Friday, November 24, 2006

A Blogosphere-wide Word of Gratitude to Les Puryear

In a spirit of thanksgiving, I want to extend a word of heartfelt gratitude to Les Puryear over at Crucified with Christ. Earlier this week, I proposed that he host a discussion on homosexuality after he had posted briefly on a resolution offered by the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and their stance on the issue in light of current events. The argument defending homosexuality as permissive based on genetic predisposition has always intrigued me. Moreover, I have been evaluating holding a more Reformed theology, and from a Calvinist perspective I felt it would be a worthwhile discussion.

Les was amenable, and so he made an initial post and off we went. He served as an able moderator as he, Debbie Kaufmann, Big Daddy Weave, volfan007, Streak, and I exchanged volleys. There are at last count, 76 comments in the thread, and we finally had to call it quits (or at least I did).

I think we all agreed that homosexuality is a morally impermissible lifestyle and that it is not genetically predisposed. However, there was a fairly vehement argument regarding our understandings of God's sovereignty, and Les proved an able defender of "evangelical Calvinism," as he calls it.

As always in threads that length, there were concerns that went without address, questions unanswered, arguments poorly presented, (mostly mine), and interpretations questioned (to put it mildly). The debate was spirited and was not without apologies shared. With as many different viewpoints as were represented, you would know there would have to be!

Once again, Les, thanks. You are as I've said before, top drawer in my book. May you be especially blessed and may your ministry grow into its fullness, a blessing unto our great God and heavenly Father, to the praise and glory of His only begotten Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sincerely,
Tony

6 comments:

Writer said...

Tony,

Thank you for your more than kind words. I respect you and value your opinions greatly. My arguments for the Doctrines of Grace (5-point Calvinism) were probably pretty feeble as there are more able people than me to provide more persuasive explanations of this theology. Tom Ascol, Gene Bridges, and James White are few that come to mind on the blogosphere.

I appreciate your suggestion of the topic and I enjoyed the discussion. It is my heart's desire to continue our discussion over a cup of coffee in the near future.

May God richly bless you as you continue to serve Him.

Many regards,

Les

Tony said...

Les,

Thank you equally for you patience. You were longsuffering and kind; I don't think my nerves could handle 76 comments.

And I'm buying!

Blessings,
Tony

Streak said...

Well, we didn't ALL agree, but your point is well taken.

Tony said...

Streak,

Once again, I stand corrected by you. I really wish you would stop doing that. A guy can't get away with anything with you around. ;-)

Maybe I am wrong, but I thought that you said that homosexuality was a sin; I equivocated your response to mean also that you believed it was not gnetically predisposed.

Apologies,
Tony

Streak said...

No worries, and I didn't really mean to be a stickler, but I am not convinced being homosexuality is a sin. Perhaps I wasn't always clear. :)

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