Culture

Signs of the Times: "We Know More Now…"

From the nationally-syndicated DEAR ABBY Column (5/1/12)

Dear Abby: My son came out of the closet last year. My first reaction was to tell him it was OK. (I had already suspected that he was gay).

My husband and I are now struggling because we’re not sure how God views gays.

I tried reading the Bible, but the wording is hard to understand. I don’t want to talk to my pastor about it, because, even though I have accepted my son for who he is, I still have trouble talking to people about it, as I’m not sure how they’ll react.

Do you think a gay person can go to heaven?

– Somewhere in the USA

Dear Somewhere: I think that entrance to heaven is based upon a person’s character, not his or her sexual orientation.

Today, because of modern scientific studies, we know more about homosexuality than was known when the Bible was written—and that sexual orientation is not a “choice.”

– Abby

J. I. Packer has described “the all-too-familiar mind-set” of our modern age which holds that, “the newer is the truer, only what is recent is decent, every shift of ground is a step forward, and every latest word must be hailed as the last word on its subject” (Doing Theology in Today’s World, 21).

C. S. Lewis referred to such a perspective as “chronological snobbery,” defining it as “the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate common to our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that account discredited” (Surprised by Joy, 207-208).

Most importantly, our Creator, on two different occasions (1 Pet 1:24-25; Isa 40:6-8) has provided God-breathed commentary on the enduring nature of his revealed will.

All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.

The opinions of presidents, preachers and popular culture—including Dear Abby—may “evolve,” but Biblical truth does not.

One Comment

  1. Over the last 9 months as I have read the old and new testaments I have been amazed at how little man has changed and how well God knows the heart of man then and now.  The fact that the bible is as applicable now to the heart of man now as it was thousands of years ago speaks to its divine origin and the folly of man’s wisdom over the centuries. 

Back to top button