Sex, happiness and meaning

If you can’t sleep, might as well write about sex, right? As a single guy in his early 30s, I do my fair amount of thinking about sex. Two or three months ago I wrote a mini-series on this blog about sex. And yet there’s more to say, if only because I am continually struck […]

Predestined or free?

Our starting context I don’t think a Christian’s belief regarding free will and/or predestination has any direct bearing on the really vital aspects of the faith. My personal background is Arminian, but I love and respect a great number of Christians who call themselves Calvinistic or Reformed. And there are plenty of Christians who hold […]

The disconnect with Christians on sexuality, Part III

There’s a huge problem with the Bible. The problem involves the way most Christians (Protestants in particular) approach it. We like to pretend that the scriptures are our primary source of authority for understanding God. In actuality, though, this is very seldom practiced. The Bible doesn’t come to any of us as a straight and […]

The disconnect with Christians on sexuality, Part II

One has to know the Christian paradigms of human identity and love in order to understand the Christian view of sexuality. If you admit ignorance or uncertainty on either of those issues you’re actually in better shape than most Christians, who don’t realize they’re woefully uninformed about their own system of belief. There is no […]

The disconnect with Christians on sexuality, Part I

What’s really missing in society is the ability for people who disagree to understand and empathize with each other. We vilify. We see this happening not only at the interpersonal level but at the corporate, political and international levels, as well. We identify an enemy and we attack, frankly because it’s the easiest thing to […]

Sex and what it means to be human

You don’t have to venture far to move from St. Augustine’s views on sex to his understanding of human nature. Both are tied into how he perceives the Fall, and there are problems in his thought that drastically impacted Christianity hundreds of years later. As helpful as Augustine’s questions and observations are regarding sex, they […]

Sex, passion and lust

When it comes to sex, St. Augustine was one of the first feminists. No, really. There are various interpretations of Augustine’s writings, as one might expect from someone who was so prolific. There is also a bit of trouble translating his Latin. The following is a summary of what I consider to be an excellent […]