Jimmy Carter is right and many evangelical presuppositions about scripture are WRONG!

I have recently seen criticism of former President Jimmy Carter for his statement in 2015 that he thinks Jesus would approve of gay marriages. This is a theme that is frequently crossing my Facebook page lately. While it is old news it is relevant to the point of what effect presuppositions have on scripture interpretation. It has been the one of the focal thrusts of this blog to show that evangelical presuppositions are completely off the mark in many respects when it comes to scripture interpretation. I think that the resurgence of this story is to try to throw shade on other interpretations of the scripture. It is a last ditch move to resist a spiritual paradigm shift that will not be thwarted because it is a correct and necessary shift.

So, did Jesus see the scripture as a rule book? Absolutely not! He saw it as the story of redemption and a story about Him. John 5:39-40 states that the purpose of the scripture is to point to Jesus so that people can find life in him. I have proven beyond possible doubt in the posts of this blog that the scripture is the story of redemption, and not a rule book, especially for the New Covenant era. So much of the misunderstanding comes from ignoring that there is a natural transition in the scripture with a strong Jew/Gentile distinction. While the Jews saw the Old Testament as a constitutional legal document, Jesus and his first century followers that wrote the New Testament overthrew that notion in favor of it being the good news of the redemption narrative.

In many of the Facebook posts about this, evangelicals smugly quote scripture and verse claiming to show that the former president is wrong. The problem with that is their presupposition that the scripture is a legal constitutional document is completely off the mark, and a total error for New Covenant saints. This being the case, all of the book and verse quotations are off the mark as well when taking a legal constitution approach to the scripture.

I should of course offer my presuppositions' that I arrived at after rigorous scripture study. First, the phrase word of God denotes the gospel, or Jesus the gospel made flesh. Second, that the purpose of scripture was to present to humanity a redemptive narrative that would assure a person that God's purpose in creation was to love humanity and have a relationship with it that results in true adoration of this gracious Creator/God.

Now, since Jesus introduced God as a loving Father, it can be reasoned that God wants what is best for his creation. Therefore, I can conclude with Jimmy Carter that Jesus would approve of a loving monogamous relationship period. The reason is that a loving monogamous relationship is vital in providing the peaceful stability for individuals that need partners. I am not excluding those individuals who are comfortable to be forever single, and do not require intimate relationships for fulfillment. I am not personally aware of such but undoubtedly they exist. That aside, Jesus in my view of scripture would be supportive of all relationships that were mutually loving and monogamous.

If you are a person that has a high view of scripture, do not be alarmed. I do also, however, not presupposing that it is intended to be a legal constitutional document from God to humanity does not in anyway diminish the sovereignty of God, nor the divinity of Jesus as redeemer. If you think it does you are merely incorrect in your assumptions.