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The Secular Creed: Engaging Five Contemporary Claims
In this house we believe that:
Black Lives Matter
Love Is Love
Gay Rights Are Civil Rights
Women’s Rights Are Human Rights
Transgender Women Are Women
You may have seen signs with some of these messages in your neighborhood. They offer us an all-or-nothing package deal—in short, a secular creed.
In this provocative book, Rebecca McLaughlin helps us disentangle the beliefs Christians gladly affirm from those they cannot embrace, and invites us to talk with our neighbors about the things that matter most. Far from opposing love across difference, McLaughlin argues, Christianity is the original source and firmest foundation for true diversity, equality, and life-transforming love.
Black Lives Matter
Love Is Love
Gay Rights Are Civil Rights
Women’s Rights Are Human Rights
Transgender Women Are Women
You may have seen signs with some of these messages in your neighborhood. They offer us an all-or-nothing package deal—in short, a secular creed.
In this provocative book, Rebecca McLaughlin helps us disentangle the beliefs Christians gladly affirm from those they cannot embrace, and invites us to talk with our neighbors about the things that matter most. Far from opposing love across difference, McLaughlin argues, Christianity is the original source and firmest foundation for true diversity, equality, and life-transforming love.
127 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 9, 2021
333 people are currently reading
4213 people want to read
About the author
Rebecca McLaughlin
43 books528 followersRebecca McLaughlin (PhD, Cambridge University) is the cofounder of Vocable Communications, a communications consulting and training firm. She is also a regular contributor to the Gospel Coalition and previously spent nine years working with top academics at the Veritas Forum, which hosts forums on college campuses with conversations that pursue answers to life's hardest questions.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 460 reviews
April 16, 2021
It’s a good life rule to read everything Rebecca McLaughlin writes.
August 4, 2022
While this book was good in some aspects, it failed miserably in other ways.
This book was only about 100 pages—these topics are not a “5 chapter” topic kind of books. I’ve read entire books on each of the subjects she approached. Most of her writing time is spent on the history of different topics, yet she fails to bring up current examples of “white Christian hate”. Honestly, I’m sick of reading books that tell us all the ways the people 3 generations ago failed, then try and make me feel guilty for it.
There were a few inaccuracies when it came to mentioning some high profile cases (although this was just a minor irritation overall)
My biggest complaints:
1. I wish she’d brought more solutions to the table or spent more time on the one she mentioned. I still walk away from this book missing practical advice. How do I love those who are blatantly sinning against God and claim to be a Christian in the church? I did not receive an answer to that question while reading this book.
2. She walks the line of “white guilt” in several chapters. She takes some stories of the Bible out of context to put white vs black theories. I think it’s absolutely misleading when we make stories of the Bible fit our narrative.
3. She does not do a great job at separating “black lives matter” the organization vs the statement. Most people love those around us, no matter their race. Reading this book made me feel as though she expected me to hate my fellow black neighbors. This is simply not true for me or anyone I know.
My ultimate problem: She fails to bring up root issues.
- Fatherlessness
- Humanistic values embraced by the church
- A country who worship themselves and their desires not God’s.
Some things I liked:
- She does say that a gay/lesbian lifestyle is sin.
- She says abortion is wrong.
- I loved the chapter on feminism. This was a solid chapter with foundational truths.
Overall, I walked away very disappointed by this book. I don’t think she makes good or strong arguments for her beliefs.
Edit: I’d like to add that the worst part of this book was when she said that if an organization called “unborn babies lives matter” she would fly there flag in her yard—even if there were things the organization did that she did not like.
This is incredibly disgusting to me.
If “unborn babies lives matter” was a real organization that was actually making abortions WORSE, If they were taking money and buying mansions instead of helping the unborn babies, if they were inciting riots and burning good peoples businesses down—some that even help unborn babies… I would NEVER fly their flag.
BLM has created created more pain, more trauma, and more hardship for the black community. They take peoples good, hard earned money, and use it for themselves. They actually do promote abortion.
Frankly, I was a little abhorred that she didn’t bring any of these points up.
Black lives DO matter. So why did she spend multiple chapters placing blame on current Americans, the church, and policy from 50 years ago, and saying “love all” without actually speaking truth and bringing real and helpful solutions to the table?
The truth is, the church has done *the most* to help the fatherless, those in crisis pregnancy, those in poverty, the minorities, and much more.
Politicians and celebrities can lie and “follow the science”, but the statistics and money trails don’t lie.
All this to say, McLaughlin could have brought some real truth, clarity, and biblical solutions to the table, but instead she walked the line of neutrality.
While it is good to always see both sides, this is not the place for that. We are talking about peoples lives, health, and prosperity—not apples and oranges.
This is why she only got 1 star from me.
This book was only about 100 pages—these topics are not a “5 chapter” topic kind of books. I’ve read entire books on each of the subjects she approached. Most of her writing time is spent on the history of different topics, yet she fails to bring up current examples of “white Christian hate”. Honestly, I’m sick of reading books that tell us all the ways the people 3 generations ago failed, then try and make me feel guilty for it.
There were a few inaccuracies when it came to mentioning some high profile cases (although this was just a minor irritation overall)
My biggest complaints:
1. I wish she’d brought more solutions to the table or spent more time on the one she mentioned. I still walk away from this book missing practical advice. How do I love those who are blatantly sinning against God and claim to be a Christian in the church? I did not receive an answer to that question while reading this book.
2. She walks the line of “white guilt” in several chapters. She takes some stories of the Bible out of context to put white vs black theories. I think it’s absolutely misleading when we make stories of the Bible fit our narrative.
3. She does not do a great job at separating “black lives matter” the organization vs the statement. Most people love those around us, no matter their race. Reading this book made me feel as though she expected me to hate my fellow black neighbors. This is simply not true for me or anyone I know.
My ultimate problem: She fails to bring up root issues.
- Fatherlessness
- Humanistic values embraced by the church
- A country who worship themselves and their desires not God’s.
Some things I liked:
- She does say that a gay/lesbian lifestyle is sin.
- She says abortion is wrong.
- I loved the chapter on feminism. This was a solid chapter with foundational truths.
Overall, I walked away very disappointed by this book. I don’t think she makes good or strong arguments for her beliefs.
Edit: I’d like to add that the worst part of this book was when she said that if an organization called “unborn babies lives matter” she would fly there flag in her yard—even if there were things the organization did that she did not like.
This is incredibly disgusting to me.
If “unborn babies lives matter” was a real organization that was actually making abortions WORSE, If they were taking money and buying mansions instead of helping the unborn babies, if they were inciting riots and burning good peoples businesses down—some that even help unborn babies… I would NEVER fly their flag.
BLM has created created more pain, more trauma, and more hardship for the black community. They take peoples good, hard earned money, and use it for themselves. They actually do promote abortion.
Frankly, I was a little abhorred that she didn’t bring any of these points up.
Black lives DO matter. So why did she spend multiple chapters placing blame on current Americans, the church, and policy from 50 years ago, and saying “love all” without actually speaking truth and bringing real and helpful solutions to the table?
The truth is, the church has done *the most* to help the fatherless, those in crisis pregnancy, those in poverty, the minorities, and much more.
Politicians and celebrities can lie and “follow the science”, but the statistics and money trails don’t lie.
All this to say, McLaughlin could have brought some real truth, clarity, and biblical solutions to the table, but instead she walked the line of neutrality.
While it is good to always see both sides, this is not the place for that. We are talking about peoples lives, health, and prosperity—not apples and oranges.
This is why she only got 1 star from me.
January 11, 2022
We’ve all seen the multi-colored signs posted in people’s yards or hung in windows that proclaim (in some form):
In this house we believe that:
Black Lives Matter
Love is Love
Women’s Rights Are Human Rights
We Are All Immigrants
Diversity Makes Us Stronger
Rebecca McLaughlin has written this short, concise book, not to hammer these signs in every yard and neither to smash them to pieces. She writes “wielding a marker instead of a mallet” to edit and explore these signs’ tenets and to hold them up to Scripture, correcting where we must and championing all that God commands to us in his Word.
I appreciate this approach because we are so often subjected to or persuaded by the dichotomous thinking perpetuated by our respective political parties (or churches) that it’s an all or nothing acceptance. If we accept one or more tenets of this sign, we must affirm them all, or because we reject one or more tenet, we must therefore discard it altogether.
