Monthly Archives: December 1998

Homosexuality is a choice

Life

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Not so long ago, we looked at how homosexuality has become ‘normalized’ in modern Western society (‘How we went gay’, Briefing #221/2). We closed with a promise to return to the issue, and in the following article we begin to do so. Andrew Lansdown looks further at the changing face of the gay movement. In particular, he shows that all the current talk of the gay gene, and being ‘born gay’, was rejected by the generation of gay activists who led the charge in the 70s and 80s.

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The New Perspective in action

Thought

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All Christian teaching has implications for Christian living. Likewise all doctrine works itself out, one way or another, into a pattern of Christian practice. Having examined the ‘New Perspective’ on justification in the two previous Briefings (#228, #229),1 in this article, we want to explore the ‘cash value’ of the ‘New Perspective’ on justification—that is, its impact on Christian experience and ministry. Once again, we will focus our attention on the teaching of Tom Wright— partly because of the significance of the challenge he poses and partly because he (more than others) has taken the time to articulate what he sees as the practical outworkings of the ‘New Perspective’ on justification.

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Wright up close

Thought

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In our last issue, we looked at the way in which the rise of ‘the New Perspective on Paul’ has led to a radical rethinking of the doctrine of justification; one that is at odds with the traditional evangelical understanding inherited from the Reformation. Perhaps the most vocal and best known proponent of this ‘New Perspective’ is Tom Wright, who has already been introduced. This article seeks to show that the ‘New Perspective’ (generally) and Tom Wright’s position (particularly) are far less Scriptural than the traditional evangelical understanding of justification.

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