SPRING 2004 T H E T I E V O L U M E 7 2, N U M B E R 1 SOUTHERN SEMINARY Biblical Sexuality PRESIDENT’S JOURNAL Recovering moral clarity in a world of sexual confusion The modern world is in a headlong rush to As the late Christopher Lasch noted, “The contemporary cli- mate is therapeutic, not religious. People today hunger not for bury the remnants of the Christian conscience. personal salvation . but for the feeling, the momentary illu- sion, of personal well-being, health, and psychic security.” That The post-Christian character of contempo- is, people want a feel-good morality that affirms them as basi- cally good, excuses their immoral acts as “indiscretions,” and rary western culture is most clearly evident in confirms their basic assumption that right and wrong are mere matters of opinion. the rejection of biblical ethics in favor of moral This basic shift in the moral foundation of the society explains why a moral recovery will not be easily or quickly relativism. Most persons believe that accomplished. The moral revolution has been underway for decades now, and most living Ameri- morality is simply up for grabs — cans have been drinking deeply from the poisoned wells of secular moral reasoning. No God, no fear, especially when it comes to sex. no judgment — no problem. We must honestly face the fact that this post- In the midst of this moral confusion, our Chris- Christian morality is deeply rooted in a subtle tian task is to recover a biblical moral grounding, to form of atheism. Though most Americans habit- live like redeemed people, and to help a fragment- ually claim a belief in God, and even some form ing society pick up the pieces. of Christian identity, Americans order their lives The first task is biblical recovery. Too many as if God does not exist. Otherwise, we would Christians live out of the world’s moral wisdom, be required to care what God thinks, obey what rather that the wisdom of God as revealed in the God commands, and submit to His authority Scriptures. The Bible presents us with a moral — or fear and face the consequences. It seems framework embedded in the Gospel, and directs that millions of Americans claim to believe in a our lives to an obedience that glorifies God and god they do not fear. leads to true human happiness. There is precious little fear of God evident Second, we must live before the watching world in modern life. Biblical morality is dismissed as antiquarian, like redeemed people, demonstrating the joyful and liberat- repressive, and intolerant. Of course, the only way to be under- ing freedom of living under God’s rule by grace. Our churches stood as contemporary, progressive, and tolerant in this culture must be seen as communities of believers growing in grace--liv- is to forfeit any claim to know what is right or wrong. ing out the moral authenticity of the Christian life. Simon Blackburn, professor of philosophy at the Univer- Third, we must help a fragmenting and hurting society to sity of Cambridge, celebrates the death of God as the source pick up the pieces. Love of neighbor compels us to seek the of human liberation. The disappearance of God, he says, is by good of others, even when they will not seek it for themselves. no means a threat to ethics. “It is a necessary clearing of the Christians are sinners saved by grace. By grace, we can help ground, on the way to revealing ethics for what it really is.” others to find moral sanity on the other side of confusion and What it really is, according to Blackburn, is a negotiated moral- rebellion. ity and a human search for meaning. What ethics is not, he The same-sex marriage issue presents the Church with a would explain, is a studied consideration of what the Creator challenge of monumental significance. We must rebuild and expects of His creatures. sustain a moral context and an entire worldview in which a Without God, Blackburn instructs, we must make our own defense of marriage makes sense — a world in which same-sex laws. This argument is the central thesis of the modern moral marriage would be literally unthinkable. revolt. With Friedrich Nietzsche, modern philosophy declared Our task is the Scriptural recovery of ethical courage and that God is dead. Since God does not exist, morality is noth- moral clarity. This is no small task in a world that doesn’t even ing more than a human construction. Since morality is our own know the difference between good and evil. Then again, we construction, we can deconstruct and reconstruct a morality don’t get to choose our own battles. more to our liking. We are our own judges, our own umpires, and our own gods. Nothing can be taken for granted. The moral revolutionaries have made great gains in the political sphere, in the schools, and in the courts. The media elite is largely committed to