Theology in the Raw - Bonus Q&A: Lust, Same-Sex weddings, Academic Complementarianism, Patriotism, and more

Episode Date: April 24, 2024

Welcome to a sneak peek of the Bonus Q&A episode, part of the Theology in the Raw premium subscription. In the full episode, we discuss: 0:00 Introduction 0:38 Thoughts on Christians and masturbation--is it always sinful or is there room for conversation? 5:35 What do you when the the God in the Bible isn't acting the way Jesus would? 12:15. What are your top 5 all-time books, any subject? 19:35 Best pastoral advice for same-sex married couple that recently accepted Jesus? 28:35 Is praying before a meal just tradition or is there warrant for this? 32:10 Jesus' teaching about love is often conditional, but God's love is unconditional. Can you explain this? 35:34 How do you handle sporting events where members of the military are honored? Stand and clap? Don't stand? 37:48 Is post mortem salvation or Christian universalism orthodox doctrines? 41:37 How can we pray for your ministry? 43:54 Are the stories of the lost sheep, the lost coin, prodigal son about newly saved believers, believers who have wandered away, or both? 45:38 Update on Alisa Childers and her discussions with Rosaria Butterfield and Christopher Yuan? 49:23 Do you see a difference between academic complementarianism and how it's lived out in a lot of churches? 52:21 What's the best steel man arguments for tithing being applicable today? 55:07 RAPID FIRE Support Theology in the Raw through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theologyintheraw

Hey friends, welcome back to another bonus episode of the all general. This is where I respond to as many questions as I can that have been sent in from my patron supporters, including what are my thoughts on Christians and masturbation? Why does he go out of the old Testament? Seemed to act differently than Jesus and the Bible. What are my top five books of all time? What is my response to a same sex married couple that ends up getting saved? What are my thoughts on illicit sex married couple that ends up getting saved? What are my thoughts on illicit shoulders and Chris you on's recent episode about me? What do I do when military personnel is honored at sporting events and more? And yeah, there's

so many other questions I'm going to address. This is just a small sampling. So if you want to get the full length episode of this bonus Q and a, you can go to patreon.com forward slash theology in the raw. That's patreon.com forward slash the all Jen raw.com. And you can support the show for as little as five bucks a month, get access to premium content, like the full length episode of this Q and a podcast, and also the ability to ask questions and many, many other perks. So let's dive into some of these questions. Okay. What are my thoughts on Christians and masturbation? Is it always sinful or is there room for conversation? I almost wanted to say there, I'm, you know, I'm pretty sure there's no room for conversation when you're masturbating, but I didn't go there. That's what first popped in my head. But I

do want to address this question. Cause I do think it's very important. Let me begin here. Here's where I began. And this may sound a little, Oh, I don't know, analytical or literal or whatever, but here's where my mind goes. I'm going to assume that people during biblical times were masturbating. I don't think we invented that in the last hundred years. Human nature is always kind of human nature. And so I'm going to assume this, the, the God was very aware that people were say struggling with this. And yet there is no verse in the Bible that addresses it head on. There's no verse in the Bible that says it's sin. Some people go to Genesis 38. It just 38 is not talking about masturbation,

but I do see that cited sometimes. So assuming that God was well aware that this was something that was going on. The fact that he never directly addresses it, let alone calls it sin makes me want to say, I don't think it's categorically sin to masturbate. Now, of course, people say, well, masturbation is always accompanied by lust, bad thoughts. And I'm going to say, if you are lusting, whether you are masturbating or not, then lust is, despite what some people think I believe, lust is always a sin. Lust is sin. You should repent from lust.

So if you have lust in your heart and your mind, if you're thinking of stuff that you shouldn't be thinking about, envisioning things you shouldn't be envisioning, then yeah, that's a sin that you need to repent from. I guess I just don't buy the assumption that masturbation categorically always is accompanied by lust. Other people argue from design that God clearly designed the sex act to be between two people. And as a Christian,

