Barry Duke, the Angry Atheist

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1. 

   As someone who produced dozens of nativity plays as a teacher and a Sunday School leader, that title ‘A Gay…

2. 

   The defence of a Christian view never seems to be settled by debate: exchange of facts, reference to historical events.…

3. 

   But …… Rwanda is a safe place: Parliament says so.https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2024/8/contentsSafety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024 S 2 Safety…

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   Religion can survive only on the most unquestionable assumptions. The statements made on Sundays on the BBC as if they…

5. 

   Yes, if I’ve got anything remotely like a phobia, as an ex-fundy, its bibles, churches, tracts etc. I like to…

JOSHUA Butler’s woes began even before the April publication of Beautiful Union, described as a “euphoric ode to the glories of ejaculation” by an angry Christian blogger.

That description was provided by Beth Felker Jones, writing for Church Blogmatics in March after she read an excerpt of the soon-to-be-published book on a site called The Gospel Coalition (TGC).

Calling the book, published in April, “bad theology” she said the except:

Wants us to imagine the analogy between husbands and Jesus as explicitly about genitals, semen, and biological reproduction.

Two things followed Jones’ complaint:

First TGC, which is tied up with The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics, removed it and replaced it with an apology, which reads in part:

To our fellows and our readers, please forgive us. The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics is a new effort by TGC, and we are still learning how to work with our directors and our fellows to produce content that will serve our readers in a way that is trusted and wise.

To ensure greater accountability with our fellows, we will develop better review systems for our work together. We will also review our publication processes more broadly at TGC and develop plans to ensure greater accountability to you, our readers.

It also said it accepted Josh’s resignation as a Keller Center fellow. However:

Josh remains a beloved brother and friend whom we respect and care deeply about.

Second it was reported yesterday (Wednesday) by Religion News that Butler had resigned from the Redemption Church.

Bob Smietana, writing for RN, said that Butler offered repeated descriptions of sexual intercourse “in spiritual terms”, most of them characterizing sex as a man bestowing a holy gift to a woman and comparing that to the relationship of Jesus and the church.

Here’s an example:

She gladly receives the warmth of his presence and accepts the sacrificial offering he bestows upon the altar within her Most Holy Place. Similarly, the church embraces Christ in salvation, celebrating his arrival with joy and delight.

Butler’s writing, said Smietana, contained not only bad theology but an oversexed view of religion centered on male pleasure.

In his church resignation letter, posted on Twitter, Butler said:

The toll of this controversy on many of our staff and leaders this month has been intense.

Butler and other elders at the church decided it would be best for him to step down.

But he continues to promote the book on his website, publishing another article related to the book, titled “The Ethics of Contraception”, that hasn’t gone down too well either.

Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay

Butler wrote:

Contraception interrupts the full consummation of ‘one flesh’ union. A condom dams up the ‘river of life,’ preventing its life-giving waters from reaching the opposite shore. With a diaphragm, a barrier is placed at the most intimate point of contact, preventing a full reception of the gift within the generative holy space of the womb.

He also argued that some popular forms of birth control are actually abortive, not contraceptive.

Contraception means, literally, ‘preventing conception’: keeping the sperm from fertilizing the egg. Yet IUDs, the morning after pill, some hormonal technologies. and arguably some forms of the Pill, can work after conception has already taken place, preventing an already-fertilized egg from successfully implanting in the womb. In the words of the Christian Medical Fellowship, this is ‘nothing less than an early abortion.’

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If you spot any typos in this report please notify me at freethinkered@aol.com