Read the Beforeitsnews.com story here. Advertise at Before It's News here.

By Peter Lumpkins (Reporter)
Contributor profile | More stories

Story Views
Now:
Last hour:
Last 24 hours:
Total:

Karen Swallow Prior on John Piper's Advice to Women in Troubled Marriages

Wednesday, May 9, 2018 14:46

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.

OK. I’m not much on Twitter. I’ve never liked it. I don’t think I ever will.

Moreover, it can get very vicious, even more vicious than Facebook.

Yet it appears it’s definitively made its mark for usefulness even among Christians, so I logged on to my old account this AM and posted a link to the piece I put up on my blog entitled, “How do Patterson Critics View John Piper on Spousal Abuse?,” a piece asking some of the leaders among Southern Baptists who are bent on seeing Paige Patterson fired as President of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary how they view John Piper’s advice to women in troubled marriages and what might we do about it.

Specifically, I named @KSPrior (Liberty University professor, Karen Swallow Prior), @edstetzer (Professor at TEDS, Christianity Today blogger, and former President of Lifeway Research, Ed Stetzer) and @JonathanMerritt (writer for RNS & The Atlantic and former Teaching-Pastor at his dad’s church before apparently being forced to resign because his reported partner “outed” his alleged homosexuality. see here and here). Why these three? Simple. They seem to be among the key critics promoting the firing of Paige Patterson.

I didn’t expect either of the three to respond, but one of them did–Karen Swallow Prior.¹ Nor did I expect the brief exchange to get testy so quickly.
Everything I know about Dr. Prior indicated she seems like a very amenable person not to mention her award-winning honors as a scholar and professor. Here’s the gist of how the Twitter exchange went down.²

Peter: How do @KSPrior, @edstetzer, and @JonathanMerritt view John Piper on spousal abuse?

Karen Swallow Prior (KSP): Obviously I approve of every single thing and every single action of every single person in every single world and all parallel universes.

Peter: Oops. My bad. I wasn’t inquiring for a comment on the theory of everything. Just a response to @JohnPiper on spousal abuse to women in troubled marriages.

KSP: Why of all the things in the universe are you asking me about this? Of course smacking a woman is abuse. Why would anyone think I’d think otherwise? These Childish trolling games are unbecoming of Christians.

Peter: Childish trolling games? Are you kidding me? All I asked was a question on how you viewed Piper’s advice to women in troubled marriages, a cause you’re obviously concerned about. And that’s childish trolling games?

Peter: So what do we do with Piper? Do we condemn him? Call for his resignation? Ban him from SBC circles? What?

KSP: The SBC is my denomination. I have a stake in its leadership. Whatever denomination Piper is it’s not mine.

Peter: Excuse me, but Piper is one of the most influential leaders in the SBC. His friendship runs deep with Al Mohler, Mark Dever, et al. And therefore Piper’s view on spousal abuse doesn’t alarm you?

KSP: Such bullying is unbecoming of a man let alone a Christian. Be well.

Peter: So I’m a bully because I asked an honest question of a seminary professor who assisted in writing and promoting a letter to the trustees of another seminary calling on them to fire the president? Mercy me.

Imagine it. Dr. Prior has boldly and publicly called for the firing of a sitting president in Southern Baptists’ second oldest seminary for what she judges is an irreconcilable moral breach but when asked about what she thought ought to be done to another high-profile Baptist who not only adheres to very similar counselling advice to women in troubled marriages, but also arguably possesses more influence in the SBC than Paige Patterson presently does, she dodges the question and turns to calling me names like “troll” and “bully.”

I ask.

Is this the level of engagement we’re to accept from social-media critics when we ask them honest questions about the moral charges they publicly launch against Southern Baptist leaders?

Is it now “bullying” if we question a scholar who happens to be a woman about her position on a particular issue?

Are Southern Baptist trustees really going to seriously entertain the emboldened moral charges against Paige Patterson while the very same critics either dodge the question or turn their morally condemnatory head while John Piper is completely ignored for offering arguably worse counsel than critics complain about Patterson?

Doesn’t the stark hypocrisy of the critics who complain about Patterson but remain deafeningly silent about Piper clearly reveal to them that this entire fiasco has been staged? This issue is not about principle but about Patterson. He’s the target. If moral principle were at stake, the critics would be every much as appalled by Piper’s words as Patterson’s. In fact, if moral principle and the dishonoring of women were the real motivation behind the media campaign launched by Jonathan Merritt, Ed Stetzer, and Karen Swallow Prior, they would care less whether Protestant or Catholic, Evangelical or Liberal, Calvinist or Arminian, Atheist or Buddhist, American or European breached the moral principle of dishonoring of women. And they would be just and right in doing so.

Why? Because if moral principle is breached, and women are exploited and dishonored, it doesn’t make any difference who does it. It deserves squarely to be condemned. Thus, to dodge the moral question by indicating that because John Piper belongs to another denomination that he does not deserve the same judgment for allegedly the same moral breach remains ethically suspect, intellectually empty, biblically vacuous, and unfortunately raises questions as to the real motive behind this public display of so-called moral outrage.³

Thus, it bears repeating:

The outrage expressed concerning the president of Southwestern seminary seems to be not so much about moral principle as it is about the man Patterson.

¹Picture Source

²Yes, I’ve got screenshots of the conversation in case someone wants the exact wording in the exchange or just search on Twitter for it.

³One might argue something along the lines of Mike Leake, contributor at SBC Voices. “So I’m confused at the point you are trying to make here. Would we be wrong for calling out Patterson AND Piper? Point out an inconsistency…okay. But I still don’t see how that helps your argument if you intend to say Patterson did nothing wrong. So here I’ll say it…Patterson and Piper were both unwise in their counsel. As far as Piper, I disagree with his statements in the original video. I don’t think it was good and wise counsel. I appreciate more what he says here. But here are a few big differences. 1. Piper isn’t the head of an SBC seminary. 2. Piper seems to actually hold different views now and has sought to clarify. The biggest issue for me personally is the way Patterson has doubled down. Patterson’s statements in 2000 aren’t the only issue. There is much more going on here. 3. Piper didn’t say that a 16 year old girl is “nice” nor has he shared questionable illustrations which objectify women or a teenage girl. Nonetheless, I’m not sure how this is anything more than a red herring. Do you have issues with what Dr. Patterson said or not? That is what we are talking about (link).

Source: http://peterlumpkins.typepad.com/peter_lumpkins/2018/05/karen-swallow-prior-on-john-pipers-counselling-to-women-in-troubled-marriages-jonathan-merritt-ed-stetzer-paige-patterson.html

Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world.

Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.

"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.

Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!

Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!

HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.

Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.

MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)

Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser! Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!

Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.

Smart Meter Cover - Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).

Comments

Online:
Visits:	1,600,332,550
Stories:	8,141,721