Greetings Brothers and Sisters in Christ!
Once again retreats are the focus for our newsletter – as we look back 2 weeks to Phoenix, and forward just over a month to our New Year’s Retreat.
In Phoenix, though we were just 20 adults, we had a wonderful time meeting the folks from Arizona and fellowshipping with them. We also had some great teaching at this retreat, and you can participate in a bit of it, by reading the ‘Cliff-notes’ version of Dr. Allen’s Saturday night talk on polygyny and early church history in the forum, and by downloading and listening to Pastor John Whitten’s Sunday morning sermon. You’ll find a few comments by folks who attended the Phoenix retreat here.
Pastor Whitten is no stranger to many of you who have been around Christian plural marriage on the Internet, and we are very pleased to welcome him to Biblical Families as a resident shepherd and West Coast representative – he’ll be organizing get-togethers for the folks we just met in Arizona, and any who are close enough to drive there – drop an email to johnw@biblicalfamilies.org to say ‘welcome’ or get an invite to a future Arizona meetup! (Why ‘shepherd’? Well, listen to his Sunday morning retreat message and we think you’ll agree that title fits him well! If you’d like to chat with someone with a lifetime of pastoral experience and a father’s heart, who well understands Biblical marriage, feel free to write him.) You’ll find some of John’s longer articles in our teaching section now, and a link to his blog on our updated Links page.
Year-end retreat!
Next up is our important New Year’s retreat, in southern Georgia, Dec 31st-Jan 2nd We couldn’t find a proper location for this in Alabama, so we moved it to Georgia. This will be very much a TEACHING retreat, though that will be accompanied by all the fellowship you can handle! Our own Dr. K.R. Allen will be teaching, as will author Tom Shipley, we’re happy to announce. There’s at least one other potential teacher that we hope will be present, that we cannot announce at this time – if you sign up for retreat information, we’ll let you know. We fully expect that this retreat will be larger than last year, with 80+ attending, so we suggest you make your reservations this week. The retreat details will be going out within 24 hours of this newsletter, so drop an email to retreats@biblicalfamilies.org NOW, if you want to receive the retreat information. We have a great location, similar to last year’s New Year’s event – but the lodge rooms include breakfast, and we will be doing lunch and dinners together in our meeting room – we also have a separate room for the children to use on Saturday. If you are at all interested in Christian plural marriage, and are able to get away at the end of the year, this will be the most important event you can attend – make your travel plans, and plan to be blessed. To be clear: folks from all over the country, and the world, are welcome at this retreat, not just those from the Southeast. (That’s true for every retreat, actually.)
We look forward to meeting many new families at this retreat! If you are a single lady considering coming but are unsure, OR finances are an issue, we’d like to point you to the longer note on retreats in the May newsletter – I won’t paste it all in here, as this newsletter is already long, but I think you’ll find that note useful.
New Biblical Families site
Maybe you clicked on some of those links above and were surprised by what you saw: If you haven’t visited BiblicalFamilies.org since Sunday, then you haven’t seen our update. We’ve integrated our forums with the rest of the site, with dropdown menus for accessing everything. This will allow us to add more content easily in the future. Take a look and see what you think!
Feel free to drop us a note on the site, or on anything we can be of service to you regarding, at staff@biblicalfamilies.org. (And don’t forget that you can still sign up for the Devotional emails that are going thru Proverbs currently, by emailing devotional@biblicalfamilies.org )
If you read Dr. Allen’s article linked above, you’ll found that this article continues the thoughts on Gnosticism, and how it affects us today:
Gnostic and Asceticism Ideas in the Immediate Awareness
of Mankind When He Fell Into Depravity
Have you ever asked yourself would there be a “fall season” with certain types of vegetation dying if there had never been a fall of mankind into sin? I’m not sure I have a scientific answer, much less a theologically holistic answer, that would satisfy my or anyone else’s perspicacious curiosity in that regard. The question has also been asked by others when probing the depths of life in Eden before sin plunged the whole human race in utter ruin.
Some have precisely asked did vegetation die before Adam and Eve sinned since at this point in original paradise mankind was a vegetarian species. The logic implied by this question is that if Adam and Eve did eat of any fruit and that fruit was a living organism, and did not Adam and Eve bring death of that fruit by plucking and eating before sin was actually in the world? Such issues as this drives scholars mad and laymen to frustration as one class can’t come to a consensus among themselves and in turn the other class can’t determine who is worthy to be trusted in their scholarship.
