Anti Virginity Christian Blogger Tim Challies Now Writes: ’31 Days of Purity: My Identity’ – What?
This is rich. I just learned about a new Tim Challies post via Twitter, a post where he is starting a new blog series where he discusses being sexually pure for 31 days.
I left this response below Challies’ post, the second one in the series (link to that post on the Challies blog page):
- LOL, is this a joke? Challies is the same guy who wrote an anti virginity editorial a few months ago, where he declared that “even fornicators are virgins now.” Which totally makes a mockery out of adults such as myself, who are literal virgins past the age of 40.
When you downgrade the importance of virginity to soothe the injured feelings of fornicators, who often claim these days of feeling ashamed or guilty when they hear sermons or read blogs esteeming sexual purity and virginity, you are inadvertently insulting adult Christians who are still virgins into their adulthoods.
First, some background to get you up to speed:
So, Challies is one of those Christians who runs around wanting Christians to downplay the concepts of -and biblical teachings concerning- virginity and sexual purity, because a lot of Christians today – especially emergents, ex-Christians, and post evangelicals – are running around on their blogs saying how horrible sexual purity teachings make them feel, because they fornicated in their teens or early twenties.
Such women want, and expect, the entire body of Christ to ignore, and stop talking about, sexual sin. They want Christians to stop teaching that sex prior to marriage is sinful.
Next thing you know, well-known emergent, liberal, and post-evangelical, feminist Christians bloggers took up the banner of this cause, going on and on about how teaching about virginity and denouncing pre-marital sex was harmful to women and should be stopped. Not too many months after, more conservative Christians – such as Tim Challies, Al Mohler, and others – took up that banner too.
Oh gosh golly, by writing this,
(Link): 31 Days of Purity: My Identity by Tim Challies,
isn’t Tim concerned that he may hurt and shame the feelings of men who have not been sexually pure?
And, if, based on Challies previous posts, all of us are virgins now, even the fornicators, what on earth possible difference does it make if a man engages in pre-marital sex (or views pornography), since, when he does, according to Challies, that man can just consider himself a virgin?
Here are a few excepts from
(Link): 31 Days of Purity: My Identity by Tim Challies
- March 02, 2014
by Tim Challies
Through the month of March, I am inviting you to 31 Days of Purity—thirty-one days of thinking about and praying for sexual purity. Each day features a short passage of Scripture, a reflection on that passage, and a brief prayer. Here is day two:
[snip (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) which mentions that fornicators shall not inherit the kingdom of God, etc]
As men we face the temptation to gain our deepest identity from our sexuality. For some, identity is found in sexual prowess while for others it is defined by sexual failures. The Corinthians, like us, suffered from identity confusion.
… [Challies then goes on to explain 1 Corinthians 6:9-11]
…. What Now? Consider joining our 31 Days of Purity Facebook group. It is optional, but you will find it a good place to go for discussion and encouragement. (Note: that Facebook group is for men only; here is one for Women Supporting Men)
I never prayed about sexual purity. I’m not sure if Challies is suggesting that men pray and ask God to keep them from caving in to sexual temptation.
You know how I resisted the urge to cave in and have pre-marital sex, and I’m still a virgin in my 40s (and I was engaged for a few years; I had the opportunity to have sex)? Here’s how: I made a choice not to have pre-marital sex, and I utilized self-discipline. That was all there was to it. I did not pray and ask God to keep me from sexually straying.
I’m not necessarily saying it’s wrong for a person to pray and ask God for help in this matter, only I don’t believe it’s necessary. I remained a virgin this long without praying about it.
By the way, if you are thinking that I have no sex drive or a low libido, you are incorrect about that.
If you assume God “gifted me” with celibacy, you are incorrect. God does not gift anyone with celibacy, or give them supernatural abilities to resist sex – for more information on that, please see posts such as…
Anyway, as the Challies post I am discussing in my post here is only “day two” of Challies 31 day blog series, there will be plenty more blog posts about sexual purity by Challies in the future.
I am just gob smacked. How Christians so often speak out of both sides of their mouth on these topics. They often claim to support sexual purity, celibacy, and virginity until marriage, but they don’t.
When they start writing op eds or blogs encouraging fornicators, they tend to downplay the importance of sexual purity and make sexual sin sound like it’s not a big deal at all. Take Challies’ earlier comment about fornicators in his previous post, where he wrote “we are all virgins now [even fornicators].”
To write that is to make the word “virgin” nonsensical. The word “virgin” loses its meaning when Christians redefine it to mean “fornicators included,” or to say it can and does refer to people who have fornicated previously but who are currently celibate (ie, “born again virgins” or “secondary virgins” or “spiritual virgins.”)
What they don’t seem to comprehend is that such lack of support for honest to God virginity – no penis has been in my vagina ever, and I am over age 40 – has in part caused me to give up on this.
I have changed my thinking and intend on having pre-marital sex when I resume dating.
I mean, really, what could Challies’ comeback be to that? He has no comeback, no response.
Challies could say, “Well, um, er, the Bible forbids pre-marital sex.” Well no kidding!
But does this not take us back to first base: I’ve been saying so all along, that God frowns on pre-marital sex and the Bible says pre-marital sex is a sin, but every time I do so, a guy like you, Challies, comes along and says, “But even if you have pre-marital sex and are a fornicator, you too are a virgin now; Jesus forgives you of your sexual sin, so let it go.”
With a rationale like that, I don’t see much of a downside or negative penalty to fornicating, unless you happen to hook up with an HIV- infected preacher who doesn’t tell you he’s HIV- infected (like this).
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Related posts, this blog:
(Link): No, Christians and Churches Do Not Idolize Virginity and Sexual Purity (they attack both concepts)
(Link): Christian Response FAIL to Sexual Sin – Easy Forgivism
(Link): The Christian and Non Christian Phenomenon of Virgin Shaming and Celibate Shaming
Christian Pundit 