves known.

Luke 15:11-32 - The Prodigal Son : Queer People go on a journey similar to the Prodigal Son

Luke 17:34-35 - One Shall be Taken, and the Other Shall be Left : There shall be two men in one bed; two women shall be ‘grinding’ together, some of them are saved and some aren’t

Luke 22:10 - A Man Carrying a Pitcher of Water : A man not conforming to gender norms is mentioned without any negative connotation

Luke 22:33-34 - Paul will deny Jesus 3 times : What if Jesus tells Paul to deny Him so that he would live to lead the church? Queer people sometimes deny being queer in order to be safe (especially when they’re in the closet)

Luke 22:50-51 - After Peter Slices Off a Man’s Ear, Jesus says “No More of This!” and Heals the Man’s Ear : One day Jesus will say to those who harm queer people, “No more of this!”

John 1:11 - His own received him not : Many queer people experience being rejected by their families and loved ones

John 3:16 - Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life : Despite what some teach, Jesus didn’t come to earth to condemn us, but to save us. Unfortunately, some Christians add “unless you’re queer, in which case you can’t have eternal life”

John 4 - Jesus meets a woman at a well and points out she has had 5 husbands and now lives with a man to whom she is not married : What’s interesting is Jesus doesn’t call her to repent or command her to stop sinning. Contrast this with purity culture. 

John 6:37-39 - I Shall Lose None of all Those He has Given Me : The Church may cast out, but Jesus does not

John 8:2-11 - Woman Caught in Adultery : Jesus stood with the woman, not the religious leaders

John 9 - Who sinned, the blind man or his parents? : We all have inherent value and should be respected and loved

John 10:10 - I am Come that They Might have Abundant Life : A Harvard Study found Relationships are key to happiness, as are having good health, being educated, having coping skills, and giving back to the community. This is how to have joy, don’t deny this to queer people. 

John 11:43 - Jesus Helps Lazarus to Come Out : Coming out of the closet can feel like going from being dead to coming back to life, or to being fully alive

John 13:23 - John, whom Jesus Loved, is Laying against Jesus’ Breast : Could John & Jesus be in a same-sex relationship?

John 13:26 - Jesus feeds Judas : Jesus never excluded Judas, Judas excludes himself. So why does the church exclude queer people and treat us as enemies?

John 13:35 - By This Shall Men Know Ye are my Disciples if Ye have Love One to Another : To be Christian is to love others, including LGBTQIA+ people

John 14:1-3 - “In my Father's house are many mansions...” : Christ doesn’t tell queer people there’s not a place for us

John 20:15 - Supposing Him to be the Gardner : Jesus is our Gardner

John 20 - Doubting Thomas : Maybe Thomas was the Faithful One

Acts 1:15 - Peter has a dream where God commands him to consume food that his religion considers “unclean.” Peter is reminded that it’s God who gets to declare what is clean and may even contradict the law : This passage shows that God’s promises and beloved community are not defined by our own rules or boundaries, or even by our understanding of God’s law. God is constantly drawing us to love our neighbors

Acts 8:26-39 - Apostle Baptizes Eunuch into the Church : The early Church welcomed queer people. When will the modern Church allow queer people to fully participate?

Acts 10:15 - What God Hath Cleansed, that Call not thou Common : People who were traditionally excluded are welcome

Acts 10:34 - Peter declared “God shows no partiality”

Acts 17:28 - God has a Womb : Do we use the image of God to see the Divine in all of us or do we use God to diminish others?

Romans 1:20 - To Know God, Look at the Things God Created : What does the diversity of different sexual orientations & gender identities tell us about God?

Romans 1:26-27 - Vile Affections : People use this against gays, but it’s really directed at straight people

Romans 8:38-39 - Nothing Separates us from God’s Love : Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Not church leaders, not metaphorical muskets, not the church

Romans 10:12 - There is no distinction between Jew & Greek, the same Lord is the Lord of all, bestowing riches on all who call on Him

Romans 13:10 - Love Does no Wrong to Others : If church is causing harm, then it is not doing the work of Christ and God

1 Corinthians 1:27-28 - God Chose the Lowly Things of this World : Things look different from the margins than they do from the center

1 Corinthians 3:16 - You are the temple of God : The actual temple is our bodies and it's beautiful the way transgender people get to co-create with God in building their temple 

1 Corinthians 4:3-4 - We’re often told not to judge others and not to let others judge us, but it’s easy to forget we shouldn’t shouldn’t judge ourselves. Work hard, do your best, and let yourself be forgiven. When we repent, the Lord forgives and forgets all of our transgressions so we should allow ourselves the same peace of mind. Stop beating yourself up, It’s okay, let it go

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 - The Unrighteous Shall Not Inherit the Kingdom of God : No one believes Paul is condemning sex between heterosexual couples as unrighteous, we shouldn’t assume He’s condemning relationships between people of the same gender

1 Corinthians 7 - We Shouldn’t Force Ourselves to be Celibate if We have Sexual Desires, Instead We Should Channel our Sexual Appetites within Marriage : A great argument for Christians to accept & celebrate gay marriages

1 Corinthians 12:12-13 - All the Members are One Body : The church needs its LGBTQ+ members, without us the body of the church is incomplete

1 Corinthians 14:10-13 - So Many Kinds of Voices in the World : It takes every voice for the choir to sound beautiful, no one is without significance

1 Corinthians 15:41 - Glory of the Sun, Moon and Stars : The sun, moon and stars all appear in the same sky. Could this mean we’ll all be together?

Galatians 2:1-5 - Gentiles are not Required to become Jews : Gentiles are accepted as they are and not forced to lose their identity by becoming Jews. Likewise queer people should be accepted as we are and not required to live as cisgender straight people

Galatians 3:28 - Ye Are All One in Christ Jesus : The scriptures say that all our diversity is welcome by Christ

Galatians 5:22-23 - There is No Law Against Love : The law doesn’t distinguish between gay and straight love

Ephesians 5:22-33 - A marriage between a man and a wife is used to symbolize Christ’s relationship with the church : If the church is made up of its members, we are the bride of Christ, we are in a marriage relationship with Christ. Which is an interesting concept for cis hetero men, they’re in a same-sex marriage with Jesus

Colossians 3:9-11 - There is not Greek & Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, slave & free, we’re all one in Christ : We can continue this metaphor to say there is not difference between cis & trans, or gay and straight, you’re all one in Christ

1 Timothy 1:8-10 - Whoremongers...Them that Defile Themselves with Mankind...Menstealers : Condemnation of men who use boy prostitutes, and the slave dealers who procured the young boys and sold them into prostitution, in other words a condemnation of pedophiles, not as some claim of all homosexuals

1 Timothy 3:2 - Husbands of One Wife : Paul is not trying to address questions about sexual orientation or gay marriage in this verse

2 Timothy 3:1-3 - Without natural affection : Hateful, shaming, rejecting behavior by a parent to a queer child certainly sounds like the opposite of “natural affection” and was prophesied in the New Testament

1 Timothy 4:1-5 - Forbidding to marry : This is about people in the congregation leaving the faith because of what’s taught at the pulpit, teachings which happen to not be in line with God’s will . If you're against people of consenting age getting married, it seems like this is a test to show who's on the wrong side.

