Sean McDowell is the son of Josh McDowell, the famous apologist, and is an apologist with 306k subs on YouTube. Meanwhile, Preston Sprinkle is the leading figure promoting Side B Theology in the church which errantly teaches that homosexual identity and desires are not sinful and therefore do not need to be repented of. To much surprise, they had a debate on the issue of homosexuality, and the shock is that they actually have disagreements. Previously Sean McDowell endorsed Side B theologians.
Sean McDowell’s Positive Trajectory
Sean McDowell has shifted his views on homosexuality considerably over the last decade. McDowell talked about how his views changed on “pronoun hospitality” to where he is against using the term. McDowell stops short of calling it a sin to use the preferred pronouns of transvestites; however, he’s not far from that position.
Moreover, McDowell admitted to at one point wanting to “redeem” the word gay and embraced the term “gay Christian” in order to redeem the language. McDowell admitted that this was a failed strategy because the culture has a stringent definition of the term “gay” and what it entails. The best development was that McDowell said he’s close to considering homosexual desires to be a sin.
McDowell’s shift on these issues is a welcomed surprise but he continually promotes Side B theologians such as Rachel Gilson, who supports using the preferred pronouns of transvestites.
What is gay?
In a Bill Clinton or Jordan Peterson moment, Preston Sprinkle pretended that someone identifying as gay could have 8 different meanings. Sprinkle argued that gay simply means same-sex attracted and against any other implications of that. McDowell pushes back on that in one of their rare substantial disagreements. McDowell cites Rachel Gilson’s experience in Cru that gay means open to a homosexual relationship.
“Gay Christian”
Preston Sprinkle has a broad semantical range for “gay” and he asserts that the “gay Christain” label is valid citing Greg Coles, most often, and also Greg Johnson. Sprinkle attempted to liken “gay Christian” to “American Christian” or being a Christian while a member of a political party. The analogy, he admits falls apart due to the moral distinction of gay when compared to nationality.
Conclusion
The conversation does not feature a substantive discussion on whether homosexual attractions are sinful, nor does it get to the driving factors of transgenderism, instead beating around the bush. Preston Sprinkle’s complicated views and language usage are showcased more than his actual views. However, Preston Sprinkle did nothing to present himself as a true teacher.
Sean McDowell demonstrated improvement on his theology of sin. However, he swims in extremely liberal ponds. For example, he appeals to Neil Shenvi twice on the issue of wokeness, once to exonerate himself from the charge. McDowell’s employment at the liberal hellhole of Biola University which has the gay affirming Ed Stetzer as his boss and preferred pronouns advocating professor mentioned by Sprinkle, should temper expectations of McDowell suddenly becoming orthodox on sexuality. But to his credit, he’s on a much better trajectory.
The problem with McDowell’s approach is that his platforming of Preston Sprinkle frames Sprinkle as a believer and his views within the bounds of orthodoxy.
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2 Responses
Well, someone could say they support gay marriage as long as it’s between a man and a woman, if you remember what gay used to mean.
I think everyone with sense can tell the last name “Sprinkle” is not his born name and that he must have created it because he’s gay. Sprinkle, Sparkle, whatever, these are not real names but gay stage names.