I'm going to say two people who are married, and I'm going to even add to people the opposite sex who are committed to each other for life, that the sex act is designed to take place within that context, and so masturbation would go against God's design. And people might even add, and I think this might be the teaching of the Catholic Church, I'm not 100% sure that because sex is designed for procreation, that that is at least one primary goal of sex between a male and female, that we should be open to procreation when we're engaging in a sex act. Therefore, that would rule out masturbation. I think that's not a bad argument. I think there's something there. Again, I would just kind of want to put that argument in conversation with the fact that what I said earlier, that it never is called sin in the Bible. And also, you know, the argument from design, typically people only have like male masturbation

in view when they argue, you know, like, you know, this is clearly designed for procreation and, you know, you're doing, when you're masturbating, you're doing something that should be for procreation. Typically, they're thinking, you know, like wasted semen or, you know, I guess it's just that. Yeah. Anyway, I think when we do discuss the, you know, whether masturbation is sin, I do think we need to make sure we are thinking of both male and female forms of it. So I'm going to say, no, I don't think it's sin because I don't think the Bible doesn't say it is. And, you know, I do want to add, obviously, if something is, you know, if anything is kind of a kind of, that is just an unhealthy addiction or habit, then that very well could be sin, but that would apply to many things. Eating, watching movies,

social media and so on and so forth. So, but yeah, that could be another thing to consider. You know, is this something that is, you know, dominating my life? Is this, is this an, can I just see that this is an unhealthy pattern? Then I would say that that would be another thing to consider. So, in short, no, I don't think in and of itself, aside from these other things like lust and addiction and everything, I don't think masturbation, I don't think the Bible says masturbation is a sin. Okay, next question. This comes from Joshua. What do you do when it seems like God in the Bible isn't acting the way Jesus would, like sending bears to kill people? I believe that's what it is, Second Kings, if I remember correctly, chapter two, I think, or maybe chapter one. Taking the firstborn of Egypt in the book of Exodus, et cetera, et cetera, help. Joshua says, help. There is some strange things in the Bible in the old Testament, like the sending of the bears

to kill people. And there's many others, you know, how about us reaching out and touching the arc of the covenant and being struck dead and how about why are certain? This is what troubles me. Like I can almost make theological sense of Uzzah touching the ark and, ooh, first Samuel, I think it's six, right? I can almost make sense of that. You know, this is God's holy presence and you're not supposed to touch it. You're commanded in the book of Numbers not to touch it. So, he violated the law, you know? So, I can make theological sense of that. But it's kind of like, well, it's not like everybody who does something sinful or violates God's holiness is just struck dead. Like people do stuff, simple stuff all the time. Like why is this person get eaten by bears and this person gets, you know, a slap on the

wrist. So yeah, there's, there's many difficult things in the old Testament, especially some difficult things in the new, the new Testament typically doesn't have as many of these kinds of like bears eating kids stories. You know, I would say here's what I would say. Well, first of all, I would say, I, yeah, I think there's some stuff in the old Testament. I'm still scratching my head over, head over like what's going on here. They didn't need to happen this way. You know, why bears, why not lions or, or the earth swallowing people, you know, alive in the book of numbers when they send, or the guy that picked up sticks in the Sabbath and gets stoned to death.

And it's like, golly, this seems kind of harsh. But then there's other times when people do bad stuff and think about David. I mean, David did lots of sinful things, some really sinful things. And he's still praised like in the book of Kings is like a man after God's own heart who walked according to the law and all these things. It's like, okay, sure. He confessed and repented, but he didn't get struck dead right away. Although his firstborn or the offspring is it, I don't know, his firstborn or the offspring that came about from the Basheba David affair. So here's, so yeah, there's, there's, I S I still have, like, I don't, I has, I still have some confusion over some of these stories. I can't make perfect sense

of them. It's just, they're there. And oftentimes there is a clear principle to draw from them. It's just, sometimes things don't always seem the most consistent to, to my mind. And we always have to have that qualification, right? Like we are still a faulty, frail, sinful human beings trying to make sense of this text. And if it doesn't make sense to us, I think we need to be cautious. Just jumping that the problem is in the text, not our inability to fully comprehend the text. I would say this, I want to add this to, I think Jesus is more like this kind of God of the old Testament than we sometimes, sometimes realize. I mean, sec. So let me read a couple of passages. Second Thessalonians chapter one says that

the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. That's for a second. That's the only is verse chapter one, verse seven, then verse eight. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out. Well, there's a translation difficulty here, but shut this one's just, I think it's NIV says shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day when he comes to be glorified of this people. Well, that sounds pretty, it's not, there's no bears here. You know, there's no one touching