James 1:27 - Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world : Pure religion is not about hiding away in an ivory tower and discussing eternal truths--it's about being out in the world and living those truths by caring for people. We can come closest to Christ not by studying and memorizing His words but by loving the way He loved "that when he shall appear we shall be like him" (Moroni 7:48).

1 John 4:7-8 - He that Loveth not, Knoweth not God; for God is Love : Any genuine love comes from God. Unfortunately, Christians have created many laws against love

1 John 4:20 - If you hate others then you don’t love God : Quote this verse to any Christian who is yelling scriptures at you for being queer

Jude 1:7 - Going after Strange Flesh : Some use this to condemn homosexuality, but what would be the word for a married person going after “strange flesh,” aka “another flesh”? Adultery!

Revelation 4:1-4 - There’s a Rainbow Around the Throne of God : Confirmation that queer people make it to heaven

1 Nephi 2:2 - God tells Lehi to leave the land given to his ancestors, leave behind the temple, leave behind extended family, and go on a new path : Many queer people also get this message, to leave behind the church, the temple, and the community which are hurting them

1 Nephi 4:6-19 - Nephi Kills Laban : What does it tell us about God that He is chill with murder but not two men or two women in love? Maybe it’s the believers that are mixing up what is okay and what is not

1 Nephi 8 - When Lehi tastes the fruit of the tree, which symbolizes the pure love of Christ, he wants his family to experience it with him : God’s love isn’t meant to be experienced alone

1 Nephi 16:2 - the guilty take the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center : The truth about how church hurts queer people can be hard for believers to hear 

1 Nephi 16:10, 26-29 - Liahona : They had the Brass Plates, but that wasn’t enough. 

2 Nephi 2:25 - Adam Fell that Men Might Be; and Men are that They Might have Joy : A Harvard study found relationships are key to happiness, also helpful are good coping skills and giving back to the community. This is how to have joy

2 Nephi 26:33 - All are Alike Unto God : When will the Church embrace all people?

2 Nephi 31:20 - Love of all men : those who try to make sure they don’t love us too much so that it’s clear they don’t condone all our choices, they are breaking the commandments.

Jacob 5 - Allegory of the Olive Tree : Fruitful trees start producing bad fruit and wild olive branches are grafted in : It’s interesting that good fruit comes from margins of the vineyard, which is not the expected place. The Lord operates in places those in the center don’t even know about

Omni - Two Queer Authors? : This book is written by 5 different men, 2 of them have no sons to whom they could hand it down. Could that be it's because they’re queer?

Mosiah 3:19 - Putteth off the natural man : It’s natural to feel uncomfortable around people who are different from you. Try putting off your natural reaction and learn to see as God does.

Mosiah 9 - Zeniff sees beyond the biased teachings : It’s hard to hate people up close

Alma 7:11-12 - That He May Know How to Succor his People : The atonement lets Jesus know how to help us

Alma 16:16 - no inequality associated with preparation for Christ's return : within the church do we have inequality? For women? LGBTQ? Non-English speakers? Non Americans?

Alma 17:24-25 - Ammon & King Lamoni : They love each other

Alma 19 - Abish : Abish was closeted, God used her to upend social norms

Alma 32:9-10 - What Shall We Do? For We are Cast Out of Our Synagogues : Queer people can worship God whether we’re allowed at church or the temple

Alma 34:34 - We’re still queer when we’re resurrected

Alma 37:6 - Who are the small and simple? : Queer people who were considered small and simple were the ones strong enough to break the rules of masculinity and femininity which made it safe for the strong and powerful to come out as queer

Alma 41:10 : Wickedness never was happiness : What makes you joyful is not wicked

Alma 53:2 - Captain Moroni and General Lehi : Could Moroni and Lehi love each other as more than just as friends and soldiers, but as family?

Alma 56:16-17 - Helaman and the 2000 young warriors show up and boost the soldiers’ morale : I can easily imagine feeling beat up and defeated by the nonsense of church folk, and then the arrival of a few more queer people would lift me up and feel like those who be with us are brave and fabulous and what we have is worth defending and affirming.

Alma 60:5-10 - Captain Moroni’s opening words could be a cry of marginalized people and a damning indictment of complicity or participation in their oppression

Ether 6 - Jaredite Barges are Driven by the Winds to the Promised Land : All 8 barges made it to the Promised Land and each made a separate journey

Ether 12:4 - Hope for a Better World : What would a better world look like? A place where we’re all treated alike and allowed personal dignity

Ether 12:27 - I Make Weak Things Become Strong Unto Them : To become strong, people must acquire a positive self image

3 Nephi 28 - The 3 Nephites : Could they be queer? It’s a possibility

Doctrine and Covenants 1 - Purpose of revelations to Joseph Smith : How is the church doing in these purposes in regards to queer people? 

Doctrine and Covenants 38:25-27 - If Ye are not One Ye are not mine : Bad news for the homophobes, transphobes, and all those who oppose their queer siblings

Doctrine and Covenants 46:3-6 - Don’t Cast People out of Church Meetings : Don’t cast out queer people but instead provide a place that is safe, welcoming and inclusive

Doctrine and Covenants 49:15-17 - Whoso Forbiddeth to Marry is not ordained of God : This is a rejection of requiring life-long celibacy and affirms that getting married is approved by the Lord

Doctrine and Covenants 74 - Sometimes apostles teach their own opinions as commandments : Sometimes apostles actually are teaching things opposite of the Lord’s will 

Doctrine and Covenants 78:5-6 - If Ye are not Equal in Earthly Things Ye cannot be Equal in Obtaining Heavenly Things : We could seal gay couples today if we wanted to, that would help make things equal on earth.

Doctrine and Covenants 93:33-34 - Fulness of Joy Contingent on Connectedness of Spirit & Body : Transitioning can be part of a person’s journey towards godliness

Doctrine and Covenants 121:41 - Priesthood doesn’t give Authority and Power over Others : It’s how you treat others

Doctrine and Covenants 128:18 - We cannot be pro-family and anti-LGBTQ+ at same time : Everyone talking about being exalted without their LGBTQ+ family members WON’T BE.  If same-gender couples and trans people aren’t exalted, NO ONE will be. 

Doctrine and Covenants 130:2 - And that Same Sociality which Exists among Us Here will Exist among Us in Eternity : Love will prevail

Doctrine and Covenants 131 - Eternal Life : Nothing in this section excludes queer people from obtaining Eternal Life

Doctrine and Covenants 132 - New and Everlasting Covenant : There’s no reason to think queer relationships were meant to be excluded from being sealed

Doctrine and Covenants 137:7-9 - We will be Judged According the Desires of our Heart : Queer people will not be judged for not completing opportunities not open to us

Moses 6:31 - Enoch doesn’t See Himself as God Does : When queer people accept ourselves it opens 1000 doors of possibility

Moses 7:28-40 - What makes God weep? : God weeps when we don’t have love for one another

Joseph Smith--History - God can be found outside church

Articles of Faith 2 - Adam’s Transgression : Elder Oaks classifies gay marriage as a transgression, not a sin. What are the implications of that?