Needless to say though, anytime a question is asked to any set of theologians and no forthright answer can be quickly offered they then scurry off to their semi-monastic, yet sufficiently cooled and heated libraries, in hopes of offering a ray of hope to someone or anyone who has a listening ear. Nonetheless, despite the never ending spiral that has been ongoing since the first question and answer has ever been sought among those with a love for knowledge, the saga continues even down to this day.
In today’s climate a spiritual leader (sometimes called a pastor, Bible teacher, professor, or other vernacular of honor) will in route to their quest of bringing spiritual aid to a suffering saint who is vexed over not having an answer, will discover several competing theories that have been precisely enumerated in detailed monographs that have their own share of scholarly support evidenced by properly notated works of intelligentsia. To their dismay, these ardent seekers of truth are likely to discover that some of these theories have even earned some of the writers advanced doctoral degrees granted from institutions of higher learning to young and brilliant upcoming scholars.
Consequently, any answer that I might offer here to such a question above would likely be more speculation and probably scintillate more than produce real substance to which any person with any degree of perspicacity could hang their theological cap upon and feel safe about their position. Therefore, I shall kindly sidestep that moral, theological, and philosophical question concerning does fruit being eaten by humans and animals mean death actually did exist before the fall of humankind into sin.
As for me, such a question, though intriguing as it may be to some of the most brilliant minds of our day in both the scientific and spiritual disciplines of study, I find a more important and much more immediate need of the saints, at least in this particular era which many of us find ourselves within on the historical radar of God’s providence.
For me I find more interesting this question: “What was the first sign of sins affect upon man?” All Evangelical scholars worth their weight in spiritual salt would agree that as soon as Adam partook of the forbidden fruit, whatever type of fruit it was makes no difference to me except for that fact that I only hope it was at least a tasty fruit so that Adam could at least testify to one more reason as to why he did what he did, at that point he and the entire human race plunged into sin. A straight forward and literal reading of Romans 5 leaves no doubt that in Adam all people were subjected to the curse of the fall into depravity. Even the most ardent Arminian scholar or the most devout Calvinist scholar, and even those in mediating in between positions, would, if honest, arrive at a similar conclusion that Adam’s sin damaged the entire human race.
Yet there is another logical question that I find to be more apropos to the ministry of Biblical Families. As soon as Adam sinned what was the empirical evidence of that sin that all with an eye and ability to read can garner from the sacred text? The answer to this I find not only shocking but historically illuminating.
When we read in Genesis 3:7 something here makes me stop and take a pause. Have you ever asked yourself why did Adam and Eve hide themselves because they were naked? Many scholars offer the standard classical answer, to which for the most part I think is accurate, which is that they knew they were in sin and wanted to hide themselves from the holiness of God. No doubt I think those who hold and teach such a position have a solid footing. An unholy person will in no doubt seek to hide from the holy Creator, especially one that he has just offended through disobedience. One need not be a scientist to test validate this hypothesis. One only needs to produce children and see how they too will run and hide when they disobey a parental order.
But something more seems to be in the text here than just the two people wanting to hide from their Creator. If I apply basic hermeneutical laws to this text, I am required to note something here in the chronology of the text. It appears that Adam and Eve hid themselves from each other as soon as they fell into sin. Later in historical succession the couple then hid themselves even further as they hid behind trees from God who was approaching them. The hiding seems to be in two different spheres: (1) hiding from each other by covering of their bodies, and (2) a subsequent hiding from God by attempting to hide not just their bodies but themselves totally from God.
Could this be our first case of Gnosticism in the history of humanity? I think this might be a logical deduction, or induction depending upon which philosophical school you may affirm in regard to best reasoning practices (from the general to particular or from the particular to the general). Why do I think this might be the first sign of Gnostic thought?
Well, so that I can be precise let me first define what I mean by the term Gnostic. In its most basic form Gnosticism is an idea that teaches the body is evil or bad. One theological dictionary says this of Gnosticism: “Gnostic theology was dualistic. It taught that the material world was evil and was created by a malevolent demiurge, the Old Testament Jehovah, who exists in opposition to a good and benevolent God” (Nelson’s New Christian Dictionary, p. 332).
