Reformed Christian Studies

By Dr. R. Scott Clark - The Heidelblog: In reaction to the latest phase of the sexual revolution, in response to the discovery by a 5–4 majority of the Supreme Court of the United States of “right” to same-sex marriage, in reaction to the rise of a militant “transgender” (transsexual) movement and the normalization of homosexuality generally, it has become accepted wisdom in some quarters that sexual sin is no different than any other sin. There is a sense in which that is true, of course, since James 2:10 says that to break one commandment is to break all of them. Nevertheless, there is more to be said. The Apostle Paul issued pointed warnings to the Corinthian congregation about the special dangers of sexual sin. Flee from sexual immorality (πορνείαν). Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not yo

Posted at Reformed Reader: In the days of the early church – I’m thinking specifically of the 2nd century – Christian apologists had to defend the faith against false charges, accusations, and misrepresentations. One such apologist, Athenagoras (d. 200 AD?), wrote a booklet to Roman rulers called A Plea for the Christians . This apology by Athenagoras is still quite relevant today because it discusses things we still talk about today. I’ll come back to this booklet later, but for now I want to point out what this 2nd century Christian apologist said about sexual immorality and homosexuality. Athenagoras refuted the claim or accusation that Christians were very sexually impure compared to non-Christian Roman citizens. He said Christian spouses – man and wife – were committed to one another and instructed to avoid and detest adultery while the same could not be said of the Romans. He also argued that Christians avoided and detested homosexuality. As Athenagoras introduced t