It’s not that simple and McLaughlin walks us through these complicated but essential waters.
At just over 100 pages, this is by no means all there is to know and learn regarding issues like race, sexuality, diversity, and equality, but she packs a lot into these pages, providing a sensitive, logical, and researched viewpoint, centered around loving and caring for all people.
Her main premise is to emphasize that the very concept of “human rights” is derived from Christianity through its biblical teachings. With every chapter she links the concepts of worth, equality, diversity, family, love, and identity to Scripture and the words of Jesus and his apostles. She posits: “Without Christian beliefs about humanity, the yard sign’s claims aren’t worth the cardboard on which they are written.”
I think one of her strongest and most critical—to the church—points is the church’s historical sin toward black people in the form of chattel slavery followed by years of segregation and inequality, all wrongly defended by the gross misuse of the Bible. Because the church continually failed in this regard, many have rejected the church’s beliefs about sexuality. How can we trust Christians’ beliefs about what the Bible says if they used it to enslave their fellow brothers and sisters?
And so we have a movement, often under the umbrella of the organization Black Lives Matter, that tethers racial equality with the LGBTQ+ movement as well as a linking of women’s rights with abortion rights:
“The frequent failure of Christians to meet biblical ideals of fellowship across racial difference, equal valuing of men and women, welcome for outcasts, love for those with unfulfilled desire, and care for the most marginalized has allowed this mixture of ideas to coalesce under the banner of diversity.”
Though not a complete analysis of the secular creed posed on these signs (only a brief discussion on immigration), here is the breakdown of the tenets (and chapter titles) she presents and some noteworthy things:
Black Lives Matter
“Christianity is the most racially, culturally, and geographically diverse belief system in the world.”
Jesus wasn’t white. Isn’t it illogical that we have to clarify that? I love how McLaughlin points out places throughout the Bible where we see the mixing of races: Joseph marries an Egyptian woman. Moses marries a woman from Saudi Arabia and after her death, a women from Ethiopia, just to name a few.
“In Matthew’s retelling of Israel’s history, we see that non-Israelites weren’t just squeezed in at the fringes of God’s purposes. They were plumbed into the royal bloodline. Jesus’s DNA was shaped by Rahab (Canaanite) and by Ruth (Moabite). He had non-Israelite blood in his veins.”
Countless times in Scripture we are reminded that God intends his family to be diverse: “from every tribe, tongue, and nation.” We already see that playing out in the world today. America does not have the monopoly on Christianity. McLaughlin gives predictive stats that show the church in China is expected to outgrow the church in America by 2030 and 30 years later could include half of China’s population. At the same time, 40% of Christians would live in Africa. I don’t know exactly how these numbers are determined, but I think it’s a pretty fair conclusion that it is inevitable that Christianity will continue to diversify across race and culture as God intended.
I think the author makes a very good point when she says:
“These facts don’t for a moment excuse the history of white Christians treating black people as if their lives don’t matter… But dismissing Christianity because of the failure of white Christians means silencing the voices of black believers and acting like only white voices matter in considering Christ.”
I recently read Jemar Tisby’s book, The Color of Compromise, (review forthcoming) which fleshes out in far more excruciating detail the chronological racism our country must own up to, but one thing that struck me throughout the book was the faith of so many black people who endured slavery and everything after. It was their correct belief of Scripture— God’s intended equality— and the hope of God’s redemption that spurred them on, despite the violence wrongly done in God’s name. That truly is incredible faith. And just as much as Christianity is tainted by these racist sins, we can’t deny that the Bible was still the basis of Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil-rights movement and plea for equality.
“The painful reality is that the founding fathers excluded enslaved Africans from their vision of human equality. But this problem isn’t fixed by erasing the basis for equality.”
The Bible pretty clearly denounces slavery and violence and preaches human equality and diversity as we are all created in the image of God.
The part of this chapter that I still wrestle with is using the wording ‘black lives matter.’ I fully understand and support the meaning of this phrase and the reality that for so long black lives were treated like they didn’t matter. My only hesitation is the association with the Black Lives Matter organization which espouses many other beliefs that I cannot agree with. Can I say these three words without an implication of other words?
McLaughlin weighs in:
“Given the history of white evangelical failure to recognize black people as their equals before God, I gladly affirm that black lives matter, despite the fact an organization with that name expresses other beliefs I cannot embrace. If there were a secular organization called Unborn Babies Matter, I would say those words, too, even if that organization also waved a rainbow flag, because unborn babies matter.”
I am still wrestling with this but appreciate this perspective and the challenge to not be dismissive and reflexively reject anything to do with the words ‘black lives matter', because that does not reflect a soft heart that is turned toward people.
“We must pursue love and fellowship across racial and cultural difference relentlessly—not because progressives tell us to, but because Jesus calls us to be one body with people of different races and cultures and languages.”
Love is Love
“I’ll argue instead that “God is love”and that he shows us what that statement means through different kinds of human relationships. This makes Christianity good news for same-sex-attracted people like me. But that doesn’t make Christianity safe. Whatever our attractions, following Jesus means denying ourselves and taking up our cross. But if Jesus’s people are truly living in his ways, there’s room and joy and love enough for all.”
Jackie Hill Perry, author of Gay Girl, Good God, said, “Marriage isn’t heaven. Singleness isn’t hell.” The Bible talks more about agape (“sacrificial”) love than (“eros”) romantic love. The peak of human existence is not to be married. While marriage is a gift and a picture to us of Christ and the church, the Bible shows us the other spokes on the wheel of love that provide joy and fulfillment- whether it be our union with Christ, same-sex friendships, parental relationships, or the church family.
She spends time addressing objections people have to places in Scripture that talk about homosexuality and marriage.
She also defends the veracity of Paul’s teachings on the subject. Some have claimed that Paul condoned slavery as much as he prohibits homosexuality so his teaching is dismissable, but McLaughlin proves how that argument falls apart and points to Paul’s clear condemnation of slavery.
Another important passage she speaks into is the “submission passage” in Ephesians that causes a lot of women to wrongly believe that Christianity is a proponent of male domination; she turns the common misconception on its head.
The Gay-Rights Movement is the New Civil-Rights Movement
In this chapter McLaughlin addresses the attempted link between these two movements.
People recognize the complicity of white Christians in slavery and segregation and thus, “Today, when people see Christian opposition to gay marriage, they think it’s just the same song, second verse. The reasoning runs like this: just as Christians have oppressed and terrorized African Americans, so Christians have oppressed and terrorized gay and lesbian people.”
She runs through six problems with this perspective that I won’t delve into here because I’m already long-winded. She also discusses the difference between ethnicity and sexual attractions and the difference between attributes and actions as well as the fact that attractions change but race does not—all of which I found very helpful in distinguishing the disconnect between these two movements.
“The problem with Christians who supported segregation was not that they listened to the Bible too much, but too little. While the Bible cuts firmly against gay marriage for believers, it cuts equally firmly in favor of racial equality and integration. It takes as much careful editing to make the Bible seem like it supports segregation as to make it seem like it affirms gay marriage.”
She also critiques the church in how they’ve mistreated LGBTQ members and fostered a culture of prejudice or mistrust against them. There is also important discussion of the familial role the church will need to play as people come to Christ and leave an LGBTQ lifestyle.
Women’s Rights are Human Rights
The goal of this chapter is to recognize that without the Bible “there is no basis for women’s rights and that Jesus’s treatment of women changed their status forever.”
Part of this discussion is around an atheistic view of humanity and the idea that strong overpowers weak in nature.
McLaughlin also exposes the stark contrast between how women are viewed and treated in all of Scripture, especially by Jesus, against the view and role of women in other ancient cultures— showing the gender gap in those cultures as well as modern day China and India- just in terms of population due to abandonment of female babies.
We must also address what is most prominently associated with women’s rights: abortion. A sensitive subject that she writes about with care and covers far more than I can here. I’ll just include a few quotes:
“There are many things that have been fought for under the banner of feminism that Christians can and should affirm: for example, women’s right to vote, hold property, and be paid the same as a man for doing the same job. Indeed, many early feminists advocated for women’s rights because they were Christians...But rather than see abortion rights as the central plank of the feminist structure, I believe its central plank should be the cross.”