It is too hard for us to believe that Satan, the author of both lies and murder according to Christ (John 8:44), who had already fallen from grace by his rebellion (see Isa. 14:12-16; & Ezek. 28:11-19) desired for Adam and Eve to believe the way they were made was bad? Would not that be a certain goal and agenda in Satan to lead our first parents to believe that not only was God withholding information from them but he too had made them in a such a way that they should be ashamed of their own bodies?
One might be quick to ask, “What benefit could Satan get from inserting this ideology into the minds of the humans?” This is an excellent question. Satan is one of the most brilliant thinkers in the universe. A cursory reading of Ezekiel 28:11-19 shows us the splendor of Satan before his fall into sin. That text shows us that he was the “signet of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.” We also see that this angel was assigned to the Garden of Eden and he ruled as a guardian cherub (vs. 13, 14). Yet he was not content and he wanted more. His heart “was proud” and he “corrupted” his “wisdom” (vs. 17).
When comparing this text to Isaiah 14 one can see that Satan wanted to make himself like the most high. He wanted to “ascend to heaven above the stars of God” as he wanted to sit on the “mount of assembly” (Isa. 14:13-14). Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum has noted that “different parts of the universe were given over to the authority of different angelic beings. The planet earth was given over to the authority of Satan . . . . [and] when Satan was welled up with pride, this pride led to the declaration of these five I wills. Each I will has a specific significance to it. First: I will ascend into heaven. He was not satisfied with the very high position God had already given him as the guardian of God’s throne and with authority over the mineral Garden of Eden. He desired a higher position, a higher estate than he already had. There was no higher position than God’s own Throne” (Footsteps of the Messiah, p. 548,551).
That idea leads me to my second theological idea that I pose again in a question format. Could it not be that Satan, who had been assigned to the earth as the authority over it in its original form, wanted to undo the next people who were set there to rule over it after his judgment and fall? If Satan wanted to destroy the human race what better way than to introduce into the minds of the first parents the idea that our bodies are bad and to be shunned or hid? Might Satan have hoped that upon Adam’s eating of the fruit that not only would they die but if they rejected sexual pleasures as bad and evil that this might have been a way to rid the earth of humans, subvert God’s plan, and possibly for him to regain control of his ruling position over it? Or what if Satan believed that at the least by leading them into sin that he knew that such sin would dilute the power and progress of humanity because if they were to take dominion over the earth, as instructed by God and most likely known to Satan as well, the Gnostic idea, a natural byproduct of sinful reasoning, would be a great way to spoil the efforts of man to do this through reproduction?
It seems that the Bible scholar Erich Sauer has reasoned in a similar way. He sees that Satan was set to be the ruler over the earth, yet he lost that position due to his sin. Then God established another ruler over the earth. This new ruler was to be mankind. What was ruined by Satan was to be restored by Adam and his progeny As Sauer stated, “God chose man as the being for His Work of deliverance . . . . He is the instrument chosen by God for His mighty work of winning back part of his universal kingdom” (The King of the Earth: The Nobility of Man According to the Bible and Science, p. 74). This may shed light onto the statement by Peter where he said “your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
It seems logical and reasonable to me that Satan hates mankind because mankind stands in a position that he once had. Also, it seems likely that he knows the power or nature of sin all too well. It appears that our first parents may have evidenced their fall into spiritual and moral depravity by their first action in hiding themselves from each other. With no other human around, with them already being in a coalescent relationship established directly by God himself, why would they hide their bodies from each other unless they were ashamed of their own bodies due to the ravage corruption of the mind that immediately resonated in their heart and mind as soon as Adam disobeyed God?
It seems likely to me that the immediate reality of depravity evidenced itself in a mindset that was at least either questioning or outright rejecting the goodness of God’s creation. Though I admit without reservation that this is likely a new thought, and one that I’m sure might lead others to more questions than I or a host of other Biblicists might be able to answer by simply scurrying off to our libraries for an afternoon of coffee and research, I do believe there is something to be gleaned by this observation.
The ideology that our bodies and the pleasures of the body are evil seems to be a frontal attack against God as well as mankind by the evil one. Sin and the evil forces of hell seem to want to make man believe that his power to love through the use of his or her body for God’s purposes of subduing creation under a godly sphere of rule is something to be ashamed of and hidden. And when contemplating that ideology with due consideration to the modern teachings concerning sex, love, and marriage by many in the ecclesiastical circles it makes me think that the same shame that Adam and Eve experienced over their own genitalia is still ever so present in the modern ministerial circles of our day.