Articles of Faith 8 - Scriptures only as Good as the Translation and Interpretation : Has the Church & Christianity been interpreting scriptures using fear, ignorance, and personal bias in a way that’s harmful to queer people?

Articles of Faith 9 : God Will Yet Reveal Many Great and Important Things for LGBTQ People

Articles of Faith 13 - Doing Good to All Men : Harming queer people and denying them the promises & blessings made to others is the opposite of what this church claims to believe

Proclamation on the Family - It doesn’t say what most people assume it does. Queer people aren’t discussed at all in this document

Criteria by which Christ will Evaluate our Lives

[supreme-leader-stoat]

Hi! You did read Narnia, didn't you? A friend of mine told me they all die in the end (and Google kinda confirmed?), so I wanted to ask what you can tell me about the end of the book series and how it may make sense :x

Spoilers for a 70 year old book series ahoy.

What you have to keep in mind is that Narnia is a setting where biblical cosmology is objectively, tangibly, provably real. "Literally-and-Not-Metaphorically Jesus Christ the Incarnate Son of God in talking lion form" is a character who appears in every book. We only find out that the characters did in fact die after they appear on-page, perfectly fine, in Heaven, which puts a different spin on character death than a story where the afterlife is absent or more ambiguous. The same principle applies in The Silver Chair where Caspain dies, then comes back as a more whole and complete person than he ever was as a mortal and finally gets to fulfill his dream of visiting Earth.

To put it another way, if you watch anime, saying "everyone dies at the end of The Last Battle" is sort of like saying "the main character dies at the start of this isekai story." Objectively true, and the deaths do carry an element of tragedy, but the deaths are also a footnote in the grand scheme of the character's stories.

[anamericangirl]

Genuine question for. I'm a biologist and I saw your discourse with someone else over bible interpretations. Which, if you personally wanna use YOUR religion to dictate how YOU operate your life, totally fine. I absolutely respect that. But America is full of Diverse peoples with various religions and beliefs from the Indigenous Americans to the Settlers that consider themselves American to this day. So religion is a little wiggly with the idea of what you choose to apply of course.

Animals Self Abort ALL the time. Self Abortion has been around for millennia of course and I'm sure you already knew that. Animals are creatures of God. Sometimes animals self abort by natural processes such as Starvation or Hormonal triggers. Sometimes they intentionally consume toxic herbs that trigger the effects. It depends on species and global location of course. Genuinely: Do you apply the principle that Animals should not self abort at all while they are creatures made by God? Or how do you apply that if you apply that principle at all? Humans are also Animals. They are animalia (Your alternative option is you are either a plant, virus, fungus, or bacteria). Do Gods rules only apply to Humans despite them being Animals? Or are they the only exception upon which the Rules of the Bible should be applied?

Do you also believe that people of different religions and cultures or beliefs should subscribe to your ideas and beliefs? Or do you believe that they have their own liberties and autonomy? It would help me understand your arguments a lot better, I think.

Well first, the topic of discussion was not which religion should govern the rules on abortion, the topic was specifically what the Bible says about abortion. The op made an inaccurate claim about what the Bible and God say about abortion so we were discussing the Bible's stance on abortion. My arguments against abortion itself, however, are not religious in nature and I only discuss the religious and biblical perspectives on abortion if someone else brings them up first. If we were discussing what abortion laws should be and how we should handle it on a societal level I would not be using my religion as an argument.

Secondly, while humans are scientifically classified as animals we are also very different from the kind of animals you are referring to and I don't think anyone would argue that. Animals do a lot of things we as humans do not and consider wrong so the fact that animals do something is not an argument for humans also being permitted to do that thing. Animals also rape, kill and eat each other and that's considered normal behaviour for them but I would argue that it's unacceptable for humans to engage in such behaviour and I assume you agree with that. So just because we are scientifically classified as animals that doesn't mean we should be using the behaviour of animals as a guide for our own.

From a religious standpoint, since you asked, yes, God's rules only apply to humans because he gave them specifically to humans. God created humans in his image with a soul and we are not considered animals by God. God actually gave us dominion over the animals.

Animals don't have the ability to make moral judgments, people do. And we don't consider these things moral wrongs in the animal kingdom because we know all animals are capable of focusing on is their own survival. And if you really want me to get into the religious aspect of, all of creation was impacted by the fall. Even animal behaviour and relationships changed due to the original sin of man.

As for your last question, I do believe everyone should subscribe to my beliefs because they are correct and I want everyone to know and believe the truth and my religion is an evangelical religion but I believe that everyone has the freedom to believe whatever they want and they absolutely have their own liberties and autonomies and I don't believe in or agree with forcing anyone to adhere to particular religions.

When talking about abortion, though, I already mentioned my beliefs on how we should treat it as a society are not religious in nature. When you live in a society with other people there have to be common rules that are agreed upon and I think not killing each other is a staple rule that everyone should adhere to regardless of their religion. We already have laws against killing people, those laws just aren't applied to the unborn.

[opencommunion]

"My analysis challenges a number of ideas, some mentioned above, common in many Western feminist writings:

Gender categories are universal and timeless and have been present in every society at all times. This idea is often expressed in a biblical tone, as if to suggest that 'in the beginning there was gender.'

Gender is a fundamental organizing principle in all societies and is therefore always salient. In any given society, gender is everywhere.

There is an essential, universal category 'woman' that is characterized by the social uniformity of its members.

The subordination of women is a universal.

The category 'woman' is precultural, fixed in historical time and cultural space in antithesis to another fixed category—'man.'

... Merely by analyzing a particular society with gender constructs, scholars create gender categories. To put this another way: by writing about any society through a gendered perspective, scholars necessarily write gender into that society. Gender, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder. The idea that in dealing with gender constructs one necessarily contributes to their creation is apparent in Judith Lorber's claim that 'the prime paradox of gender is that in order to dismantle the institution, you must first make it very visible.' In actuality, the process of making gender visible is also a process of creating gender. Thus, scholarship is implicated in the process of gender-formation."

Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí, The Invention of Women: Making an African Sense of Western Gender Discourses (1997) ~

"Feminist anthropologists of racialized peoples in the Americas tend not to think about the concept of gender when they use the term as a classificatory instrument, they take its meaning for granted. This, I claim, is an example of a colonial methodology. Though the claim that gender, the concept, applies universally is not explicitly stated, it is implied. In both group and conference conversations I have heard the claim that 'gender is everywhere,' meaning, technically, that sexual difference is socialized everywhere. The claim, implied or explicit, is that all societies organize dimorphic sexuality, reproductive sexuality, in terms of dichotomous roles that are hierarchically arranged and normatively enforced. That is, gender is the normative social conceptualization of sex, the biological fact of the matter. ... The critique of the binary has not been accompanied by an unveiling of the relation between colonization, race, and gender, nor by an analysis of gender as a colonial introduction of control of the humanity of the colonized, nor by an understanding that gender obscures rather than uncovers the organization of life among the colonized. The critique has favored thinking of more sexes and genders than two, yet it has not abandoned the universality of gender arrangements. ... Understanding the group with gender on one’s mind, one would see gender everywhere, imposing an order of relations uncritically as if coloniality had been completely successful both in erasing other meanings and people had totally assimilated, or as if they had always had the socio-political-economic structure that constitutes and is constituted by what Butler calls the gender norm inscribed in the organization of their relations. Thus, the claim 'There is gender everywhere' is false ... since for a colonized, non-Western people to have their socio-political-economic relations regulated by gender would mean that the conceptual and structural framework of their society fits the conceptual and structural framework of colonial or neocolonial and imperialist societies. ... Why does anyone want to insist on finding gender among all the peoples of our planet? What is good about the concept that we would want to keep it at the center of our 'liberation'?" María Lugones, "Gender and Universality in Colonial Methodology," in Decolonial Feminism in Abya Yala: Caribbean, Meso, and South American Contributions and Challenges (2022)

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

The Bible means what it says—even in Genesis!

When you’re driving and see a sign that says STOP, do you think, “It says, ‘Stop,’ but what does that really mean? My personal interpretation is that it means slow down and stop only if you see other cars coming.”

We know better. We’re supposed to think, “Oh, a stop sign. I have to obey what it clearly says. It means to come to a full stop.”

Sadly, we see Christians applying this sort of interpretative approach to the Bible, particularly to the book of Genesis—and specifically to the age of the earth and universe. “I know it says six days, but that’s not what it means.”

Many different views persist within the church, particularly among church leadership and academics, on how to take Genesis. The list of positions includes theistic evolution, evolutionary creation, progressive creation, framework hypothesis, day-age theory, local flood, gap theory, and new ideas like Genesis 1 describes the creation of some “cosmic temple.”

Here’s what’s so disheartening to me and all of us Answers in Genesis

Many Christian leaders and academics who hold one of these positions on Genesis would, by and large, take God’s Word the same way I do from Genesis 12 onward! Yes, we may have some theological disagreements arguing from within Scripture, and we may differ on the book of Revelation. But from Genesis 12 onward, we don’t use outside beliefs from the secular world to force a particular view on God’s Word—but this is what they are doing in Genesis with the millions of years belief.

And therein lies the issue—they have one hermeneutical principle for interpreting Genesis 1–11 (forcing man’s beliefs in millions of years into Scripture) and a different one for the rest of God’s Word (taking God’s Word as written and interpreting Scripture with Scripture).

And yet most of them can’t see this or don’t want to. Why not? I believe it’s primarily because of academic peer pressure, academic pride, and a desire for academic respectability.

Yes, there are difficult passages in Scripture. And yes, having an understanding of Hebrew and Greek will add depth to one’s understanding of what God’s Word is teaching us. But God’s Word is for all people, for all time. God has communicated the basic message in a way we can understand.

If we let God’s Word speak to us, keeping in mind the aim of various types of biblical literature, anyone can understand the basic message in the same way we can understand a traffic manual. That’s called the perspicuity of Scripture, a big word for a simple concept that the message is clear. It means what it says. – Ken Ham

[dragoneyes613]

If one could speak of Biblical verses as being vilified, then "an eye for an eye" would be the most vilified verse in the Bible. It is commonly cited to "prove" the existence of an "Old Testament" ethic of vengeance, and then contrasted with the New Testament's supposedly higher ethic of forgiveness. "An eye for an eye" is often associated with modern Jews as well, and invariably in a pejorative manner. Israel's critics, for example, commonly accuse her of practicing "eye for an eye" morality when she retaliates against Arab terrorist acts.

In actuality, the biblical standard of "an eye for an eye" stood in stark contrast to the legal standards prevailing in the societies that surrounded the ancient Hebrews. The Code of Hammurabi, a legal code hundreds of years older than the Torah, legislated retaliation even against innocent parties. Thus, if A constructed a building for B, and the building collapsed and killed B's daughter, then A's daughter was put to death (Law number 229). The biblical law of "an eye for an eye" restricted punishment solely to the perpetrator. Furthermore, unlike Hammurabi's code, one who caused another's death accidentally was never executed.

"An eye for an eye" also served to limit vengeance; it did not permit "a life for an eye" or even "two eyes for an eye." The operative biblical principle was that punishment must be commensurate with the deed, not exceed it. Blood feuds and vendettas were long practiced among the Israelites' neighbors - indeed, they have persisted in the Middle East until this century - and revenge was often carried out without restraint.

Christian often contend that Jesus went beyond the standard of "an eye for an eye," that he advocated forgiveness and saw retaliation as unworthy of man. Yet the New Testament records Jesus saying, "But the one who disowns me in the presence of men, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven" (Matthew 10:33). In other words, Jesus seems to advocate treating others as they have treated him; a standard of justice that is perfectly commensurate with the demand of "an eye for an eye."

In the time of the Talmud, "an eye for an eye" was not carried out literally, and Orthodox Jewish scholars teach that it was never practiced. The Talmud's rabbis feared that the very process of removing the perpetrator's eye might kill him as well, and that, of course, would be forbidden (Bava Kamma 84a). "An eye for an eye" was therefore understood as requiring monetary compensation equivalent to the value of an eye. The same understanding was applied to almost all the other punishments enumerated in the same biblical verse, "a tooth for a tooth, a wound for a wound."

The only punishment in this set that was not converted to a monetary fine was capital punishment for murderers, "a life for a life." Because the Torah believed that premeditated murder deserved the death penalty, there was obviously no fear of punishing the killer excessively. Jewish law did dictate, however, that murderers be executed in the quickest manner possible. Hence, later Jewish law forbade the Roman punishment of crucifixion.

Torah law also forbade remitting a murderer's sentence with a monetary fine. Life and money, according to the biblical ethic, are incommensurate; one can never atone for murder by paying money. In this regard, too, Torah law differed from the laws of the ancient Jews' neighbors, which would sometimes fine those who had murdered people belonging to a lower social class and which made certain property crimes (for example, looting at a fire) capital offenses. In Jewish law, property crimes could never be punished with death, and murderers could never be let off with payment of money, even if the family of the victim were willing to accept it (see Numbers 35:31, and Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, "Laws Concerning Murder," 1:4).

Both in its insistence that evil must be punished and in its equal insistence on setting limits to that punishment, "an eye for an eye" is a basic principle of biblical justice.

- Jewish Literacy, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, pages 558-560

[alexanderwales]

Book Review: Fall; or, Dodge in Hell

I stayed up late to finish Fall; or, Dodge in Hell. I had initially thought that I would give it a proper review, but I'm not really sure that it's suited to that. [Edit: This is, by some measure, a proper review, spoilers follow.]

I'm pretty sure that I got this book on preorder whenever it came out, as I'm a fan of Stephenson. The blurb was essentially "you remember Dodge from Reamde? He gets uploaded to the cloud!" And I thought "yeah, from Stephenson? I'd read that". And then it showed up on my doorstep, and I read a chapter, and wasn't really feeling its hook in me, so I read something else instead, and the "to read" pile grew larger, and eventually Fall moved down to the basement, where books only rarely escape from. I started reading it again mostly to have a break from Nate Silver's new book.