the arc, but it's, it's pretty like pretty harsh Jesus. And this is Jesus like showing up with all these powerful angels and punishing with everlasting destruction. Those who disobey him, Matthew 13, he told several parables that have kind of a harsh ending in chapter Matthew 13 verse 41 says the son of man will send out his angels and they will weed out of his kingdom, everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Pretty harsh picture. Matthew 23, the whole chapter where he's just, he just like lays into the, what describes in the various sees, you know, and just like, I mean, he's like, you can just hear him like yelling at these people. So I think we do. And there's many

other passes we can bring in here. You know, Jesus is full of love and compassion and grace and reaches out to marginalized people and hangs out with centers and all these things in the new Testament, but he still is, is a Lord of judgment. Like it's not, it's not an either or it's not like, you know, the more compassionate he is, the less of a judge he is. Like it is a both and. And I would say on the flip side, God is more like this Jesus that you're, you know, this kind of part of your question here, that God is more like Jesus in the old Testament. And sometimes we recognize, I mean, the book of Hosea, um, where God's just relentless, unconditional love for his people is put on display. Ezekiel 16. Oh my word. Where God should not just

judge, but just obliterate sinful Israel because of how simple they are. And it says that in, you know, nevertheless, I will not forget you. Like the whole chapter is just a beautiful allegory of allegory of God's unconditional love and grace. Isaiah 40 to 66 is just, just documents God's passionate pursuit of people who are running from him. So I do think there's a lot more grace in the old Testament than we realize. A lot more judgment in the new Testament than sometimes we realize. And so while the pictures I still, so I, I still get it. I get your question. Like, yeah, at the end of the day, yes, still, you know, the God of the old Testament

feels still feels a little different than the, than Jesus of the new. But I think that difference is maybe smaller than many people appreciate. Once you really look at the whole picture. Okay. Next question. I'm not going to be able to answer that question. I'm not going to be able to answer that question. I'm not going to be able to answer that question. I'm not going to be able to answer that question. I'm not going to be able to answer that question. I'm not going to be able to answer that question. I'm not going to be able to answer that question.

I'm not going to be able to answer that question. I'm not going to be able to answer that question. I'm not going to be able to answer that question. I'm not going to be able to answer that question. I'm not going to be able to answer that question. I, I almost, I want to answer this question in terms of books that along my Christian journey made a significant impact in my life. So these books may or may not still be my top five that I go back to every single, you know, time I need to go back to

my top five books, you know, but there are books that made a significant impact in my life for various reasons at the time of that place in my journey. So the one that stands out the most, I mean, early on in my Christian journey is John Piper's desiring God. And I'm going to just sneak in another one here. John Piper, let the nations be glad. Those two books played a formative role in my life in the first few years of my Christian life, especially another one that I read back in I believe 1999, I know 2000, 2000, 2001 maybe was NT writes what St. Paul really said. I mean, I would not be where I am today. Had I not read that book and T right maids, I was already kind of designed to be like a Bible scholar, but NT, right? And then that

book in particular just made it exciting. Like I was going to just slug it out. Like just, okay, being a Bible scholar is just a boring, you just write boring stuff, you read boring books, and that's just the way it is. I'm like, okay, I actually like these boring books, you know, whatever. But that book just made, it made Paul excited, made the New Testament exciting, made scholarship exciting, his writing style, the stuff that he was unpacking that book was just mind blowing. You know, that was the first time it came across the whole like proclaiming Jesus as Lord meant Caesar is not. Kind of the Greco-Roma background of just first century gospel proclamation. NT Wright has just a beautiful, beautiful picture of that. It's really astounding.

