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Showing posts with the label Karen R. Keen

Karen Keen on Scripture and Same-Sex Relationships

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Sean McDowell  responding to K.R.Keen's Book My thanks to Karen Keen for responding so thoughtfully to my review of her recent book . I appreciate both her content and tone. Essentially, she claims that I fail to address her core argument: “McDowell’s response largely avoids the key arguments in my book.” That may be the case, but I chose this approach for two reasons. First, scholars have previously addressed many of her claims. [1] Second, Keen rightly notes that “The crux of the current debate is gender and anatomical complementarity.”  Are gender differences necessary for properly defining marriage, or is it “secondary,” as Keen claims? If gender differences are essential for the marital union, then the rest of her arguments are interesting but irrelevant (celibacy requirement, deliberative process, etc.). If gender is secondary (i.e., not foundational or definitional in marriage), as she claims, then there may be a Scriptural warrant for allowing same-sex unions in s...

Book Review: Scripture, Ethics & The Possibility of Same-Sex Relationships

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Karen R. Keen has written the most recent book making the case that the Bible supports same-sex relationships: Scripture, Ethics & The Possibility of Same-Sex Relationships (Eerdmans, 2018). Overall, this book makes similar arguments as found in books by James Brownson , Matthew Vines , and David Gushee . Yet, there are a few fresh contributions as well. Let’s begin by considering a few positive aspects of the book. First, in chapters 4 and 5, Keen carefully lays out her hermeneutical approach for drawing ethical conclusions from Scripture. It is immensely helpful to see the hermeneutical process that enables her to conclude that the Bible supports same-sex relationships. I wish more authors on all sides of the debate would be so clear. Second, for the most part, she accurately represents conservative views and arguments regarding same-sex unions. I was pleasantly surprised to see how carefully she articulates four “traditional arguments” for natural marriage (p. 26-30). Regardl...