Fall can be divided roughly in three, though they're not actual books. The first part is everything in the Meatverse, the second part is most of what goes on with Dodge in the Bitverse, and the third part is the Quest that makes up the last third of the book.

The Meatverse stuff is good, the Quest is goodish, and the Dodge stuff is bad. Unfortunately, it's all interwoven, and the ending is pretty crap, though I don't expect anything else from Stephenson.

Neal Stephenson is, fundamentally, an ideas guy. You read him for his ideas, because there's a new one on every page, illuminating something that's caught his mind, and you bask in the way he puts things, what he calls forth, and then ... kind of suffer through all the stuff where you're just not interested. That's my opinion on how to read him, anyway, and I do think it applies to some other scifi authors as well.

The reason I think the Bitverse section sucks is that it's repeating the same "trick" over and over and over, which is that the Land is being built piece by piece, and Dodge is deriving the world from a combination of base principles and half-memories of life before he died. I mostly found this annoying after the eighth time it happened, and it was all made worse by the way it was written, which is in a sort of overhanded biblical way that grated on me.

The whole thrust of this virtual world being created from nothing is also stupid in a way that I'd be willing to accept for the sake of a novel, if anything was ever made of it. Dodge essentially hallucinates the entire Land, and others follow after him, and there's a Pantheon that's formed because of unequal distribution of processing power, and ... unfortunately I agree with El, the ostensible villain, who complains that no, this is absolutely not what the afterlife for humans should be, mistakes were made, why are people still stuck in physical forms, why is there hunger and need, why does this world show no ambition in providing for the people within it, either physically, intellectually, or spiritually?

And rather than looking in on what's happening and being horrified about it, the people of the Meatverse just keep adding on more processing power and booting up more scanned people into it, and I don't really understand the tenets of the worldbuilding here. Surely a billionaire would look at this and say "wow, that sucks, now that we have better brain-scanning and understanding of all this, maybe we get a better virtual heaven that has some interoperability with the Meatverse and actually preserves identity in some way".

But no, what starts as an experiment becomes something out of control and all-consuming. What happened to any competing attempts at a different "afterlife", if any, are left as an exercise for the reader. The book ends with the implication that biological humanity is just going to die out and be entirely contained within the virtual realm, tended to by bots. The idea of anyone disagreeing with this plan (or eventuality) and what they might do about it is left as an exercise to the reader. It seems to me like a grim fate, albeit maybe a better one that humanity is actually destined for.

I also think that one of the most interesting tricks the novel can pull, given its conceit, is to have interplay between Meatverse and Bitverse, ways in which the events of one impact the other. And this, sadly, does not amount to much in the end. A lot of it is left as an exercise for the reader, including what's going to happen in the aftermath of the final battle. That people from Meatverse become people in Bitverse is not really played with all that much. That the Meatverse can, in some sense, communicate with the Bitverse is not given all that much thought either. And direct interaction of Meatverse with Bitverse in any way beyond insertion of souls is used only once and never again, in spite of all the incentive to do so. All feels like it comes up short.

The last bit of the novel, with the Quest, I actually did enjoy ... but I enjoyed it as a fantasy novel more than I enjoyed it as a part of this novel. It goes along at a nice pace, it's written pretty well (if with the occasional bits of Stephenson's characteristic abruptness), there are interesting ideas sewn into it ... but the final battle isn't satisfying, there are no clever tricks or turns that complete the thing, and far too much is left opaque, unsaid, and left off the page. I enjoyed it anyhow.

Overall, I'm going to say this is probably my least favorite Stephenson book, mostly because I come for the ideas, and some of the ideas are retreading very well-worn ground for me (cryonics, virtualization, worldbuilding), while others seem a bit too half-baked. It's got all the usual Stephenson flaws, which is always a little disappointing, because ... come on, writing a good ending is a skill, you can learn this skill.

I'll still read the next one though, if there is one.

[emptyjanitor]

Ethics vs. Morals, Principles vs. Applications — in Christianity

Many people today confuse what the Bible says with what they think it means. Even well-meaning Christians can apply Scripture in harmful ways, thinking they’re being faithful. But to follow Jesus well, we need to understand the difference between morals and ethics, and between principles and applications.

1. Morals vs. Ethics (What’s the difference?)

Morals are your personal sense of right and wrong. They’re shaped by your background, your culture, and your conscience. For example, someone might feel morally opposed to alcohol, based on how they were raised.

Ethics are broader. They’re about what’s right and fair in a shared world, especially when people disagree. Ethics ask: “What causes the least harm? What protects human dignity?”

So:

Morals = Personal convictions

Ethics = Shared responsibility to do good and avoid harm

2. Principles vs. Applications (Especially in the Bible)

A principle is a core teaching or value—something timeless. For example:

Love your neighbor.

Seek justice.

Care for the vulnerable.

Tell the truth.

An application is how you live out that principle in a real-world situation. Here’s the key: applications can change depending on context, but the principle stays the same.

3. When Jesus Shows Us the Difference

Jesus was the perfect example of someone who honored God’s principles while applying them ethically—even when it upset religious leaders.

Examples:

Healing on the Sabbath (Mark 3:1–6): The principle was honoring the Sabbath. But Jesus applied it ethically by healing a man’s hand, asking, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath?” He showed that mercy was more important than rigid rule-following.

The woman caught in adultery (John 8:1–11): The principle was that adultery is wrong. But Jesus applied it ethically: instead of joining in the stoning, he confronted the hypocrisy of her accusers and said, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” He upheld justice and offered compassion.

Touching the unclean (Luke 5:12–16): Purity laws were a principle of the Old Covenant. But Jesus touched lepers—breaking those boundaries to restore human dignity. His application was ethical: it cared for people, not just rules.

4. Why This Matters Today

Sometimes people apply biblical principles in ways that hurt others—excluding LGBTQ+ individuals, justifying racism, or demeaning women—because they think they’re obeying God. But if the application causes harm, shame, or division, we have to ask: Is that truly faithful to Jesus?

Ethically sound application of Scripture:

Loves the neighbor, even the outcast

Makes room for compassion and growth

Challenges injustice, even when it’s “legal” or “biblical” on the surface

Treats people as made in God’s image, not as problems to be corrected

In Simple Terms:

Principle: What God values (love, justice, truth, mercy)

Application: How we live that out (and it can vary)

Moral: What I think is right

Ethic: What’s right for everyone, in line with God’s heart

If someone insists their way is “just what the Bible says,” it’s fair to ask: “Does this look like how Jesus treated people?”

That’s the test of an ethically sound, Christlike application.

[httpsoftbunni]

TO EVERYONE POSTING LEVETICUS 19:33-34 ‼️

Leviticus 19:33-34 is being taken out of context when used to argue against deportation laws. That verse was part of the Old Testament law given specifically to the Israelites under the Mosaic Covenant. But as Christians, we’re no longer under those laws because Christ fulfilled them and established a new covenant based on grace (Matthew 5:17, Romans 10:4, Hebrews 8:13). The principle of loving others still stands, but the specific legal instructions for Israel don’t apply directly to modern nations or their immigration policies.