Dr. K.R. Allen
Once again retreats are the focus for our newsletter – as we look back 2 weeks to Phoenix, and forward just over a month to our New Year’s Retreat.
In Phoenix, though we were just 20 adults, we had a wonderful time meeting the folks from Arizona and fellowshipping with them. We also had some great teaching at this retreat, and you can participate in a bit of it, by reading the ‘Cliff-notes’ version of Dr. Allen’s Saturday night talk on polygyny and early church history in the forum, and by downloading and listening to Pastor John Whitten’s Sunday morning sermon. You’ll find a few comments by folks who attended the Phoenix retreat here.
Pastor Whitten is no stranger to many of you who have been around Christian plural marriage on the Internet, and we are very pleased to welcome him to Biblical Families as a resident shepherd and West Coast representative – he’ll be organizing get-togethers for the folks we just met in Arizona, and any who are close enough to drive there – drop an email to johnw@biblicalfamilies.org to say ‘welcome’ or get an invite to a future Arizona meetup! (Why ‘shepherd’? Well, listen to his Sunday morning retreat message and we think you’ll agree that title fits him well! If you’d like to chat with someone with a lifetime of pastoral experience and a father’s heart, who well understands Biblical marriage, feel free to write him.) You’ll find some of John’s longer articles in our teaching section now, and a link to his blog on our updated Links page.
Year-end retreat!
Next up is our important New Year’s retreat, in southern Georgia, Dec 31st-Jan 2nd We couldn’t find a proper location for this in Alabama, so we moved it to Georgia. This will be very much a TEACHING retreat, though that will be accompanied by all the fellowship you can handle! Our own Dr. K.R. Allen will be teaching, as will author Tom Shipley, we’re happy to announce. There’s at least one other potential teacher that we hope will be present, that we cannot announce at this time – if you sign up for retreat information, we’ll let you know. We fully expect that this retreat will be larger than last year, with 80+ attending, so we suggest you make your reservations this week. The retreat details will be going out within 24 hours of this newsletter, so drop an email to retreats@biblicalfamilies.org NOW, if you want to receive the retreat information. We have a great location, similar to last year’s New Year’s event – but the lodge rooms include breakfast, and we will be doing lunch and dinners together in our meeting room – we also have a separate room for the children to use on Saturday. If you are at all interested in Christian plural marriage, and are able to get away at the end of the year, this will be the most important event you can attend – make your travel plans, and plan to be blessed. To be clear: folks from all over the country, and the world, are welcome at this retreat, not just those from the Southeast. (That’s true for every retreat, actually.)
We look forward to meeting many new families at this retreat! If you are a single lady considering coming but are unsure, OR finances are an issue, we’d like to point you to the longer note on retreats in the May newsletter – I won’t paste it all in here, as this newsletter is already long, but I think you’ll find that note useful.
New Biblical Families site
Maybe you clicked on some of those links above and were surprised by what you saw: If you haven’t visited BiblicalFamilies.org since Sunday, then you haven’t seen our update. We’ve integrated our forums with the rest of the site, with dropdown menus for accessing everything. This will allow us to add more content easily in the future. Take a look and see what you think!
Feel free to drop us a note on the site, or on anything we can be of service to you regarding, at staff@biblicalfamilies.org. (And don’t forget that you can still sign up for the Devotional emails that are going thru Proverbs currently, by emailing devotional@biblicalfamilies.org )
If you read Dr. Allen’s article linked above, you’ll found that this article continues the thoughts on Gnosticism, and how it affects us today:
Gnostic and Asceticism Ideas in the Immediate Awareness
of Mankind When He Fell Into Depravity
Have you ever asked yourself would there be a “fall season” with certain types of vegetation dying if there had never been a fall of mankind into sin? I’m not sure I have a scientific answer, much less a theologically holistic answer, that would satisfy my or anyone else’s perspicacious curiosity in that regard. The question has also been asked by others when probing the depths of life in Eden before sin plunged the whole human race in utter ruin.
Some have precisely asked did vegetation die before Adam and Eve sinned since at this point in original paradise mankind was a vegetarian species. The logic implied by this question is that if Adam and Eve did eat of any fruit and that fruit was a living organism, and did not Adam and Eve bring death of that fruit by plucking and eating before sin was actually in the world? Such issues as this drives scholars mad and laymen to frustration as one class can’t come to a consensus among themselves and in turn the other class can’t determine who is worthy to be trusted in their scholarship.