“God calls us to a world in which women are seen as equal to men, regardless of their marital status; in which pregnant women are supported; in which men are called either to be faithful husbands or faithful singles; and in which babies are valued and provided for—not just by their biological parents, but by their spiritual family writ large. To solve the problem of abortion, we don't need one law reversed. We need a loving revolution.”
Transgender Women are Women
In this chapter, “We’ll see that rather than being a hateful tool of oppression, the Bible truly offers hope to those who feel alienated from their bodies.”
“[To say ‘trans women are women] means that people who were born male, but now identify as female, should be treated as women in every respect...they should be allowed to use women’s bathrooms, enter women’s shelters, and compete in women’s sports. Anything less, so the logic runs, is transphobic and harmful. But... If it’s true that “Transgender women are women,” then we no longer know what “woman” means.”
The discussion here is around what it means to be male and female. Is gender binary? Is it just a construct? What about gender dysphoria and intersex? What does the Bible say about gender and our bodies? Again, too much to cover here.
One thing I found particularly compelling was the idea that transgenderism actually perpetuates the gender stereotypes that feminists have been working so hard to break. If women who don’t fit the woman stereotype are actually men then we are severely narrowing what women are capable of and all we have left are stereotypes.
Another additional quote:
“No follower of Jesus need hold to rigid gender stereotypes, in which men make skyscrapers and women decorate their walls. Instead, we must cling to our Savior. He is the one who knows us to our core and loves us to death and beyond. He made our bodies, and he holds our hearts. Our deepest identity lies in him."
A Call to Loving Arms
This well-named last chapter is where the author lays out several ways to do this. Here she advocates for a strong repentance of sin we, as individuals & the church as a whole, have participated in in regards to racial inequality and the treatment of women and LGBTQ members.
I also appreciate this statement: “To show where progressives are wrong, we must also freely acknowledge where they are right.”We have to push back against our political parties’ insistence of party platform adherence as if either side has the moral high ground in every way. We have to reject dichotomous distortions and instead think for ourselves by holding every tenet claimed up to the Word of God to evaluate its morality and truth, with humility and compassion, for no matter our race, gender, or worldview, we are all created in the image of God.
I highly recommend this book for a concise look at how Christianity is actually the foundation for all human rights—with emphasis on caring and advocating for the oppressed— not a religion of oppression as many try to claim.
See this full review, further reading on these topics, and all my other reviews at www.shelfreflection.com!
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In this house we believe that:
Black Lives Matter
Love is Love
Women’s Rights Are Human Rights
We Are All Immigrants
Diversity Makes Us Stronger
Rebecca McLaughlin has written this short, concise book, not to hammer these signs in every yard and neither to smash them to pieces. She writes “wielding a marker instead of a mallet” to edit and explore these signs’ tenets and to hold them up to Scripture, correcting where we must and championing all that God commands to us in his Word.
I appreciate this approach because we are so often subjected to or persuaded by the dichotomous thinking perpetuated by our respective political parties (or churches) that it’s an all or nothing acceptance. If we accept one or more tenets of this sign, we must affirm them all, or because we reject one or more tenet, we must therefore discard it altogether.
It’s not that simple and McLaughlin walks us through these complicated but essential waters.
At just over 100 pages, this is by no means all there is to know and learn regarding issues like race, sexuality, diversity, and equality, but she packs a lot into these pages, providing a sensitive, logical, and researched viewpoint, centered around loving and caring for all people.
Her main premise is to emphasize that the very concept of “human rights” is derived from Christianity through its biblical teachings. With every chapter she links the concepts of worth, equality, diversity, family, love, and identity to Scripture and the words of Jesus and his apostles. She posits: “Without Christian beliefs about humanity, the yard sign’s claims aren’t worth the cardboard on which they are written.”
I think one of her strongest and most critical—to the church—points is the church’s historical sin toward black people in the form of chattel slavery followed by years of segregation and inequality, all wrongly defended by the gross misuse of the Bible. Because the church continually failed in this regard, many have rejected the church’s beliefs about sexuality. How can we trust Christians’ beliefs about what the Bible says if they used it to enslave their fellow brothers and sisters?
And so we have a movement, often under the umbrella of the organization Black Lives Matter, that tethers racial equality with the LGBTQ+ movement as well as a linking of women’s rights with abortion rights:
“The frequent failure of Christians to meet biblical ideals of fellowship across racial difference, equal valuing of men and women, welcome for outcasts, love for those with unfulfilled desire, and care for the most marginalized has allowed this mixture of ideas to coalesce under the banner of diversity.”
Though not a complete analysis of the secular creed posed on these signs (only a brief discussion on immigration), here is the breakdown of the tenets (and chapter titles) she presents and some noteworthy things:
Black Lives Matter
“Christianity is the most racially, culturally, and geographically diverse belief system in the world.”
Jesus wasn’t white. Isn’t it illogical that we have to clarify that? I love how McLaughlin points out places throughout the Bible where we see the mixing of races: Joseph marries an Egyptian woman. Moses marries a woman from Saudi Arabia and after her death, a women from Ethiopia, just to name a few.
“In Matthew’s retelling of Israel’s history, we see that non-Israelites weren’t just squeezed in at the fringes of God’s purposes. They were plumbed into the royal bloodline. Jesus’s DNA was shaped by Rahab (Canaanite) and by Ruth (Moabite). He had non-Israelite blood in his veins.”
Countless times in Scripture we are reminded that God intends his family to be diverse: “from every tribe, tongue, and nation.” We already see that playing out in the world today. America does not have the monopoly on Christianity. McLaughlin gives predictive stats that show the church in China is expected to outgrow the church in America by 2030 and 30 years later could include half of China’s population. At the same time, 40% of Christians would live in Africa. I don’t know exactly how these numbers are determined, but I think it’s a pretty fair conclusion that it is inevitable that Christianity will continue to diversify across race and culture as God intended.
I think the author makes a very good point when she says:
“These facts don’t for a moment excuse the history of white Christians treating black people as if their lives don’t matter… But dismissing Christianity because of the failure of white Christians means silencing the voices of black believers and acting like only white voices matter in considering Christ.”
I recently read Jemar Tisby’s book, The Color of Compromise, (review forthcoming) which fleshes out in far more excruciating detail the chronological racism our country must own up to, but one thing that struck me throughout the book was the faith of so many black people who endured slavery and everything after. It was their correct belief of Scripture— God’s intended equality— and the hope of God’s redemption that spurred them on, despite the violence wrongly done in God’s name. That truly is incredible faith. And just as much as Christianity is tainted by these racist sins, we can’t deny that the Bible was still the basis of Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil-rights movement and plea for equality.
“The painful reality is that the founding fathers excluded enslaved Africans from their vision of human equality. But this problem isn’t fixed by erasing the basis for equality.”
The Bible pretty clearly denounces slavery and violence and preaches human equality and diversity as we are all created in the image of God.
The part of this chapter that I still wrestle with is using the wording ‘black lives matter.’ I fully understand and support the meaning of this phrase and the reality that for so long black lives were treated like they didn’t matter. My only hesitation is the association with the Black Lives Matter organization which espouses many other beliefs that I cannot agree with. Can I say these three words without an implication of other words?
McLaughlin weighs in:
“Given the history of white evangelical failure to recognize black people as their equals before God, I gladly affirm that black lives matter, despite the fact an organization with that name expresses other beliefs I cannot embrace. If there were a secular organization called Unborn Babies Matter, I would say those words, too, even if that organization also waved a rainbow flag, because unborn babies matter.”
I am still wrestling with this but appreciate this perspective and the challenge to not be dismissive and reflexively reject anything to do with the words ‘black lives matter', because that does not reflect a soft heart that is turned toward people.
“We must pursue love and fellowship across racial and cultural difference relentlessly—not because progressives tell us to, but because Jesus calls us to be one body with people of different races and cultures and languages.”
Love is Love
“I’ll argue instead that “God is love”and that he shows us what that statement means through different kinds of human relationships. This makes Christianity good news for same-sex-attracted people like me. But that doesn’t make Christianity safe. Whatever our attractions, following Jesus means denying ourselves and taking up our cross. But if Jesus’s people are truly living in his ways, there’s room and joy and love enough for all.”