The New Testament makes it clear that governments have a God-given role to maintain order and protect sovereignty. Romans 13:1-7 explains that authorities are put in place by God to enforce justice, and Acts 17:26 talks about how God established nations and their boundaries. Jesus also made it clear that His kingdom is spiritual, not tied to earthly governments (John 18:36).

Christians are absolutely called to show compassion and love, but that doesn’t mean disregarding the lawful role of governments. Using Leviticus to protest deportation laws pulls the verse out of its original context and misses the bigger picture of biblical teaching about the law, authority, and the New Covenant.

[another-lost-mc]

Oh no. The situational portal idea makes what happened to Lilith even more sad, because after a certain point of altitude a portal probably opens leading straight to hell (literally).

So you fall just a tad too far, and end up falling for real.

I have a lot of disjointed thoughts about what I think the actual "fall" looks like (described in AxM), and I had to try and apply those ideas to the Celestial War and what happened to Lilith and her brothers since that situation was very different and a bit more complicated.

The confusing part about Lucifer's rebellion is that they make it sound like this epic battle, but the only angels that fall afterwards (that we interact with) are Lucifer and his brothers. If Lucifer had other supporters that were also banished, we don't really hear much about them because they're not the main characters/LIs of this story. I mean, I get it, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. It makes the world and history feel small and incomplete when there's gaping holes in the narrative and what we see in the game doesn't line up with what we're told (or what biblical stories describe).

I've always treated angels and demons as fantasy races rather than religious ones anyway, which is why I don't write them as good or bad, but simply two different species whose actions are the result of their unique biology and their society's guiding principles. While they might be inspired by religious figures or stories, I don't really focus on it in my own writing.

In order to talk about what I picture Lucifer's rebellion/Lilith's demise looked like, I should probably explain what I think typically happens when an angel is suspected of corruption or disobedience that requires some sort of punishment.

Assuming they try other methods that fail, the angel is summoned before the Seraphs who deliberate how to address it. Even though Toodles is who-knows-where, I think it's expected that the angels carry out his wishes. Michael has a stronger connection to him than most other angels, is attuned to his will and knows what sort of resolution is expected even though he's just some omnipresent being at this point. Michael can relay these wishes to the other Seraphs who also feel an inkling of Father's expectations, but there is usually some leeway. The accused angel can speak their case if they're remorseful and the Seraphs basically discuss the options and vote to determine the path forward.

For OM's purposes, I imagine the line up of Seraphs includes: Michael, Lucifer, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, Metatron, and Simeon. Seven votes, majority rules if needed but I think most of them can usually agree on things. There's always the chance there's more Seraphs than that, but I do picture some sort of council-like system for discussion/debate as each Seraph has their own insights and potential solutions to share. The Seraphs might change over time as some bounce from the realm (Lucifer) or are demoted (Simeon) and are probably replaced with new angels that earn that ascension.

Anyway, if the accused angel is sentenced (or wishes) to be cast out, the portal that expels them from the Celestial Realm and into the Devildom opens at their feet and they literally fall through the planes of existence until they reach the bottom. I don't imagine it's a painless journey either - burned feathers, broken wings, injuries sustained from impact. But eventually they do reach the ground, and by then the grace bestowed upon them by Father has fled their bodies and is replaced by demonic sin instead.

I'm not sure what determines whether a fallen angel keeps their wings or loses them and gains a demon-like tail instead. Part of me wonders if it has to do with their former rank as an angel. Higher-ranking angels might retain their wings, where lower-ranking angels may lose them since they weren't as close to Father. I have no idea. My only support for that particular theory is that Lucifer (Seraph), Mammon (Throne), and Beel (Cherub) have their wings and were in the first sphere (the highest ranked) angels. Asmo has his wings, but I don't think we're ever told what his rank was - I guess we could speculate his role based on this theory. (I think Satan has a tail vs. wings because he was born as a demon from Lucifer's wings instead, and it's another way to highlight how similar yet different they are from each other.)

Anyway, back to Lucifer's rebellion. I think Lilith's condemnation happened the same way any other angel's punishment would: the Seraphs meet and deliberate the accusation and interpret Father's will and then carry out whatever is decided. Lucifer and his siblings understand the process and plan accordingly to try and derail Lilith's punishment and help her escape, since I don't think Michael and the other Seraphs would've been swayed by his request for mercy. Even if some of them Simeon Meta didn't believe Lilith deserved such a harsh sentence, I think it was something ordered by Father and passed down by Michael to the other Seraphs.

I'm going out on a limb here by saying that I think Father is very fickle and inconsistent, but also exceedingly stubborn and quick to judgement when angels defy him.

For simplicity's sake, I treat Lucifer's rebellion as a prison break gone terribly wrong rather than a full-out war that involved ??? number of rebellious angels and resulted in ??? fallen angels ending up in the Devildom. I think their goal was to simply get Lilith out of the Celestial Realm and evade Father's punishment that way. Maybe they thought they could live in exile in the human world. Maybe Lucifer hoped that they could find sanctuary in the Devildom with his prior connections to Diavolo and the prince's interest in him. I have no idea. I just don't think armed rebellion was going to end any other way than it did, but Lilith was still wounded from Michael's forces trying to prevent their escape. Plans for her original execution were botched by that point and everyone assumed she was going to die from her injuries regardless.

Remember in OG Season 2 when Lucifer and the others were trying to smuggle MC out of the Devildom? Just like the parts of hell outside the Devildom metropolis where it's a bit of a no-man's land and it's less hospitable and far more dangerous to travel, I think there's some murky areas near the Celestial Realm borders that are the same. Lilith's injury led to a free fall where she ended up landing in the Devildom, and her brothers who were formally cast out for their defiance, fell shortly after. I believe the location where fallen angels land can be a bit unpredictable, so in the time it took for Diavolo's forces to find Lucifer's brothers, he had already found Lucifer and Lilith and they were able to make their little agreement without the others knowing the truth about Lilith's fate.

[queering-ecology]

All my relatives: Exploring Lakota ontology, belief, and ritual. Posthumus DC (2022)

This is a book all about Lakota traditional beliefs and therefore has a lot of information connected to Mitakuye Oyasin. “At the heart of both Lakota religious continuity and innovation is an underlying animist ontological orientation, a basic way of seeing, understanding, and being in the world that extends personhood— in the form of a soul or spirit— to nonhuman life- forms.” This is expressed with ‘Mitakuye Oyasin’ –meaning ‘all my relatives’ or ‘we are all related’, which refers not only to human kinship but also to the relationship shared by all life-forms, both human and nonhuman, and the reciprocal obligations, responsibilities, and mutual respect that naturally extend from it” (14).

This repeats much of the ideas from similar definitions: belief in the connection between all life, relationships, the power the phrase has. It also gives a lot of words to help define these beliefs in academic language. Another important thing to point out is the way mitakuye oyasin is recognized as being part of Lakota innovation; my goal here is to use mitakuye oyasin to an innovation of queer ecology–hopefully add to the conversation.