Needless to say though, anytime a question is asked to any set of theologians and no forthright answer can be quickly offered they then scurry off to their semi-monastic, yet sufficiently cooled and heated libraries, in hopes of offering a ray of hope to someone or anyone who has a listening ear. Nonetheless, despite the never ending spiral that has been ongoing since the first question and answer has ever been sought among those with a love for knowledge, the saga continues even down to this day.
In today’s climate a spiritual leader (sometimes called a pastor, Bible teacher, professor, or other vernacular of honor) will in route to their quest of bringing spiritual aid to a suffering saint who is vexed over not having an answer, will discover several competing theories that have been precisely enumerated in detailed monographs that have their own share of scholarly support evidenced by properly notated works of intelligentsia. To their dismay, these ardent seekers of truth are likely to discover that some of these theories have even earned some of the writers advanced doctoral degrees granted from institutions of higher learning to young and brilliant upcoming scholars.
Consequently, any answer that I might offer here to such a question above would likely be more speculation and probably scintillate more than produce real substance to which any person with any degree of perspicacity could hang their theological cap upon and feel safe about their position. Therefore, I shall kindly sidestep that moral, theological, and philosophical question concerning does fruit being eaten by humans and animals mean death actually did exist before the fall of humankind into sin.
As for me, such a question, though intriguing as it may be to some of the most brilliant minds of our day in both the scientific and spiritual disciplines of study, I find a more important and much more immediate need of the saints, at least in this particular era which many of us find ourselves within on the historical radar of God’s providence.
For me I find more interesting this question: “What was the first sign of sins affect upon man?” All Evangelical scholars worth their weight in spiritual salt would agree that as soon as Adam partook of the forbidden fruit, whatever type of fruit it was makes no difference to me except for that fact that I only hope it was at least a tasty fruit so that Adam could at least testify to one more reason as to why he did what he did, at that point he and the entire human race plunged into sin. A straight forward and literal reading of Romans 5 leaves no doubt that in Adam all people were subjected to the curse of the fall into depravity. Even the most ardent Arminian scholar or the most devout Calvinist scholar, and even those in mediating in between positions, would, if honest, arrive at a similar conclusion that Adam’s sin damaged the entire human race.
Yet there is another logical question that I find to be more apropos to the ministry of Biblical Families. As soon as Adam sinned what was the empirical evidence of that sin that all with an eye and ability to read can garner from the sacred text? The answer to this I find not only shocking but historically illuminating.
When we read in Genesis 3:7 something here makes me stop and take a pause. Have you ever asked yourself why did Adam and Eve hide themselves because they were naked? Many scholars offer the standard classical answer, to which for the most part I think is accurate, which is that they knew they were in sin and wanted to hide themselves from the holiness of God. No doubt I think those who hold and teach such a position have a solid footing. An unholy person will in no doubt seek to hide from the holy Creator, especially one that he has just offended through disobedience. One need not be a scientist to test validate this hypothesis. One only needs to produce children and see how they too will run and hide when they disobey a parental order.
But something more seems to be in the text here than just the two people wanting to hide from their Creator. If I apply basic hermeneutical laws to this text, I am required to note something here in the chronology of the text. It appears that Adam and Eve hid themselves from each other as soon as they fell into sin. Later in historical succession the couple then hid themselves even further as they hid behind trees from God who was approaching them. The hiding seems to be in two different spheres: (1) hiding from each other by covering of their bodies, and (2) a subsequent hiding from God by attempting to hide not just their bodies but themselves totally from God.
Could this be our first case of Gnosticism in the history of humanity? I think this might be a logical deduction, or induction depending upon which philosophical school you may affirm in regard to best reasoning practices (from the general to particular or from the particular to the general). Why do I think this might be the first sign of Gnostic thought?
Well, so that I can be precise let me first define what I mean by the term Gnostic. In its most basic form Gnosticism is an idea that teaches the body is evil or bad. One theological dictionary says this of Gnosticism: “Gnostic theology was dualistic. It taught that the material world was evil and was created by a malevolent demiurge, the Old Testament Jehovah, who exists in opposition to a good and benevolent God” (Nelson’s New Christian Dictionary, p. 332).