Shortly after that book, NT Wright's Jesus and the Victory of God. It's really astounding. Um, shortly after that book, NT writes Jesus and the victory of God. Now this is his, one of his beefier books. I want to say it's five, 600 pages of dense small print scholarship, but again, it's NT, right? So it's, it's written extremely well and fluid. And I remember sitting on top of a water truck. So I used to work construction and I drove a water truck where in, in Fresno, California, where it's very hot and dusty in the summertime. And so I think they have laws when you're doing construction, you have to take, take a water truck and spray the dirt. So it doesn't just kick up so much dust when people are doing construction. So I would

drive this water truck all day. And what you do is every, you have to fill it up. I would say maybe three times an hour. So I'd work like 10 hours a day. So that's a lot of like times when you're just filling up the water truck and it usually takes about five or six minutes to fill it up. Now I, okay. I did something. I never told anybody this. I think my wife knows this. It's it's, you know, this is 25 years ago. So I can admit it now. I guess if you put on, if you, you filled the water truck by plugging it into the fire hydrant

and you open up the fire hydrant and it fills the water truck in about five, six minutes. Well, I would bring a book and in this case, NT writes what St. Paul or Jesus and victory of God. And I would sit on top of the water truck and read the book. Well, I found that like, you know, five minutes, man, you can read at that time. This book, I was probably reading like a page and a half, but that, you know, three times an hour that adds up. But then I said, wait a minute, what if I just don't open up the valve all the way? So it opened up like halfway. So I'd sit there for like, you know, take like maybe 10 or 12 minutes to fill the water truck. I would sit on top of the water truck in the 110 degree weather. And then I can get through like maybe like three pages of Jesus and the victory of God. Well, that's, you know, that's

about 10 pages an hour, 10 hours a day. That's a hundred pages. I blew through that book in a week and a week during work. Well, yeah. So during my, you know, moments filling up the water truck, anyway, you didn't ask about that. But yeah, I just remember sitting there at the end of that week and just like, I will never read the gospel is the same. This is just unbelievable. Years later, another book that had a serious impact in my life. The autobiography of Malcolm X as told by Alex Haley blew my mind, changed my whole perspective on the race conversation highly. If you've not read that book, it's one of the top books of the 20th century. So I know hopefully you've read it, but if not stop this podcast, go to Amazon, order

it. It is absolutely incredible. And then I would say Jonathan Heights, the righteous mine was really impactful in terms of like just helping me understand how people, why people believe what they do and why they disagree on this and or believe this and don't believe that. And like, it just, yeah, it's, I think every pastor needs to read Jonathan Heights, the righteous mind. It is one of those pastorally relevant books I've ever read. And he's a, but he's a Jewish atheist, not a believer. But there was so I remember writing the margins of that book, like almost every other page, like, you know, this is relevant for pastors, relevant for pastors, pastoral application to put little stars, you know, I'm like, this is just so

helpful. Now I don't have any non-fiction or fiction books on here. So let me just at least mention a couple. I know you asked for five're going to be able to read it. I'm not sure if you're going to be able to read it. I'm not sure if you're going to be able to read it. I'm not sure if you're going to be able to read it. I'm not sure if you're going to be able to read it. I'm not sure if you're going to be able to read it. I'm not sure if you're going to be able to read it. I'm not sure if you're going to be able to read it. I'm not sure if you're going to be able to read it. I'm not sure if you're going to be able to read it. I'm not sure if you're going to be able to read it. I'm not sure if you're going to be able to read it. I'm not sure if you're going to be able to read it. I'm not sure if you're going to be able to read it. I'm Tom Velasco. We use it every single year. He's right. Like 12 times. And, and, you know, I hope that I don't offend him with this, but yeah, there, you know, there's chunks

to the book. They're just, I'm just, you're slugging your way to get through it. So I, I don't know if I just sit here and like, ah, I just need a joyful, happy read, you know, like your typical fiction book, whatever. And you'd, you know, open up brothers, carry was off, but there, there was just some depth and meaningfulness there that I just so, so enjoyed Laura Hildebrand's unbroken. I guess that's not, that's, cry easily at all. Unfortunately. I don't say that to my, I say that to my shit. I'm not a fan of that. I'm not a fan of that. I'm not a fan of that. I'm not a fan of that. I'm not a fan of that. I'm not a fan of that. I'm not a fan of that. I'm not a fan of that. I'm not a fan of that. I'm not a fan of that. I'm not a fan of that.