“The normative cultural values encompassed by mitákuye oyásʾį are the very foundation of kinship, relational ontology, and the overarching interspecies collective, of which humans are only one hoop, one oyáte ‘people, nation, tribe’, in the company of many others. The key constituents of this animist ontology and worldview, of mitákuye oyásʾį, are persons, a category that extends beyond human beings to nonhuman or other- than- human persons. [...] Importantly, the Lakota worldview sees humans as the least knowledgeable and powerful beings, requiring the most aid and pity, upending the common Western biblical assumption that humans have dominion to rule over all other life- forms and subdue the earth (see V. Deloria 1999, 50; 2009, 99– 100). For the Lakotas, the seed of all life is wakʿą ‘sacrality, mystery, divinity’; ́ hence all life- forms share a generalized interiority, whether human or nonhuman.”

This is important information to support my argument. Queer ecology is very critical of Western beliefs and dichotomies that separate humans from nature and thereby present mankind as the ultimate lifeform (anthropocentrism). There are many essays and articles that examine the influence Christianity has had on the colonialist project (Gaard is the first that comes to mind). The Lakota worldview of being the ‘younger siblings’ of creation are supported by science in that ‘humans’ as a 'species' haven’t existed all that long in comparison to other 'species' and like many indigenous cultures, Lakota people knew the key to knowing nature was to learn from the world around us, as the author later confirms:

“Deloria explains that “the oldest traditions say that humans learned politeness and courtesy from the animals. . . . Generations of elders had already observed the behavior of birds . . . and decided that emulating them was the proper way for humans to act” (V. Deloria 2009, 123). Standing Bear (2006a, 56) substantiates this, writing, “The Lakota enjoyed his association with the animal world. For centuries he derived nothing but good from animal creatures. From them were learned lessons in industry, fidelity, and many virtues and much knowledge.” (50-51) 

In the author’s footnotes is Vine Deloria’s examination of mitakuye oyasin that is, I feel, a great support of my claim:

“Vine Deloria refers to mitákuye oyásʾį as the ‘Indian principle of interpretation/observation,’ calling it “a practical methodological tool for investigating the natural world and drawing conclusions about it that can serve as guides for understanding nature and living comfortably within it. . . . We observe the natural world by looking for relationships between various things in it. . . . This concept is simply the relativity concept as applied to a universe that people experience as alive and not as dead or inert” (1999, 34). (Posthumus 2022 p219 f)

Queer ecology’s goal in many ways is to critique the ways the Western scientific paradigm has created inequity. Many are seemingly searching for solutions and answers to the problems that have been perpetuated by the colonial empire, supported as it is by western science. 

While we must always, always be careful of appropriation and misappropriation–I contend that the solutions are not ones that need to be ‘discovered’ or solved in the way that Western science is so often searching for–advancement, the future…but rather, the answers are in what has always been there…and it’s simply a matter of observation. 

[omegaphilosophia]

The Philosophy of Hermeneutics

The philosophy of hermeneutics is the study of interpretation, particularly of texts, language, and symbolic expressions. Hermeneutics originally developed as a method for interpreting religious scriptures, but it has expanded to encompass broader issues of understanding and meaning in various contexts, including literature, law, art, and social sciences. Central to hermeneutics is the idea that understanding is not a straightforward process but involves complex interpretive acts influenced by history, culture, and the interpreter’s perspective.

Key Themes in the Philosophy of Hermeneutics:

Origins and Development:

Biblical Hermeneutics: Hermeneutics began as the art of interpreting sacred texts, particularly the Bible. Early thinkers like Augustine and Origen developed principles for understanding scriptures, focusing on the need to uncover deeper, often allegorical, meanings.

Philosophical Hermeneutics: Over time, hermeneutics expanded beyond religious texts to include general principles of interpretation. Friedrich Schleiermacher, often considered the father of modern hermeneutics, argued that understanding any text requires insight into both the author’s intent and the broader cultural context.

Hermeneutic Circle:

Part-Whole Relationship: A central concept in hermeneutics is the "hermeneutic circle," which describes the process of understanding as a circular relationship between the whole and its parts. To understand a text (the whole), one must interpret its individual elements (the parts), but understanding each part requires an awareness of the whole.

Prejudices and Preconceptions: The hermeneutic circle also highlights that interpretation is influenced by the interpreter’s preconceptions. Understanding is thus seen as a dynamic process where initial assumptions are continually revised in light of new insights.

Key Figures in Hermeneutics:

Friedrich Schleiermacher: Schleiermacher emphasized the importance of understanding the author’s psychological context and argued for a universal approach to interpretation that could apply to any text, not just religious ones.

Wilhelm Dilthey: Dilthey extended hermeneutics into the human sciences (Geisteswissenschaften), arguing that human experience and history could only be understood through interpretive methods, contrasting with the natural sciences’ emphasis on explanation.

Hans-Georg Gadamer: Gadamer, a leading 20th-century philosopher, developed a concept known as "philosophical hermeneutics." He emphasized the role of history and tradition in shaping understanding and argued that interpretation is a dialogical process, where the interpreter engages in a conversation with the text.

Paul Ricoeur: Ricoeur introduced the idea of a "hermeneutics of suspicion," where interpretation involves uncovering hidden meanings, often related to power, ideology, or unconscious motives. He also explored the interplay between explanation and understanding in interpreting texts.

Interpretation and Meaning:

Text and Context: Hermeneutics stresses the importance of context in interpreting meaning. A text cannot be understood in isolation; it must be seen within its historical, cultural, and linguistic context. This idea is crucial in both literary criticism and legal interpretation.

Meaning as Process: Hermeneutic philosophy views meaning not as a fixed entity but as something that emerges through the interpretive process. Meaning is constructed in the interaction between the interpreter and the text, shaped by both historical tradition and the interpreter’s unique perspective.

Understanding and Language:

Language as Medium: In hermeneutics, language is seen as the medium through which understanding occurs. Gadamer argued that language shapes our experience of the world and that all understanding is mediated by language. This leads to the view that interpretation is always situated within a linguistic and cultural tradition.

Fusion of Horizons: Gadamer introduced the concept of the "fusion of horizons," which describes how understanding involves merging the interpreter’s perspective (horizon) with that of the text or author. This fusion allows for a new, shared meaning to emerge, transcending the limitations of both the text’s original context and the interpreter’s preconceptions.

Hermeneutics and Phenomenology:

Influence of Heidegger: Martin Heidegger, a major influence on hermeneutic philosophy, argued that understanding is a fundamental aspect of human existence (Dasein). He shifted the focus from the interpretation of texts to the interpretation of being itself, emphasizing that our understanding of the world is always interpretive and situated within a particular historical and cultural context.

Existential Hermeneutics: Heidegger’s ideas led to the development of existential hermeneutics, which explores how individuals interpret their own existence and the world around them. This approach emphasizes the subjective and situated nature of understanding.

Applications of Hermeneutics:

Literary Criticism: Hermeneutics is a foundational approach in literary theory, where it is used to analyze texts, uncover deeper meanings, and explore the interplay between author, text, and reader.

