The Literate Pastor

Reading the Bible literately, not (always) literally.

[The Literate Pastor @LiteratePastor]

"The message we received growing up in church was something like: 'Porn is bad because SEX is bad.'" The church needs a deeper conversation around porn if it is to address the exploitation, dehumanization, racism, etc. that are attendant in porn use. https://t.co/k0Y5dWwC8b

[The Literate Pastor @LiteratePastor]

"Without the transcendent, the bible is just a manifesto, an instruction manual. If that’s all it is, then we are surely lost because we are not robots." - From "Eastern Orthodoxy Dialogue 3," on the blog. https://t.co/6b96mlKgi6

[The Literate Pastor @LiteratePastor]

"And despite being married and sex now being 'allowed' or 'good' to enjoy, they couldn’t just reverse their purity movement conditioning and as a result their bodies were physically unable to relax enough to have sex."
https://t.co/k0Y5dWwC8b

[The Literate Pastor @LiteratePastor]

"Maybe churches sometimes gave this idea lip service, but they didn’t give young men the tools for a sophisticated conversation around healthy and unhealthy sexuality. " New post on the blog. https://t.co/k0Y5dWwC8b

[The Literate Pastor @LiteratePastor]

Five centuries after the Reformation, Western Christians are still suspicious of the church, perhaps rightly so.
So we load the full burden of truth onto the Bible. And the Bible isn’t meant to function that way. https://t.co/6b96mlKgi6

[The Literate Pastor @LiteratePastor]

"Many of the earliest church fathers commented on the book of Genesis as an allegory. It was pretty much a given for them that this book was not to be taken literally." - from my new post, "Eastern Orthodoxy Dialogue 3," on the blog. https://t.co/6b96mlKgi6

[The Literate Pastor @LiteratePastor]

NEW BLOG POST
In the 1990s and early 2000s, an Evangelical movement arose called the purity movement. The goal was to protect teens' sexual innocence.
Abstinence pledges were signed. Accountability groups were formed.
And a lot of damage was done.
https://t.co/DeerdZEtV6

[The Literate Pastor @LiteratePastor]

The schema of "biblical manhood and womanhood" risks of closing off both genders to helpful dimensions of human existence. That approach can prove costly - and I think for many people, it already has. https://t.co/Uk3ow9MswJ

[The Literate Pastor @LiteratePastor]

NEW POST
The Eastern church isn't obsessed with the Bible's factuality like the Western Protestant church is. What happened?
And is the Bible perhaps more concerned with Truth than truth?
"Eastern Orthodoxy Dialogue 3"
https://t.co/6b96mlKgi6

[The Literate Pastor @LiteratePastor]

NEW POST: Eastern Orthodoxy Dialogue 3 https://t.co/szvixYcgvb

[The Literate Pastor @LiteratePastor]

Sometimes the church is the place that most highlights the differences between genders. Are we doing people a disservice by restricting the scope of behaviours and roles for each gender? https://t.co/Uk3ow9MswJ

[The Literate Pastor @LiteratePastor]

"What I learned growing up within Canadian Evangelicalism was that men and women are different - not just biologically, but in their essence."
This and more in my new post, "Remasculate Dialogue 1: Gender in Church"
https://t.co/Uk3ow9MswJ

[The Literate Pastor @LiteratePastor]

The "men are from mars, women are from venus" trope is still alive and well in the church. We play it for a laugh. We reinforce ancient patriarchal approaches. And in doing so, we place undue restrictions on human existence for both genders.https://t.co/Uk3ow9MswJ

[The Literate Pastor @LiteratePastor]

NEW POST
"I witnessed Christians wondering if the church had become too feminized..."
The Evangelical church needs a more sophisticated conversation around masculinity and femininity. Brendan from Remasculate has some ideas. https://t.co/Uk3ow9MswJ

[The Literate Pastor @LiteratePastor]

NEW POST: Remasculate Dialogue 1: Gender in Church https://t.co/Ouwnk3xkas

[The Literate Pastor @LiteratePastor]

Current audiobook. Really, really good so far. Grapples with the Bible’s humanity, antiquity, culturally conditioned elements, etc. But does so with a care and respect beyond what I’ve seen in other similar… https://t.co/MBoGk3uFOY

[The Literate Pastor @LiteratePastor]

Sat down with @rethinkmasculin talking about masculinity in the church and he dropped BOMBS. Collab is coming and it’s going to be good.

His distinction between toxic masculinity and restrictive masculinity was… https://t.co/0DAcsPUkXE

[The Literate Pastor @LiteratePastor]

Sitting down today to start a collab with a friend who researches the formation of masculinity in students. We’re going to talk about the ways that church contributes to unhealthy masculinity, and how we can do… https://t.co/OheCDAZn7n

[The Literate Pastor @LiteratePastor]

A top three book for me is "The Lost World of Genesis One" by John Walton. Genesis is about FUNCTIONAL creation, not MATERIAL creation! Genesis is an Ancient Near Eastern temple narrative!
These, and more incredible insights.
https://t.co/btaOrloH1S

[The Literate Pastor @LiteratePastor]

It turns out when we get better at context and let the Bible speak on its own terms, some tensions disappear.
What a shame it would be for people to miss out on faith because of a misreading of the Bible. Let's read the whole Bible better.
https://t.co/btaOrloH1S