Geoff W. Sutton Blog

Forgive us for    the ways we have wronged you, just as we also forgive      those who have wronged us.                                             Matthew 6:12 CEB One of the things I love about the weekends is the time to take a walk. The cross in the picture is at the Wesleyan church I often pass on my walk to another nearby church. It is fitting that there are seats surrounding the cross. We can sit together at the foot of the cross. The Lord’s prayer is not personal. It is a community prayer. It is a disciple’s prayer. The prayer is about US and WE and what WE have done. WE have wronged. And WE must also forgive. I am reminded that we live and work in community. When relationships are broken by savage words and deeds, forgiveness is the way to repair the damage. We are in this life project together. Our forgiveness is bound ...

Conversion,  Deconversion, Transformation Imagine working for a private security firm. You get a call to head off to a local park where there’s a protest. You’re armed and ready to take ‘em out. POW! Out of nowhere a truck slams into your SUV. The airbag busts you in the face. You fumble, slump in your seat, and discover you’re blind. Your plans have changed. You hear a voice. ZAPPED! You mumble, “omg.” And SHE says, “Yeah? I am here. So what are you up to?” And just like that your whole life has changed.  The prototype for conversion studies had been the conversion of the apostle Paul who was struck by God on his way to persecute Christians ( Acts 9 ). The sudden and dramatic change of life was studied by psychologists like William James who interviewed converts following the American revival meetings in the late 1800s. In preparing a lesson related to religious conversions (Chapter 8, Hood, Hill, & Spilka, 2010) I find the field is still lo...

Divorce Remarriage  &  Tension Alyce Conlon is divorced from her husband. And she has filed a wrongful-termination lawsuit against Intervarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF). According to the story reported by Sarah Pulliam Bailey of Religious News Service, the suit alleges the firing was because of her divorce. But two male colleagues kept their jobs as they went through divorce and remarriage. Pulliam documents the requirements of IVCF policy pertaining to Separation and Divorce. Two verses illustrate Old and New Testament statements about divorce, Malachi 2:16 and Matthew 19:9. FRED CLARK AND THE UGLY GAME Fred Clark weighed in on the news story with a post titled, The ugly little game of white evangelical divorce . Fred opines this case is about gender discrimination. Acknowledging that each case is different, Fred offers another opinion: “In the white evangelical church, there are good divorces and bad divorces.” The crucial issue becomes ...

THE SHOT HEARD  ROUND THE WORLD As I watched the retelling of the story of Malala Yousafzai on ABCs 20/20 , I felt bombarded by conflicting feelings of compassion, admiration, and anger. Fragments of thoughts quickly flowed along the lines of “How could anyone murder a little girl just because she wanted to go to school!” Cover Girl Malala is the current poster girl—a covered, cover girl— a living peace memorial representing the repression of girls and women everywhere.  We in the West are used to the in-your-face uncovered, bare-bodied, how-dare-you tread on me outrage of Western women. But Malala evokes a different response. She’s the child who deserves to be protected. She’s the modest teen who covers. She’s the forgiving one who seeks no revenge. Faith Malala is a girl with faith in God. Malala offers a message of love, peace, and forgiveness. “Even if there was a gun in my hand and he was standing in front of me, I would not shoot him. This ...

Solemn Sodom Words of Rape and Sexual Abuse and the Psychology of Disgust Lessons from Sodom “I am gay.” An anonymous professor expressed the difficulty he experienced as a gay man working at an American Christian University in an Inside Higher Education essay . I and several friends received a link to the essay in an email. One friend asked the sender to cease using the word sodomite to refer to gay men because it is offensive. The sender asked: “If this term is hateful or bigoted then I can assume that when it is used in God's word, it is considered as hateful or bigoted?” Cite this post Sutton, G. W. (2013/2025). Solemn Sodom words of rape and sexual abuse and the psychology of disgust.  https://geoffwsutton.blogspot.com/2013/10/solemn-sodom-words.html Who is a Sodomite? Just wondering… I turned to an American dictionary to check on current usage. Sure enough, sodomite is still a word used in the traditional way: “a person who has anal sex with another per...

FUNDAMENTALISTS: WHO ARE THEY? Recently I overheard four faculty members from a conservative American Christian school discussing creationism and the age of the earth. One person was impressed with the presentation at the Creation Museum in Kentucky. "I teach the Bible," she said. As I listened to them talk I assumed they took a literal view of scripture, held ultra conservative social values, and were quick to support military solutions when national interests were threatened. Was I right? Zorrse Zonkey Creation Museum / G Sutton 2015 American fundamentalism has been associated with the beliefs of Protestant Christians who reacted against social trends toward higher biblical criticism and evolution. The fundamentalist leaders developed a list of fundamental truths: 1. Authority of the Bible; 2. Virgin birth of Jesus; 3. Substitutionary atonement for sin; 4. Resurrection of Jesus; 5. Miracles; 6. Millennialism. Behavioral scientists began looking for...