Jackie Hill Perry, author of Gay Girl, Good God, said, “Marriage isn’t heaven. Singleness isn’t hell.” The Bible talks more about agape (“sacrificial”) love than (“eros”) romantic love. The peak of human existence is not to be married. While marriage is a gift and a picture to us of Christ and the church, the Bible shows us the other spokes on the wheel of love that provide joy and fulfillment- whether it be our union with Christ, same-sex friendships, parental relationships, or the church family.
She spends time addressing objections people have to places in Scripture that talk about homosexuality and marriage.
She also defends the veracity of Paul’s teachings on the subject. Some have claimed that Paul condoned slavery as much as he prohibits homosexuality so his teaching is dismissable, but McLaughlin proves how that argument falls apart and points to Paul’s clear condemnation of slavery.
Another important passage she speaks into is the “submission passage” in Ephesians that causes a lot of women to wrongly believe that Christianity is a proponent of male domination; she turns the common misconception on its head.
The Gay-Rights Movement is the New Civil-Rights Movement
In this chapter McLaughlin addresses the attempted link between these two movements.
People recognize the complicity of white Christians in slavery and segregation and thus, “Today, when people see Christian opposition to gay marriage, they think it’s just the same song, second verse. The reasoning runs like this: just as Christians have oppressed and terrorized African Americans, so Christians have oppressed and terrorized gay and lesbian people.”
She runs through six problems with this perspective that I won’t delve into here because I’m already long-winded. She also discusses the difference between ethnicity and sexual attractions and the difference between attributes and actions as well as the fact that attractions change but race does not—all of which I found very helpful in distinguishing the disconnect between these two movements.
“The problem with Christians who supported segregation was not that they listened to the Bible too much, but too little. While the Bible cuts firmly against gay marriage for believers, it cuts equally firmly in favor of racial equality and integration. It takes as much careful editing to make the Bible seem like it supports segregation as to make it seem like it affirms gay marriage.”
She also critiques the church in how they’ve mistreated LGBTQ members and fostered a culture of prejudice or mistrust against them. There is also important discussion of the familial role the church will need to play as people come to Christ and leave an LGBTQ lifestyle.
Women’s Rights are Human Rights
The goal of this chapter is to recognize that without the Bible “there is no basis for women’s rights and that Jesus’s treatment of women changed their status forever.”
Part of this discussion is around an atheistic view of humanity and the idea that strong overpowers weak in nature.
McLaughlin also exposes the stark contrast between how women are viewed and treated in all of Scripture, especially by Jesus, against the view and role of women in other ancient cultures— showing the gender gap in those cultures as well as modern day China and India- just in terms of population due to abandonment of female babies.
We must also address what is most prominently associated with women’s rights: abortion. A sensitive subject that she writes about with care and covers far more than I can here. I’ll just include a few quotes:
“There are many things that have been fought for under the banner of feminism that Christians can and should affirm: for example, women’s right to vote, hold property, and be paid the same as a man for doing the same job. Indeed, many early feminists advocated for women’s rights because they were Christians...But rather than see abortion rights as the central plank of the feminist structure, I believe its central plank should be the cross.”
“God calls us to a world in which women are seen as equal to men, regardless of their marital status; in which pregnant women are supported; in which men are called either to be faithful husbands or faithful singles; and in which babies are valued and provided for—not just by their biological parents, but by their spiritual family writ large. To solve the problem of abortion, we don't need one law reversed. We need a loving revolution.”
Transgender Women are Women
In this chapter, “We’ll see that rather than being a hateful tool of oppression, the Bible truly offers hope to those who feel alienated from their bodies.”
“[To say ‘trans women are women] means that people who were born male, but now identify as female, should be treated as women in every respect...they should be allowed to use women’s bathrooms, enter women’s shelters, and compete in women’s sports. Anything less, so the logic runs, is transphobic and harmful. But... If it’s true that “Transgender women are women,” then we no longer know what “woman” means.”
The discussion here is around what it means to be male and female. Is gender binary? Is it just a construct? What about gender dysphoria and intersex? What does the Bible say about gender and our bodies? Again, too much to cover here.
One thing I found particularly compelling was the idea that transgenderism actually perpetuates the gender stereotypes that feminists have been working so hard to break. If women who don’t fit the woman stereotype are actually men then we are severely narrowing what women are capable of and all we have left are stereotypes.
Another additional quote:
“No follower of Jesus need hold to rigid gender stereotypes, in which men make skyscrapers and women decorate their walls. Instead, we must cling to our Savior. He is the one who knows us to our core and loves us to death and beyond. He made our bodies, and he holds our hearts. Our deepest identity lies in him."
A Call to Loving Arms
This well-named last chapter is where the author lays out several ways to do this. Here she advocates for a strong repentance of sin we, as individuals & the church as a whole, have participated in in regards to racial inequality and the treatment of women and LGBTQ members.
I also appreciate this statement: “To show where progressives are wrong, we must also freely acknowledge where they are right.”We have to push back against our political parties’ insistence of party platform adherence as if either side has the moral high ground in every way. We have to reject dichotomous distortions and instead think for ourselves by holding every tenet claimed up to the Word of God to evaluate its morality and truth, with humility and compassion, for no matter our race, gender, or worldview, we are all created in the image of God.
I highly recommend this book for a concise look at how Christianity is actually the foundation for all human rights—with emphasis on caring and advocating for the oppressed— not a religion of oppression as many try to claim.
See this full review, further reading on these topics, and all my other reviews at www.shelfreflection.com!
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May 16, 2022
Woah. What a book. Written with unfaltering honesty, incredible tact and solid research.
If you find yourself wondering how Jesus fits in to the issues you find yourself questioning in the 21st century this is the book for you (and even if you’re not questioning these things, please read it and be blessed). I will definitely be coming back to it again and again when I find myself needing wisdom into these things.
Also proud to add my first non fiction read of 2022 to good reads - hoping @jono won’t be able to judge my list anymore now.
If you find yourself wondering how Jesus fits in to the issues you find yourself questioning in the 21st century this is the book for you (and even if you’re not questioning these things, please read it and be blessed). I will definitely be coming back to it again and again when I find myself needing wisdom into these things.
Also proud to add my first non fiction read of 2022 to good reads - hoping @jono won’t be able to judge my list anymore now.
May 18, 2022
I wish I could give this book a 9/10 instead of 4/5. 4/5 for the writing and flow of the book (it seems a little bit rushed at times), but 5/5 for purely the content.
This book was difficult to read. Not because I disagreed with what was said, but because it caused me to see my Pharisee-like reaction, lacking in gentleness and humility and abounding in hate and judgment, towards the people who affirm this “Secular Creed.” McLaughlin does a beautiful job of engaging these claims with a Biblical perspective. These quotes are the two points that are returned to as she examines each claim:
“First, we must recognize that the tangling of ideas in the secular creed has been driven not only by sin in the world out there, but also sin in the church in here.”
“These truths have come to us from Christianity. Rip that foundation out, and you won’t uncover a better basis for human equality and rights. You’ll uncover an abyss that cannot even tell you what a human is.”
This book was difficult to read. Not because I disagreed with what was said, but because it caused me to see my Pharisee-like reaction, lacking in gentleness and humility and abounding in hate and judgment, towards the people who affirm this “Secular Creed.” McLaughlin does a beautiful job of engaging these claims with a Biblical perspective. These quotes are the two points that are returned to as she examines each claim:
“First, we must recognize that the tangling of ideas in the secular creed has been driven not only by sin in the world out there, but also sin in the church in here.”
“These truths have come to us from Christianity. Rip that foundation out, and you won’t uncover a better basis for human equality and rights. You’ll uncover an abyss that cannot even tell you what a human is.”
July 17, 2021
I started this book expecting to be challenged by some of the claims I was sure I’d disagree with. While I ultimately did disagree with some of McLaughlin’s claims, my main complaint with this book is not that I disagree with it, but that I think it relies on lazy Christian arguments and talking points, makes large logical leaps and frequently seems to pull scientific conclusions out of thin air with no citation or data point.
McLaughlin’s characterization of God and of the love ethic we as Christians should have for each other (and the world around us) was thoughtful and, in some places, particularly beautiful. However, I thought that her overall development of arguments pivoting from those foundational truths was weak.
McLaughlin’s characterization of God and of the love ethic we as Christians should have for each other (and the world around us) was thoughtful and, in some places, particularly beautiful. However, I thought that her overall development of arguments pivoting from those foundational truths was weak.