their cause, and the selfish individualism of our culture makes the R. Albert Mohler, Jr. nation a fertile ground for moral revolution. President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary CONTENTS F E A T U R E 2 Human sexuality and the Christian worldview: God’s glory and the gift of sex 2 By R. Albert Mohler, Jr. 6 The spiritual danger of boring sex: Recovering the mystery of Christian sexuality By Russell D. Moore 10 Passionate partnership: How to affair-proof your marriage By Hershael York 14 Profs/fathers focus on the family 10 By Kenneth Magnuson and Stephen J. Wellum D E P A R T M E N T S 20 Student Focus: Robert Cheong Cheong puts Christ at center of counseling 22 Faculty Focus: Robert Vogel Developing an army of expositors 24 Alumni Focus: Bill Mackey 20 A zeal for the Lord: Mackey’s passion for evangelism S O U T H E R N S E M I N A R Y N E W S The Southern Seminary Magazine (The TIE) (ISSN 00407232) is published four times a year by The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2825 Lexing- 27 Southern Seminary News ton Road, Louisville, KY 40280, 1-800-626-5525. Executive Editor: Lawrence A. Smith Editor: Peter Beck A L U M N I N E W S Associate Editor: Jeff Robinson Design Editor: Jared Hallal 35 News from the lives of Southern Seminary alumni Associate Design Editor: John Rogers Contributing Writers: Kenneth Magnuson, R. Albert Mohler, Jr., Russell D. Moore, R O L L C A L L Stephen Wellum, Hershael York Photography: David Merrifield 38 A list of the faithful supporters of Southern Seminary Proofreaders: Bryan Cribb, Erin Duke, Jamie Theobald Subscription information: To receive a free subscription to The Southern Semi- nary Magazine, to change your address or to cancel your subscription, you may Spring 2004. Vol. 72, No. 1. Copyright © 2004 The contact us in one of the following ways: Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Periodical postage paid at Louisville, KY. Postmaster: Send Online: www.sbts.edu/resources/ssmag.php address changes to: Public Relations, 2825 Lex- Email: [email protected] Call:1-800-626-5525, ext. 4141 ington Road, Louisville, KY 40280, or e-mail us at Write: Public Relations, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary [email protected]. 2825 Lexington Road, Louisville, KY 40280 Under the lordship of Jesus Christ, the mission of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is to be totally committed to the Bible as the Word of God and to be a servant of the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention by training, educating, and preparing ministers of the gospel for more faithful service. Human sexuality and the Christian worldview: God’s glory and the gift of sex photodisc.com page 2 Spring 2004 | Southern Seminary Magazine Do Christians have an obsession with sex? That’s ditioning. The Bible argues otherwise. According to the Bible, the contrast and complementarity what the voices of sexual “liberation” would have between the man and the woman reveal that gender is part of the goodness of God’s creation. Modern efforts to redefine or us to think. According to the prevailing mythol- redesign gender are directly contrary to the Bible’s affirmation of maleness and femaleness as proper distinctions. God’s glory ogy of the secular left, Christians are hopelessly is seen in the maleness of the man and the femaleness of the woman. This pattern of distinction is affirmed and enforced by repressed and are constantly looking for new liturgical orders and restrictions on dress, hair length, etc. Any effort to confuse or deny gender differences is expressly forbid- sexual pleasures to oppose, or sexual “lifestyles” den and opposed by Scripture, especially as seen in Old Testa- ment legal codes. to condemn. Actually, Christianity represents the Given the reality of sin, human beings can and probably will misconstrue God’s intention. The biblical concepts of mascu- only worldview that knows what sex is all about, linity and femininity can be distorted and confused. Neverthe- less, a careful reading of the Scriptures reveals a consistent and and knows what is really at stake in the raging understandable pattern of difference between men and women — differences that are rooted in God’s intention for men to be controversies over sexuality. husbands and fathers, and God’s intention for women to be Committed to the Bible as the Word of God, Christians find wives and mothers. in the biblical text a comprehensive presentation of human sex- Throughout the Bible, a complementary pattern of relation uality that affirms the basic and undeniable between man and woman, particularly within goodness of sex, but insistently points to The Christian cannot the institution of marriage, is presented as marriage as the arena for all sexual expres- the divine intention.