It is too hard for us to believe that Satan, the author of both lies and murder according to Christ (John 8:44), who had already fallen from grace by his rebellion (see Isa. 14:12-16; & Ezek. 28:11-19) desired for Adam and Eve to believe the way they were made was bad? Would not that be a certain goal and agenda in Satan to lead our first parents to believe that not only was God withholding information from them but he too had made them in a such a way that they should be ashamed of their own bodies?
One might be quick to ask, “What benefit could Satan get from inserting this ideology into the minds of the humans?” This is an excellent question. Satan is one of the most brilliant thinkers in the universe. A cursory reading of Ezekiel 28:11-19 shows us the splendor of Satan before his fall into sin. That text shows us that he was the “signet of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.” We also see that this angel was assigned to the Garden of Eden and he ruled as a guardian cherub (vs. 13, 14). Yet he was not content and he wanted more. His heart “was proud” and he “corrupted” his “wisdom” (vs. 17).
When comparing this text to Isaiah 14 one can see that Satan wanted to make himself like the most high. He wanted to “ascend to heaven above the stars of God” as he wanted to sit on the “mount of assembly” (Isa. 14:13-14). Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum has noted that “different parts of the universe were given over to the authority of different angelic beings. The planet earth was given over to the authority of Satan . . . . [and] when Satan was welled up with pride, this pride led to the declaration of these five I wills. Each I will has a specific significance to it. First: I will ascend into heaven. He was not satisfied with the very high position God had already given him as the guardian of God’s throne and with authority over the mineral Garden of Eden. He desired a higher position, a higher estate than he already had. There was no higher position than God’s own Throne” (Footsteps of the Messiah, p. 548,551).
That idea leads me to my second theological idea that I pose again in a question format. Could it not be that Satan, who had been assigned to the earth as the authority over it in its original form, wanted to undo the next people who were set there to rule over it after his judgment and fall? If Satan wanted to destroy the human race what better way than to introduce into the minds of the first parents the idea that our bodies are bad and to be shunned or hid? Might Satan have hoped that upon Adam’s eating of the fruit that not only would they die but if they rejected sexual pleasures as bad and evil that this might have been a way to rid the earth of humans, subvert God’s plan, and possibly for him to regain control of his ruling position over it? Or what if Satan believed that at the least by leading them into sin that he knew that such sin would dilute the power and progress of humanity because if they were to take dominion over the earth, as instructed by God and most likely known to Satan as well, the Gnostic idea, a natural byproduct of sinful reasoning, would be a great way to spoil the efforts of man to do this through reproduction?
It seems that the Bible scholar Erich Sauer has reasoned in a similar way. He sees that Satan was set to be the ruler over the earth, yet he lost that position due to his sin. Then God established another ruler over the earth. This new ruler was to be mankind. What was ruined by Satan was to be restored by Adam and his progeny As Sauer stated, “God chose man as the being for His Work of deliverance . . . . He is the instrument chosen by God for His mighty work of winning back part of his universal kingdom” (The King of the Earth: The Nobility of Man According to the Bible and Science, p. 74). This may shed light onto the statement by Peter where he said “your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
It seems logical and reasonable to me that Satan hates mankind because mankind stands in a position that he once had. Also, it seems likely that he knows the power or nature of sin all too well. It appears that our first parents may have evidenced their fall into spiritual and moral depravity by their first action in hiding themselves from each other. With no other human around, with them already being in a coalescent relationship established directly by God himself, why would they hide their bodies from each other unless they were ashamed of their own bodies due to the ravage corruption of the mind that immediately resonated in their heart and mind as soon as Adam disobeyed God?
It seems likely to me that the immediate reality of depravity evidenced itself in a mindset that was at least either questioning or outright rejecting the goodness of God’s creation. Though I admit without reservation that this is likely a new thought, and one that I’m sure might lead others to more questions than I or a host of other Biblicists might be able to answer by simply scurrying off to our libraries for an afternoon of coffee and research, I do believe there is something to be gleaned by this observation.
The ideology that our bodies and the pleasures of the body are evil seems to be a frontal attack against God as well as mankind by the evil one. Sin and the evil forces of hell seem to want to make man believe that his power to love through the use of his or her body for God’s purposes of subduing creation under a godly sphere of rule is something to be ashamed of and hidden. And when contemplating that ideology with due consideration to the modern teachings concerning sex, love, and marriage by many in the ecclesiastical circles it makes me think that the same shame that Adam and Eve experienced over their own genitalia is still ever so present in the modern ministerial circles of our day.
Dr. K.R. Allen