I'm not a fan of that. I'm not a fan of that. I'm not a fan of that. I'm not a fan of that. I'm not a fan of that. I'm not a fan of only book I, I think I cried in. I'm not, I don't cry easily at all. Unfortunately. I don't say that to my, I say that to my shame, but I remember on the verge of just Bali and on an airplane when I finished the road is such a powerful book. So anyway, next question, what is the best pastoral advice for a same sex married couple that recently trusted Jesus as their savior? Do they divorce or, or is there something else they do? It should do. What about if kids are involved? I get this question every time I go speak on this topic. And you know, my, my, my first response is what are their names? And hopefully you know

what I'm doing there. This is, this is just, it's, it's an abstract question, but this is a very per but it's dealing with deeply personal issues. And so genuinely, like I would, if a church says, Hey, we have a same sex couple, you know, they, they, they they're married, they've been coming to church and they just came forward and, and, and got saved. They want to be baptized. You know, I would generally say I would, I would ask the past or tell me about them. Like what are their names? How, you know, what are their likes and dislikes? What are their, who are they? Like I would need to really, really get to know the people here. So I don't just give some, some, some plastic abstract response

to a situation that's anything but abstract and plastic plastic. Does that make sense? You know what I mean? I'm still recovering from the conference. So my mind is still a little mushy. What are their names? What are their stories? Tell me about the encounter they had with Jesus. So here I don't, I don't, I really would with anybody. This isn't just in this situation, but when somebody comes to Christ, when they get converted, when they want to be baptized, when they want to join the church or whatever, like I just, is this like, what kind of conversion is going on here? Is it a conversion to a church community that they like? Like, man, these people are really awesome people. They're

moral. I want to, my kids will be raised in a moral environment. That's awesome. That's great. Good. Well done church, you know? or is it like I had an encounter with the risen Lord of the universe. This, this Jewish man whom I've never seen before, I believe walked out of a grave 2000 years ago and now reigns at the right hand of God, the father over the universe and bids me to come die with him. That that's like who, who believes that that's insane. That's crazy to believe that is a, that is like people say, you know, every convergence of miracle. It kind of is like to say like 2000 years ago, this Jewish Messiah walked out of a grave and And I believe that. And I'm going to stake my entire life and form every decision I make in life around the center

of that gravity of the death and resurrection and ascension and Lordship of this Jesus from Nazareth. And I'm going to, as Jesus says, you know, if you call me Lord, Lord, then do what I say. So Lord, you are Lord. And I'm going to do what you say, you know, if you call me Lord, Lord, then do what I say. So Lord, you are Lord. And I'm going to do what you say. I just, I want to know about that. I want to know about what, what kind of, what kind of conversion are we dealing with here? I would say, I've never said this before and see, see what, see what you think about this. Okay. I'm testing this out. So don't, don't quote tweet this. I'm testing out this, this idea. Soft conversions

usually produce soft obedience. Radical conversion conversions usually produce radical obedience. Now don't get all like, well, every conversions are about, I mean, you know, I'm talking practically like, you know, some people were raised in the church and they're just kind of always been Christians. And was there ever a time when they move from like death to life and I didn't confess Jesus. Now I do. Like I don't, I don't, I don't think that's the best way to frame it. Other people there, you know, I've been on drugs for 20 years and, and as homeless for 10 and somebody walked by and preach the gospel and I'm all in, you know, I renounce all, you know, like whatever. I, in my anecdotal experience, people that have those kind of like about face conversion experiences,

they typically respond with pretty urgent, immediate, radical obedience, but people who are just kind of like, I'm gonna say ease into the kingdom or just kind of, it's just kind of more of a process of kind of coming around or whatever. Then oftentimes like radical obedience seems to be more of a process, a journey. So, so anyway, all I'm saying is like, I want to I'm not sure if it's a, I'm not sure if it's a, I'm not sure if it's a, I'm not sure if it's a, I'm not sure if it's a, I'm not sure if it's a, I'm not sure if it's a, I'm not sure if it's a, I'm not sure if it's a, I'm not sure if it's a, I'm not sure if it's a, I'm not sure if it's a, I'm not sure if it's a, I'm not sure if it's a, I'm not sure if it's a, I'm not sure if it's a, I'm not sure if it's a, I'm not sure if it's a, I'm not sure if it's a, I'm not sure if it's a, I think for those who hold to a historically Christian view of marriage, I think there's two general responses at the end of the day. Okay. I know you're like,