October 1, 2022
Wow! Super helpful content for starting conversations, asking good questions, and considering what it means to bear God’s image. Also a quick and easy read! Definitely recommend.
December 24, 2023
Fantastic. This was better than I even hoped it would be. I thought this was going to be like five stand alone chapters on different hot button issues but instead every chapter builds on the last and references the other chapters. The result is a substantial account of human dignity from the best and original source of human dignity—Christianity and our Creator God. I think McLaughlin is so smart, readable, brave, and loving here. I’d recommend this book to anyone. From old to young Christians there’s a lot to glean from here.
April 22, 2024
This small book is an incredible resource for the average layperson. She engages each of these five credal statements with compassion and conviction. Each argument is presented in its best possible light with the strongest arguments favoring that position. She tackles how the BIble affirms or rejects part of the statement and ends with how each claim finds it's ultimate fulfillment in Christ. I wish more books were written with the kind of civility and clarity as this one.
May 25, 2022
SO GOOD!!! Rebecca handles all the topics she writes about with tenderness and humility. I love everything she writes. This book is a top five for me (which I probably say about more than five books if I am being honest, but the point is it’s really great). Thank you Luke for recommending to our staff. I think everyone doing ministry should read this.
July 18, 2022
Punchy compassion, tender insistence.
Rebecca expertly disrupts the hostility of disagreement and, with much grace and humility, presents the way of Jesus not merely as right and necessary, but as good, beautiful, and indeed ultimately satisfying.
This is going straight into my ‘must read’ category of recommendations.
Rebecca expertly disrupts the hostility of disagreement and, with much grace and humility, presents the way of Jesus not merely as right and necessary, but as good, beautiful, and indeed ultimately satisfying.
This is going straight into my ‘must read’ category of recommendations.
April 27, 2021
4.5* well done, McLaughlin writes well and illustrates well. Enjoyed this book very much, looking forward to more of her writing in the future.
September 14, 2022
Excellent book. Her metaphors were a little cloudy at times, and some of her catchphrases became repetitive, but the crux of what she's saying is written with grace and very important to hear.
September 30, 2024
Short but effective. I appreciate McLaughlin's careful takes on these issues, even though she doesn't have a ton of time to unpack each of them.
March 11, 2024
Not sure what I think about this but it does deserve thoughtful engagement. Always skeptical of rhetorical appeals to ethos laundered through isolated citations which this book has in spades (i.e. THIS person thinks THIS "...short snippet bookended with ellipses...").
****After further reflection****
I am sure what I think about this & have decided that it does not deserve thoughtful engagement. The problem with this book is that:
1. It supposes that "secular" thinkers have a unifying creed, which simply isn't true. It's responding to a specific articulation of an affluent, western sentiment but does not acknowledge the limitations of its subject, let alone it's critique of the subject. Rather than trying to engage with these statements on their own terms, it's trying to force them into the role of a unified creed that is positing an alternative to Christianity's creeds, which these statements clearly weren't intended to do.
2. It presupposes a lot about what "Christianity" is. It constantly pulls this bait and switch (e.g. Secularism (read: western liberal democratic Secularism as articulated by this one inane sign) says this but CHRISTIANITY (read: biblicist, conservative, western, protestant Christianity) says this), yet it does little to acknowledge that there are legitimate disagreements within Christianity on 1. biblical interpretation and 2. biblical inerrancy itself and 3. the role of the bible vs. other sources of Christian knowledge (church history, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, etc).
3. This isn't a critique so much as it is an expression of my personal experience reading the book: it's just grating. This kind of performative open mindedness is irritating to me bc it pretends to listen but continues to bulldoze its own perspective regardless of what it hears. It does not seek to understand in any meaningful sense, understanding is just instrumental in undermining what any alternative viewpoint has to say, which is to say that understanding on a spiritual and emotional level is completely off-limits because understanding opens up the possibility that it will have to reform itself.
4. It also does not speak to the substance of any true critique of the American (and western) church, which is this: why is the church a purveyor of injustice? History shows us that this is not an example of bad actors within the church but is woven into the fabric of the church itself. What are we doing to disentangle this? How do we identify and oppose this mindset now and in the future? Basically, it won't admit to any fault in the church itself because it can't. The only response it can give is that the church should double and triple down into what it already says and believes and this will fix the problem. To anyone who has eyes to see, this is unconvincing.
This review might come across as harsh, and I suppose it is - but it is written in love. I love Christ and I love His Church which is why this kind of rigid, incurious, and intellectually dishonest work is frustrating to me. I'll give it 2 stars bc it's well intended but I can't recommend it to anyone because it will either a) further entrench biblicist stupidity or b) make Christ appear ugly to those who don't know him well enough to separate him from whatever the hell this book is.
****After further reflection****
I am sure what I think about this & have decided that it does not deserve thoughtful engagement. The problem with this book is that:
1. It supposes that "secular" thinkers have a unifying creed, which simply isn't true. It's responding to a specific articulation of an affluent, western sentiment but does not acknowledge the limitations of its subject, let alone it's critique of the subject. Rather than trying to engage with these statements on their own terms, it's trying to force them into the role of a unified creed that is positing an alternative to Christianity's creeds, which these statements clearly weren't intended to do.
2. It presupposes a lot about what "Christianity" is. It constantly pulls this bait and switch (e.g. Secularism (read: western liberal democratic Secularism as articulated by this one inane sign) says this but CHRISTIANITY (read: biblicist, conservative, western, protestant Christianity) says this), yet it does little to acknowledge that there are legitimate disagreements within Christianity on 1. biblical interpretation and 2. biblical inerrancy itself and 3. the role of the bible vs. other sources of Christian knowledge (church history, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, etc).
3. This isn't a critique so much as it is an expression of my personal experience reading the book: it's just grating. This kind of performative open mindedness is irritating to me bc it pretends to listen but continues to bulldoze its own perspective regardless of what it hears. It does not seek to understand in any meaningful sense, understanding is just instrumental in undermining what any alternative viewpoint has to say, which is to say that understanding on a spiritual and emotional level is completely off-limits because understanding opens up the possibility that it will have to reform itself.
4. It also does not speak to the substance of any true critique of the American (and western) church, which is this: why is the church a purveyor of injustice? History shows us that this is not an example of bad actors within the church but is woven into the fabric of the church itself. What are we doing to disentangle this? How do we identify and oppose this mindset now and in the future? Basically, it won't admit to any fault in the church itself because it can't. The only response it can give is that the church should double and triple down into what it already says and believes and this will fix the problem. To anyone who has eyes to see, this is unconvincing.
This review might come across as harsh, and I suppose it is - but it is written in love. I love Christ and I love His Church which is why this kind of rigid, incurious, and intellectually dishonest work is frustrating to me. I'll give it 2 stars bc it's well intended but I can't recommend it to anyone because it will either a) further entrench biblicist stupidity or b) make Christ appear ugly to those who don't know him well enough to separate him from whatever the hell this book is.
August 3, 2023
I really enjoyed this book! It was an informative read backed by much research. There is biblical truth behind every idea that she presents and compares it with our culture today. I particularly love how she unpacked chapter by chapter that “human rights are grounded in Christianity, and without Christianity, there would be no human rights, much less women’s rights.” She ends the book with a short chapter on embracing non-Christians with arms of love. We can’t fight the fight against culture if we do not do so with love.
While not every claim is a perfect home run, I found the “Love is Love,” Women’s Rights are Human Rights,” and “Transgender Women are Women” chapters the most beneficial! The book is short and doesn’t come close to unpacking all these issues have to offer, but it is a great starting point!
This book will be incredibly beneficial to both my discipleship and evangelism on the college campus!
While not every claim is a perfect home run, I found the “Love is Love,” Women’s Rights are Human Rights,” and “Transgender Women are Women” chapters the most beneficial! The book is short and doesn’t come close to unpacking all these issues have to offer, but it is a great starting point!
This book will be incredibly beneficial to both my discipleship and evangelism on the college campus!
January 7, 2022
I was hopeful this would be a good resource to point others to, however, she was not firm enough on the biblical positions. She left some room for ambiguity.
