Geoff W. Sutton Blog

Feeding Children in South Africa WORLD  VISION, MORALITY        & RIGHTEOUS MINDS World Vision made waves earlier in the week when they announced plans to hire same-sex married couples. Multiple news sources carried stories and blog posts were filled with comments from irate donors. To be sure, there were supportive comments as well. After a few days, World Vision announced a change of heart . They issued an apology to their upset supporters. And reversed their policy . The wide variety of remarks offers a trove of data to illustrate how people focus on different aspects of a situation when reaching a moral decision. In this post I will draw on the work of Jonathan Haidt and his colleagues to frame the six dimensions of morality. QUICK THINKING MORALITY First, several researchers have written about how the mind works when thinking about anything—including morality. One of the best summaries of thinking is the book by Daniel ...

LOVE     and Pentecostal-   Charismatic Spirituality I was intrigued by the writings of researchers who are exploring what they call the Science of Godly Love. A Templeton Foundation Report from last year (2013) featured some findings by researchers Matthew T. Lee, Margaret M. Poloma, and Stephen G. Post. Here are some quotes from the report: Ø   Almost half of all Americans feel God’s love at least once a day Ø   Eight out of ten have this experience at least once in a while. Ø   A similar number have felt God’s love prompting their compassion for others at least occasionally, with almost a third feeling this compassion daily or more often. Ø   Millions of Americans frequently experience divine love and for them this sense of God’s love not only enhances existential well-being, but underlies a sense of personal meaning and purpose and enlivens compassion for others…(Matthew T. Lee) An interesting phrase is what the...

LOVE  &  ATTACHMENT    TO  GOD Nobody comforts a crying baby like mom or dad. Infants, toddlers, and small children desperately seek human comfort when any distress comes along. And parents naturally cradle and cuddle their little ones. Usually the child is soothed and able to venture forth—as long as mom or dad remains nearby. LOVING GOD Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (Mark 12:30: NIV) What does it mean to love God? Jesus summary of the law, often reduced to “love God and love your neighbor,” may seem trite. But the short quotation has been unpacked by many Christian clergy and teachers who offer suggestions focused on a deep commitment to God and all of humanity—especially when combined with examples from the life of Jesus. LOVING AND ATTACHING Psychologists have studied the loving and caring relationship between parents and childre...

SEX   in   the  BIBLE  A few decades ago, discussions about biblical perspectives on sexuality were few and far between—at least as far as popular books are concerned. Mark and Grace Driscoll authored a New York Times best seller, Real Marriage , which contains frank discussions about sex from a conservative American Evangelical perspective. A 7 March 2014 report by Christianity Today , describes its rise to become a best seller as controversial. Religious scholars (e.g., Michael Coogan, Jennifer Knust, Teresa Hornsby) have also produced recent works offering alternatives to conservative perspectives on the Bible’s sex texts. In this post I look at some of the biblical euphemisms for sex and note some reasons why people reach different conclusions about the Bible and sex. TRANSLATION PLEASE Some Christians take pride in doing personal Bible study and trusting God to guide them into truth. Insights are often shared in study groups. But which ...