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by John P. Nordin (Author)
The church's debates over homosexuality are typically not very productive or edifying. Advocates and opponents too often "talk past" each other and too often everyone winds up angrier than when they began. Despite this history, churches seem unable to try anything different, and the same arguments get repeated, with the same unhelpful result. The debate in the churches has usually been a debate using special pleading rather than universal principles, using secular arguments rather than religious ones and using fundamentalist religious arguments rather than more orthodox religious arguments. A new beginning comes from taking seriously the full scope of what the Bible really has to say about sin. This essay demonstrates why that study is necessary, and shows that the Bible's definition of sin cannot require a blanket rejection of homosexual life. The church needs to change its mind.
Author Biography
John Nordin grew up in Kansas. He received a Ph.D. in Transportation Systems from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has worked in air pollution modeling, taught computer science at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, served as a Lutheran pastor in the ELCA, led technology projects and now teaches at the University of Minnesota in the Communication Studies department. He has published a hymnal, articles on Iranian politics, poetry, theological articles and technical material. A textbook on argumentation will be published in 2013.