Legal Interpretation: In law, hermeneutics is applied to interpret legal texts, such as constitutions, statutes, and contracts. It involves understanding the intent of the law, the context in which it was written, and how it applies to contemporary situations.

Historical Understanding: Historians use hermeneutic methods to interpret historical texts and events, recognizing that understanding the past involves reconstructing the perspectives and contexts of historical actors.

Critiques and Challenges:

Objectivity vs. Subjectivity: One critique of hermeneutics is that it can lead to relativism, where all interpretations are seen as equally valid. Critics argue that this undermines the possibility of objective knowledge. However, hermeneutic philosophers like Gadamer counter that interpretation is not purely subjective but is guided by tradition and shared norms.

The Role of Power: Hermeneutics has been challenged by critical theory, particularly by thinkers like Jürgen Habermas, who argue that hermeneutics often overlooks the role of power and ideology in shaping meaning. This critique has led to more critical approaches that incorporate an awareness of social and political factors in interpretation.

The philosophy of hermeneutics is a rich and complex field that explores how we understand texts, language, and human experience. It reveals that interpretation is not a straightforward process but is shaped by history, culture, language, and the interpreter’s perspective. Hermeneutics challenges us to recognize the situated nature of understanding and the dialogical process through which meaning emerges. Whether in literature, law, history, or everyday communication, hermeneutics offers profound insights into the nature of meaning and the act of interpretation.

[ministershara-blog]

The Church: The Kingdom's Lighthouse

Imagine the Church as a network of Lighthouses strategically positioned along the Shoreline of Humanity, guiding ships safely to the harbor of salvation and godly living amidst the turbulent Seas of the World.

I. The fivefold offices visualized within this analogy.

A. The Apostle

The Visionary Architect and Foundational Builder.

1.Lighthouse Role

The "Coastal Surveyor and Lighthouse Founder." Apostles are like the initial surveyors who identify critical locations for new lighthouses. They lay the foundational blueprints and oversee the initial construction, ensuring the lighthouse is strategically placed and built on a solid foundation to withstand the storms. They establish new centers of light where there was darkness before.

2.Biblical Context

Pioneers of the faith, establishing churches in new territories, setting foundational doctrine, and exercising broad leadership. Think of Paul planting churches across the Roman Empire.

B.The Prophet

The Clear-Sighted Beacon Clarifier and Warning Sounder.

1.Lighthouse Role

The "Beacon Clarifier and Foghorn Sounder." Prophets are responsible for ensuring the "light" (the Gospel message) is clear, untainted, and powerfully communicated. They also act as the "foghorn," discerning the spiritual climate and sounding warnings of impending dangers, deviations from truth, or times of obscured vision, guiding the "ships" (believers and the lost) through perilous conditions.

2.Biblical Context

Those who speak God's truth with clarity, often challenging the status quo, calling for repentance, and revealing future implications of present actions. Think of Elijah confronting Ahab or John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus.

C.The Evangelist

The Urgent Signal Sender and Rescue Operator.

1.Lighthouse Role

The "Urgent Signal Sender and Rescue Boat Dispatcher." Evangelists are driven by a passion to reach those still lost at sea, far from the safety of the shore. They powerfully project the "light" outwards, sending urgent signals of hope and salvation. They are also like the dispatchers of rescue boats (ministries and individuals) to bring those struggling in the waves to the safety of the "lighthouse" (the church).

2.Biblical Context

Passionate proclaimers of the good news of Jesus Christ, compelling people to faith and leading them into the church. Think of Philip sharing the Gospel in Samaria and with the Ethiopian eunuch.

D.The Pastor

The Compassionate Resident Lightkeeper and Harbor Guide.

1.Lighthouse Role

The "Compassionate Resident Lightkeeper and Harbor Guide." Pastors have a deep, ongoing responsibility for the well-being of the "lighthouse" (the local congregation) and those within its immediate reach. They diligently maintain the "light," provide nourishment and care for those within the structure, and act as guides, helping those who have reached the shore to navigate the harbor of Christian community and growth.

2.Biblical Context

Shepherds of the flock, providing spiritual care, teaching, guidance, and fostering community within the local church. Think of the elders overseeing the church in Ephesus.

E.The Teacher

The Skilled Chart Reader and Navigator Instructor.

1.Lighthouse Role

The "Skilled Chart Reader and Navigator Instructor." Teachers are dedicated to thoroughly understanding and explaining the "charts" (the Scriptures). They equip the "navigators" (believers) with the knowledge and skills to accurately interpret these charts themselves, enabling them to navigate their own faith journey, avoid hazards, and understand the principles guiding the "lighthouse" and the way to the ultimate destination.

2.Biblical Context

Those gifted in explaining and applying the Scriptures, bringing clarity and understanding to complex truths, and equipping believers for maturity. Think of Apollos, who was mighty in the Scriptures.

II. Beyond the fivefold offices, this analogy recognizes that every member of the "lighthouse" community functions as vital support

A. Servant Members

The Essential Support Structure and Crew.

1. Lighthouse Role

The "Essential Support Structure and Crew." These are the individuals who maintain the lighthouse structure, provide hospitality, offer practical help, and contribute their unique gifts to ensure the smooth operation of the entire "lighthouse," allowing the "light" to shine effectively. They are the foundation, the walls, the welcoming presence, and the helping hands.

2. Biblical Context

All believers are called to serve one another using their spiritual gifts for the building up of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12).

III. Bible verses that, through their themes and imagery, can be seen as analogous to the role of a lighthouse.

A. Matthew 5:14-16 (The Church as a Light on a Hill)

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

This passage speaks of believers and the church as a visible source of light, guiding others. A lighthouse is also a prominent, visible structure emitting light for guidance.

B. Psalm 119:105 (God's Word as a Lamp)

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

Just as a lighthouse provides light to navigate physical paths, God's Word illuminates the spiritual path, guiding us away from danger and towards safety.

C. Isaiah 60:1-3 (Zion as a Light to the Nations)

"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness covers the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn."

This prophecy speaks of a central point of light drawing people from darkness. A lighthouse serves a similar purpose, attracting and guiding those at sea.

D. John 8:12 (Jesus as the Light of the World)

"Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'"

Jesus himself is presented as the ultimate source of light, guiding people out of spiritual darkness, much like a powerful lighthouse guides ships away from perilous shores.

E. Psalm 27:1 (The Lord as Light and Salvation)

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"

This verse connects light with safety and security. A lighthouse provides both illumination and a sense of security for sailors.

F. 2 Samuel 22:29 (God as a Lamp)

"For you are my lamp, O Lord, and my God lightens my darkness."

God's presence is described as a source of light that dispels darkness, mirroring how a lighthouse pierces through the darkness of night.

IV. Conclusion

This analogy highlights how each of the fivefold offices, along with the vital contribution of every member, works together like a well-maintained network of lighthouses, strategically placed and diligently operated, to bring the light of the Gospel to a dark world and guide people safely to God's harbor. Each role is distinct yet interdependent, contributing uniquely to the overall mission of illuminating the way.

Blessing's,

Love & Light!

Shara Massey