January 4, 2025
Bastante práctico y sencillo. Rebecca tiene una forma sencilla y profunda de abordar los temas que propone. Lo compartí con mi alumnos del taller bíblico y les pareció bastante útil. Más si están cansados de discursos incendiarios.
June 22, 2022
God, but cursory.
There are some solid arguments, and her overall point is excellent. As always, she manages to combine a knack for truth with gentleness
The big problem is that the arguments are sometimes bare bones to the point of me not being fully happy.
Her argument against abortion is fine from a moral standpoint but from a legal standpoint, if that were the whole argument, I would say it should be legal in most cases, or at least many.
This is, of course, designed to be a brief, approachable book, so it does not cause me too much disappointment, but still. I'm left wanting more.
There are some solid arguments, and her overall point is excellent. As always, she manages to combine a knack for truth with gentleness
The big problem is that the arguments are sometimes bare bones to the point of me not being fully happy.
Her argument against abortion is fine from a moral standpoint but from a legal standpoint, if that were the whole argument, I would say it should be legal in most cases, or at least many.
This is, of course, designed to be a brief, approachable book, so it does not cause me too much disappointment, but still. I'm left wanting more.
January 26, 2025
“God’s rule over our lives is heresy to modern, self-determining ears. But we must speak the truth with tenderness & not let our sin take the wheel.”
McLaughlin does a great job of speaking biblical truth over so many divisive topics of our day. These are hard things to address, but she does so in a loving & intentional way. May we pursue those who believe differently than we do with grace, truth, kindness & love, all centered around the great mercy & forgiveness we’ve been shown through Christ’s death & resurrection.
McLaughlin does a great job of speaking biblical truth over so many divisive topics of our day. These are hard things to address, but she does so in a loving & intentional way. May we pursue those who believe differently than we do with grace, truth, kindness & love, all centered around the great mercy & forgiveness we’ve been shown through Christ’s death & resurrection.
May 12, 2024
“Let’s fight with love and sing the song with which we’ll one day overcome.”
Grateful for McLaughlin for engaging with contemporary claims like this. Although the book is short, it covers gender, race, sexuality and more. It is written in a very compassionate and empathetic way but provides robust ways of thinking about heavy topics. I will definitely be coming back to this in the future. Highly recommend to any Christian wanting confidence to engage with the world around them.
Grateful for McLaughlin for engaging with contemporary claims like this. Although the book is short, it covers gender, race, sexuality and more. It is written in a very compassionate and empathetic way but provides robust ways of thinking about heavy topics. I will definitely be coming back to this in the future. Highly recommend to any Christian wanting confidence to engage with the world around them.
Read
July 11, 2024Review of “The Secular Creed” by Rebecca McLaughlin
Intro
This is not the kind of book I normally would choose to read; this is the sort of book that comes out to address a present issue that Christians want to see their leadership address. McLaughlin (and TGC) saw the need for clarity in this space and (from what she says in this book) chose to quickly put together a response to help equip Christians to engage with this cultural issue. The premise of this short book is that Christians should be ready to engage with some of the modern secular truth claims that have become so common that they now find their way into signs on peoples’ front yards. If the world is this bold in their proclamation of their truth, we ought to be equally bold in our response. Let me start off by saying that, while I disagree with McLaughlin’s approach in a few instances, I trust her intentions and find that she has prepared some very helpful responses to these issues. Christians could find some better resources in some cases, but in general this is a great starting point for gaining some insight into these issues.
The Most Helpful Bits
McLaughlin’s main thesis, which she uses for almost every chapter (which are, in order, “Black Lives Matter,” “Love is Love,” “The Gay-Rights Movement is the New Civil-Rights Movement,” “Women’s Rights are Human Rights,” and “Transgender Women are Women”) is that the secular teaching about the origin of mankind does not not actually provide the basis needed for any claims of “justice,” “equality,” or “fairness.” In each chapter, whether dealing with racial injustice, hatred towards homosexuals, or feminism and abortion, she addresses the fact that secular people actually need a Christian worldview to get the basis for their claim to any consistent ethic. Why? Because evolution does not provide the basis for ethics:
In fact, if we look to evolution as our only origin story and try to squeeze our ethics from its scientific husk, we have (at best) the idea that one should sacrifice only for members of one’s genetic group. The idea of loving those whose origins lie in a different continent is dead in the primeval water. In fact, as atheist psychologist Steven Pinker observes, if virtue is equated with “sacrifices that benefit one’s own group in competition with other groups . . . then fascism [is] the ultimate virtuous ideology.” (25)
McLaughlin makes this point extremely well with humility and a complete lack of any sarcasm. She does not belittle her opponents in this discussion or take cheap shots. She notes similar issues with ethical and epistemological consistency in regard to women’s rights:
If there is no God who made us in his image—if, as Harari puts it, “human rights are . . . figments of our fertile imaginations”—then a baby in her mother’s womb is just a collection of cells. But if there is no God who made us in his image, then that’s what you and I are too. Pregnant women have no natural rights, just as chimpanzees, hyenas, and spiders have no rights. If we’re no more than animals, the statement “Women’s Rights Are Human Rights” isn’t worth the yard sign on which it is written. (86)
On another front, McLaughlin helpfully points out that the history of Christianity in many of these cases has been willfully ignored or modified to fit into a narrative which helps the secular cause. Note what she says about children’s rights post-Christianity:
Paul Offit, a non-Christian professor of pediatrics at University of Pennsylvania, calls Christianity “the single greatest breakthrough against child abuse” in history. He explains: At the time of Jesus’ life . . . child abuse, as noted by one historian, was “the crying vice of the Roman Empire.” Infanticide was common. Abandonment was common . . . children were property, no different than slaves. But Jesus stood up for children, cared about them, when those around him typically didn’t. (80)
On the same topic, she helpfully explores how women were blessed by the rise of Christianity in the ancient culture:
That the early church was as much as two-thirds female is especially surprising given that the Greco-Roman empire was disproportionately male. Many women died in childbirth, and many baby girls were abandoned: distressing proof that women were seen as less precious than men. But given the way Jesus treated women, it’s no surprise that women flocked to him. And they’re flocking still. (74)
In these cases, what I appreciate about McLaughlin’s approach is that she:
1. Addresses each problem by attempting to remove the political charge which so commonly overtakes the discussion.
2. Attempts to present Jesus’ interaction with the issue.
3. Demonstrates the consistently of Biblical thinking and the inconsistency of secular thinking.
4. Willingly points out ways that Christians could grow in these areas without attempting to concede unnecessary ground when it comes to truth.
This is extremely difficulty to do! It’s a wonder that a book put together so quickly could do this well, and I’m thankful for her efforts.
Some Concerns
There are two areas where I will share concerns. In the first I would have liked to see McLaughlin use the same approach I outlined above (I think she applied it inconsistently). In the other, I think there is room for theological clarity.
Black Lives Matter Truth Claims
In the chapter on BLM, McLaughlin uses her same argument against secular thinking to point out the weaknesses with the current secular argument (which I quoted from above). If we are not created beings made by a loving God with a purpose, as image-bearers, then the argument that Black Lives Matter becomes much more difficult to stand by. Most BLM activists need to borrow from a Christian worldview to be able to make their truth claims. However, I do think that McLaughlin cedes ground in this area that she doesn’t in other places. Take this quote as an example:
We must not be naïve about the past. The painful reality is that the founding fathers excluded enslaved Africans from their vision of human equality. But this problem isn’t fixed by erasing the basis for equality. In fact, the dehumanizing ways in which black people were treated by white slaveholders were only truly wrong if human beings are truly more than animals, if love across racial difference is right, and if right and wrong are universal. The rational atheist can cling to none of these things. (13)
The truth claims in this quote are all true and helpful—but I think that there is room to say that some of the founding fathers did understand there was a need for better equality and freedom for black Americans. As many have argued in the past few years, the starting point which the founding fathers gave America became the basis for freedoms to build off of. We can easily throw the baby out with the bath water in this situation. McLaughlin goes on to note that there were lots of Christians who were African very early on in Christianity (18ff), so she understands how to make an historical argument. I think this is an area where she too quickly gives a point to the secular side. Here’s another quote which illustrates this point:
The chronic sin of white Christian racism dishonors the name of Christ. The slow-burn holocaust of black lives across the centuries is hard to face. (23)
I think that the question needs to be asked: why do we give these people the right to claim that they were acting as Christians when we can see so clearly that they weren’t? This is a question which needs a lot of nuance and historical background to answer clearly. Obviously there were (and are) Christians who commit racist sins because they are sinners and still being sanctified. Obviously the American culture has had to exorcise this sin over the years. McLaughlin points to an assumed “Christian” sin of racism that, if we are honest, seems to erupt more often from an unredeemed heart. The danger here could be that it paints a picture of assumed sin on the part of white Christians in America which doesn’t have to be the case—these sins are committed in an individual’s heart, and while one man could be more inclined culturally to engage in a sin, he has not committed the sin simply by being in that culture. So, when McLaughlin says, “In particular, white Christians like me must recognize the ways in which our tribe has been complicit in the pain of black Americans: from slavery to segregation to racial inequality today (114),” I would want her to clarify her thinking: am I complicit? Or is this only a historical complicity? Again, she does an incredible job of arguing for the historical work of Christianity against slavery and the debasement of human life—so I don’t want to impugn her motives. I see a weakness, however, in assuming sin on the behalf of a group of people just based on the color of their skin or their cultural background.
