Seminar 1. Same-sex marriage and other challenges
Professor Jones provided very helpful notes on several books about sexual ethics and theology, discussing their key arguments and key quotations, theological method, and problems with the arguments espoused. The books discussed were:
Jay Emerson Johnson, Divine Communion: A Eucharistic Theology of Sexual Intimacy (New York, Seabury Books, 2013)
James V. Brownson, Bible, Gender, Sexuality: Reframing the Church’s Debate on Same-Sex-Relationships (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2013)
William Loader, “Homosexuality and the Bible,” in Preston Sprinkle (Ed.), Two Views of Homosexuality, the Bible, and the Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016, pp. 17-48).
Karen R. Keen, Scripture, Ethics and the Possibility of Same-Sex Relationships (Eerdmann: 2018)
This analysis of the arguments involved included a table showing how the vice list in 1 Timothy 1:8-11 parallels the ten commandments so that the criticism of sexual immorality and homosexuality is parallel with the commandment not to commit adultery.
In addition, Professor Jones distributed a sheet with the lyrics and screenshots of Ariana Grande’s song, “God is a Woman” (the YouTube video has over 160 million views) who has a large following of young girls. Professor Jones showed how her imagery is very deliberately sexual and pagan and religious, citing this as a key example of how society in general is becoming much more accepting of pagan ideas.