Oh yeah, cut through all the pastoral stuff. Just give me the answer. Okay. I don't like that, but I'm going to try for the sake of time, kind of map out maybe two responses. Okay. Number one, marriage by definition is a lifelong union between two people of different biological sexes. That's how I would define marriage. I think that's how the Bible defined Marriage, by definition, is a lifelong union between two people of different biological sexes. That's how it would define marriage. I think that's how the Bible defined marriage, Matthew 19, 3 to 5, especially how Jesus quotes and splices together Genesis 1, 27 and Genesis 2, 24 there. I think that's really crucial. And there's other passages, Ephesians 5 and many others. Sex difference is part of what marriage is. So even if the state declares two humans married, that doesn't mean it is necessarily a marriage

in the eyes of God. So one kind of more hardcore response, maybe, maybe not hardcore, just maybe theologically consistent response would be, you know, we would call anybody to cease if they come to Christ to follow a Christian sexual ethic. This is an important part of the Christian way of life. And so we would invite confessing Jesus followers, whoever they are, gay, straight, single, married, whatever, to follow a Christian sexual ethic, which is all sex is reserved for marriage and marriage is defined as male and female And so, you know, I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. And I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. And I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point.

I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point.

I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point.

I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. I think and mom or dad and dad, because that's all the kids known, but they would still cease engaging in sexual immorality with each other. That's that's still messy that there's, you know, there's going to be, yeah, there's going to be complications and difficulties there. But I've seen people do that. I get people who had that radical encounter with Christ. It wasn't like the church said, no, you need there's going to be complications and difficulties there. But I've seen people do that. I get people who had that radical account with Christ. It wasn't like the church said, no, you need to. It was, they were like, we want to follow Jesus. We're all in, we're all in. So we're

going to do what Jesus said. We call him Lord Lord. We're going to do what he said. That's what he told us to do. So we're going to do it. And I think if people say, how could somebody stop engaging in a sexual relationship with they, you know, I, it's like, well, I mean, many people have to do that. Right. I mean, I, this is a little different. If there's a legal marriage and kids involved, I kind of want to downplay the significance or uniqueness of it, but coming to Christ will require sometimes radical, difficult decisions. And that's, that's part of what it means to come to Christ. Okay. So that's one approach. Another approach would be more of an accommodation

approach where a church says, look, we, if this couple was not married and they're at our church and they're following Christ and everything, and then they wanted to get married, we would say we would counsel against that. Say, no, we don't. That's not what our church believes. But if they already got, if they were already married in their past and then they got saved, we would simply say, okay, what's done is done. We're not going to, there's no other kind of like discipleship requirements where, you know, accommodate to your situation. Kind of like we would have a straight couple, you know, is married and divorced, married

and divorced, got a few affairs, married and divorced again, remarried. They're on the fifth marriage and they come to Christ. You wouldn't break up that marriage. That one. I don't, I think that is apples and oranges though. Compare. That's a good analogy. I think it causes people to think, I think by definition that is, is still a marriage, even if it was against God's original intention for what marriage should look like, it is still by definition a merit to people, the same sex getting married or to be able to the opposite sex getting married. Whereas a same sex couple, again, doesn't fit the historically Christian definition of marriage.

So I've, and I've seen churches take that approach to more of an accommodation. The only, I guess the one problem with accommodation is you do need to be consistent. So if people see you accommodating to this situation, don't be surprised when other people with other situations come and say, can you accommodate to our situation? So just be prepared, prepared for that. Okay. Next question is praying before a meal, just tradition, or is there a warrant for this feels like going through the motions. Some believers don't have luxury to do this in the open. I yes, I do think it's primarily tradition. And if somebody, I, I'm sure there's a study done on when Christian started praying

before meals. I don't know that study. I don't know the date and time when this happened. You do have a verse in first Timothy four versus three to four that I wonder is kind of the verse where this tradition started from. Paul says they forbid people to marry and order them to talk about false teachers and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything God created is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving because it is. Hey friends, I hope you enjoyed this portion of the Patreon Only Q&A podcast. If you'd like to listen to the full-length episode and receive other bonus content like monthly podcasts, opportunities to ask questions, access to first drafts of my research and monthly Zoom chats and more,

then please head over to patreon.com forward slash theology in the raw to join theology in the raw's Patreon community. That's patreon.com forward slash theology in the raw. This show is part of the Converge Podcast Network.