Same-Sex Attraction
McLaughlin writes as someone who has battled same-sex attraction (31), and her discussion of gay rights issues has some helpful personal anecdotes that add a unique perspective to the issue. In the discussion of gay marriage, she also writes some beautifully concerning the picture and purpose of marriage according to the Bible:
Human marriage at its very best is a little, monochrome negative of a massive wall print. Wives are not told to submit to their husbands because women are worse at leading than men, but because the church submits to Christ. Husbands are not told to give themselves up for their wives because men are less valuable than women, but because Jesus gave his life for us. Husbands are told to love their wives as their own bodies, because the church is Jesus’s body on earth. This signpost to Christ is why marriage is male and female, and why husbands and wives are called to different roles. Like Christ and the church, it’s love across difference. Like Christ and the church, it’s love built on sacrifice. Like Christ and the church, it’s a flesh-uniting, life-creating, never-ending, exclusive love. Marriage is meant to point us to Christ. (36)
However, when it comes to same-sex attraction, McLaughlin’s approach is a bit odd to me. First of all, she argues the following about SSA:
Idolatry equals adultery. In Romans 1:21–27, Paul sticks with this theme, weaving between idolatry and sexual sin, and arguing that sexual immorality in general, and homosexual relationships in particular, are a consequence of people turning from God. This does not mean that an individual’s experience of same-sex attraction results from rejecting God. Most Christians struggle at times with attractions that, if followed, would lead them into sexual sin. (41)
Understand: she clearly states that SSA is a sin as outlined by the Bible. But here, she seems to say that we can disobey God without rejecting him. This is a bit confusing, and I think we can be clearer. I believe that her point is that Christians who struggle with SSA are not actively choosing to reject God outright—however, any time we engage in sin, we are rejecting God in that moment. There is grace for that rejection, and Christ has died for that sin. I believe that we should be able to argue clearly from Scripture that erotic attraction to the opposite sex is sinful—it is a twisting of God’s created order. As Christians, we are called to fight whatever sinful inclinations we have, and to call sin, sin—which is rejection of God. So Again, I don’t necessarily think that McLaughlin would disagree with me on this point (although she could!) I just found the language odd.
Conclusion
This book provides a helpful first step in looking at these issues with clarity and a desire to present a Christian witness. I appreciate the clarity of McLaughlin’s argumentation when it comes to disabusing the secular worldview of the basis for its truth claims. When the world cries, “Justice! Equality!” It borrows from the Christianity it hates so much to do so. And the mark of Christianity on the world has done much to create our awareness of these inequalities in the first place. There is more reading to do—especially from Scripture itself. But this book provides some helpful first steps along the way.
Intro
This is not the kind of book I normally would choose to read; this is the sort of book that comes out to address a present issue that Christians want to see their leadership address. McLaughlin (and TGC) saw the need for clarity in this space and (from what she says in this book) chose to quickly put together a response to help equip Christians to engage with this cultural issue. The premise of this short book is that Christians should be ready to engage with some of the modern secular truth claims that have become so common that they now find their way into signs on peoples’ front yards. If the world is this bold in their proclamation of their truth, we ought to be equally bold in our response. Let me start off by saying that, while I disagree with McLaughlin’s approach in a few instances, I trust her intentions and find that she has prepared some very helpful responses to these issues. Christians could find some better resources in some cases, but in general this is a great starting point for gaining some insight into these issues.
The Most Helpful Bits
McLaughlin’s main thesis, which she uses for almost every chapter (which are, in order, “Black Lives Matter,” “Love is Love,” “The Gay-Rights Movement is the New Civil-Rights Movement,” “Women’s Rights are Human Rights,” and “Transgender Women are Women”) is that the secular teaching about the origin of mankind does not not actually provide the basis needed for any claims of “justice,” “equality,” or “fairness.” In each chapter, whether dealing with racial injustice, hatred towards homosexuals, or feminism and abortion, she addresses the fact that secular people actually need a Christian worldview to get the basis for their claim to any consistent ethic. Why? Because evolution does not provide the basis for ethics:
In fact, if we look to evolution as our only origin story and try to squeeze our ethics from its scientific husk, we have (at best) the idea that one should sacrifice only for members of one’s genetic group. The idea of loving those whose origins lie in a different continent is dead in the primeval water. In fact, as atheist psychologist Steven Pinker observes, if virtue is equated with “sacrifices that benefit one’s own group in competition with other groups . . . then fascism [is] the ultimate virtuous ideology.” (25)
McLaughlin makes this point extremely well with humility and a complete lack of any sarcasm. She does not belittle her opponents in this discussion or take cheap shots. She notes similar issues with ethical and epistemological consistency in regard to women’s rights:
If there is no God who made us in his image—if, as Harari puts it, “human rights are . . . figments of our fertile imaginations”—then a baby in her mother’s womb is just a collection of cells. But if there is no God who made us in his image, then that’s what you and I are too. Pregnant women have no natural rights, just as chimpanzees, hyenas, and spiders have no rights. If we’re no more than animals, the statement “Women’s Rights Are Human Rights” isn’t worth the yard sign on which it is written. (86)
On another front, McLaughlin helpfully points out that the history of Christianity in many of these cases has been willfully ignored or modified to fit into a narrative which helps the secular cause. Note what she says about children’s rights post-Christianity:
Paul Offit, a non-Christian professor of pediatrics at University of Pennsylvania, calls Christianity “the single greatest breakthrough against child abuse” in history. He explains: At the time of Jesus’ life . . . child abuse, as noted by one historian, was “the crying vice of the Roman Empire.” Infanticide was common. Abandonment was common . . . children were property, no different than slaves. But Jesus stood up for children, cared about them, when those around him typically didn’t. (80)
On the same topic, she helpfully explores how women were blessed by the rise of Christianity in the ancient culture:
That the early church was as much as two-thirds female is especially surprising given that the Greco-Roman empire was disproportionately male. Many women died in childbirth, and many baby girls were abandoned: distressing proof that women were seen as less precious than men. But given the way Jesus treated women, it’s no surprise that women flocked to him. And they’re flocking still. (74)
In these cases, what I appreciate about McLaughlin’s approach is that she:
1. Addresses each problem by attempting to remove the political charge which so commonly overtakes the discussion.
2. Attempts to present Jesus’ interaction with the issue.
3. Demonstrates the consistently of Biblical thinking and the inconsistency of secular thinking.
4. Willingly points out ways that Christians could grow in these areas without attempting to concede unnecessary ground when it comes to truth.
This is extremely difficulty to do! It’s a wonder that a book put together so quickly could do this well, and I’m thankful for her efforts.
Some Concerns
There are two areas where I will share concerns. In the first I would have liked to see McLaughlin use the same approach I outlined above (I think she applied it inconsistently). In the other, I think there is room for theological clarity.
