Journal: Journal of Ministry and Theology
Volume: JMAT 25:1 (Spring 2021)
Article: Keeping It Classical: A Christian Response To LGBTQ+ Ideology
Author: Mike Dellaperute

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Keeping It Classical: A Christian Response To LGBTQ+ Ideology

Mike Dellaperute

Key Words: LGBTQ+, GLAAD, IRBPN+, WPATH, gender dysphoria

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Introduction

In a 2011 Barna research article entitled “Six Reasons Young Christians Leave the Church,”2 the authors identify reason three as, “Churches come across as antagonistic to science.”3 Four years later, Sarah Kropp Brown, writing on behalf of the National Association of Evangelicals, confirmed these findings when she observed, “Evangelicals are more than twice as likely as the general public (29 percent vs. 14 percent) to say that science and religion are in conflict and that they are on the side of religion.”4 The anti-science bias of evangelical Christians when addressing cultural issues coincides with the rise in popularity of presuppositional apologetics,5 defined by Boa and Bowman as grounding “reason and fact on the truth of the Christian faith, rather than trying to prove or defend the faith on

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the basis of reason or fact.”6 The tendency to dismiss evidence from science or reason when it appears to conflict with Scripture or personal experience has resulted in a clichéd response to cultural issues, summarized by retired American Baptist minister and USA Today columnist Oliver Thomas, “The Bible says it … that settles it.”7 However, like many of his contemporaries, with regard to LGBTQ+ ideology Thomas is quick to add, “The church got it wrong.”8 To substantiate his support of LGBTQ+ behavior, Thomas attempts to demonstrate how both science and reason “contradict Scripture.”9 If dispensationalists discount science and reason when addressing Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) issues in the culture, the result will be a loss of credibility both with the next generation of believers who already look to the church with skepticism and with the remainder of the culture who embraces LGBTQ+ ideology.

The purpose of this article is to illustrate the value of a classical approach to apologetics when addressing SOGI issues in the culture. Boa and Bowman define classical apologetics as “logically coherent and supportable by sound arguments.”10This t...