Black Lives Matter Truth Claims
In the chapter on BLM, McLaughlin uses her same argument against secular thinking to point out the weaknesses with the current secular argument (which I quoted from above). If we are not created beings made by a loving God with a purpose, as image-bearers, then the argument that Black Lives Matter becomes much more difficult to stand by. Most BLM activists need to borrow from a Christian worldview to be able to make their truth claims. However, I do think that McLaughlin cedes ground in this area that she doesn’t in other places. Take this quote as an example:
We must not be naïve about the past. The painful reality is that the founding fathers excluded enslaved Africans from their vision of human equality. But this problem isn’t fixed by erasing the basis for equality. In fact, the dehumanizing ways in which black people were treated by white slaveholders were only truly wrong if human beings are truly more than animals, if love across racial difference is right, and if right and wrong are universal. The rational atheist can cling to none of these things. (13)
The truth claims in this quote are all true and helpful—but I think that there is room to say that some of the founding fathers did understand there was a need for better equality and freedom for black Americans. As many have argued in the past few years, the starting point which the founding fathers gave America became the basis for freedoms to build off of. We can easily throw the baby out with the bath water in this situation. McLaughlin goes on to note that there were lots of Christians who were African very early on in Christianity (18ff), so she understands how to make an historical argument. I think this is an area where she too quickly gives a point to the secular side. Here’s another quote which illustrates this point:
The chronic sin of white Christian racism dishonors the name of Christ. The slow-burn holocaust of black lives across the centuries is hard to face. (23)
I think that the question needs to be asked: why do we give these people the right to claim that they were acting as Christians when we can see so clearly that they weren’t? This is a question which needs a lot of nuance and historical background to answer clearly. Obviously there were (and are) Christians who commit racist sins because they are sinners and still being sanctified. Obviously the American culture has had to exorcise this sin over the years. McLaughlin points to an assumed “Christian” sin of racism that, if we are honest, seems to erupt more often from an unredeemed heart. The danger here could be that it paints a picture of assumed sin on the part of white Christians in America which doesn’t have to be the case—these sins are committed in an individual’s heart, and while one man could be more inclined culturally to engage in a sin, he has not committed the sin simply by being in that culture. So, when McLaughlin says, “In particular, white Christians like me must recognize the ways in which our tribe has been complicit in the pain of black Americans: from slavery to segregation to racial inequality today (114),” I would want her to clarify her thinking: am I complicit? Or is this only a historical complicity? Again, she does an incredible job of arguing for the historical work of Christianity against slavery and the debasement of human life—so I don’t want to impugn her motives. I see a weakness, however, in assuming sin on the behalf of a group of people just based on the color of their skin or their cultural background.
Same-Sex Attraction
McLaughlin writes as someone who has battled same-sex attraction (31), and her discussion of gay rights issues has some helpful personal anecdotes that add a unique perspective to the issue. In the discussion of gay marriage, she also writes some beautifully concerning the picture and purpose of marriage according to the Bible:
Human marriage at its very best is a little, monochrome negative of a massive wall print. Wives are not told to submit to their husbands because women are worse at leading than men, but because the church submits to Christ. Husbands are not told to give themselves up for their wives because men are less valuable than women, but because Jesus gave his life for us. Husbands are told to love their wives as their own bodies, because the church is Jesus’s body on earth. This signpost to Christ is why marriage is male and female, and why husbands and wives are called to different roles. Like Christ and the church, it’s love across difference. Like Christ and the church, it’s love built on sacrifice. Like Christ and the church, it’s a flesh-uniting, life-creating, never-ending, exclusive love. Marriage is meant to point us to Christ. (36)
However, when it comes to same-sex attraction, McLaughlin’s approach is a bit odd to me. First of all, she argues the following about SSA:
Idolatry equals adultery. In Romans 1:21–27, Paul sticks with this theme, weaving between idolatry and sexual sin, and arguing that sexual immorality in general, and homosexual relationships in particular, are a consequence of people turning from God. This does not mean that an individual’s experience of same-sex attraction results from rejecting God. Most Christians struggle at times with attractions that, if followed, would lead them into sexual sin. (41)
Understand: she clearly states that SSA is a sin as outlined by the Bible. But here, she seems to say that we can disobey God without rejecting him. This is a bit confusing, and I think we can be clearer. I believe that her point is that Christians who struggle with SSA are not actively choosing to reject God outright—however, any time we engage in sin, we are rejecting God in that moment. There is grace for that rejection, and Christ has died for that sin. I believe that we should be able to argue clearly from Scripture that erotic attraction to the opposite sex is sinful—it is a twisting of God’s created order. As Christians, we are called to fight whatever sinful inclinations we have, and to call sin, sin—which is rejection of God. So Again, I don’t necessarily think that McLaughlin would disagree with me on this point (although she could!) I just found the language odd.
Conclusion
This book provides a helpful first step in looking at these issues with clarity and a desire to present a Christian witness. I appreciate the clarity of McLaughlin’s argumentation when it comes to disabusing the secular worldview of the basis for its truth claims. When the world cries, “Justice! Equality!” It borrows from the Christianity it hates so much to do so. And the mark of Christianity on the world has done much to create our awareness of these inequalities in the first place. There is more reading to do—especially from Scripture itself. But this book provides some helpful first steps along the way.
August 11, 2023
Wow - a must read! From someone who was raised in a progressive home but strives to follow Biblical truth, this was a really really great and interesting read.
“On all these fronts, we must fight hard with the weapon God has given us: self-sacrificing, unrelenting love. Rather than shouting progressives who seek love and justice down, let's call them in with a Jesus song: his song of good news for the historically oppressed, his song of love across racial and ethnic difference, his song that summons men and women, married and single, young and old, weak and strong, joyful and hurting, rich and destitute, into eternal love with him. Let's fight with love and sing the song with which we'll one day overcome.”
“On all these fronts, we must fight hard with the weapon God has given us: self-sacrificing, unrelenting love. Rather than shouting progressives who seek love and justice down, let's call them in with a Jesus song: his song of good news for the historically oppressed, his song of love across racial and ethnic difference, his song that summons men and women, married and single, young and old, weak and strong, joyful and hurting, rich and destitute, into eternal love with him. Let's fight with love and sing the song with which we'll one day overcome.”
June 4, 2023
This book addresses five slogans of the 21st century progressive left that are ubiquitously promoted from government policy, corporate initiatives, and even neighborhood yard signs. The author addresses each by exploring what it implies, what it really stands for, and how it aligns with or diverge from Biblical truth.
These slogans often are used to reject, ridicule, and marginalize those who hold to traditional Biblical morals. They supposedly move beyond the alleged bias, oppressiveness, inequality, and backward nature of traditional Biblical values. The book factually shows how the “ethics” underlying those slogans are inconsistent with their supposed aims and that human flourishing and respect for others are achieved only within the faithful living of Biblical truth.
These slogans often are used to reject, ridicule, and marginalize those who hold to traditional Biblical morals. They supposedly move beyond the alleged bias, oppressiveness, inequality, and backward nature of traditional Biblical values. The book factually shows how the “ethics” underlying those slogans are inconsistent with their supposed aims and that human flourishing and respect for others are achieved only within the faithful living of Biblical truth.
June 26, 2023
100% worth the read! Rebecca does an amazing job using Scripture, logic, and statistics to explain her thought process/arguments. She is bold in proclaiming Biblical truth while also being incredibly gentle. Our God graciously gives dignity & purpose to humanity and that is the root of a lot of Rebecca’s thoughts.
More and more I am convinced that one of the biggest issues in our culture today is a lack of Biblical literacy. Our worldview is ultimately shaped by what we believe about God and we can know who He is from His Word.
More and more I am convinced that one of the biggest issues in our culture today is a lack of Biblical literacy. Our worldview is ultimately shaped by what we believe about God and we can know who He is from His Word.
August 12, 2024
Everyone should read this book. McLaughlin engages with five very pressing contemporary topics that the church must interact with today (racial justice, gay marriage, the LGBT+ movement, women’s rights, and transgenderism). She offers a charitable lens by which to view the topics - seeking to comprehend and understand the topics - with a strong Biblical worldview and critique as well. She does not shy away from the church’s failure in these topics in the past, but offers a grace-filled and Biblical response for moving forward. This book is easily accessible and for those who identify as Christian or not.
April 12, 2023
This short book looks at the modern “secular creed” through a lens of Scripture. I loved the fact that the author shows both where the Bible agrees with some messages, as well where the Bible shows other arguments are wrong—for example, women’s rights matter, and those rights begin with valuing life in the womb. I love the overall message of reaching out in love to a hurting and broken world.
July 14, 2022
Quite possibly the best-written book of the year so far. Wow. McLaughlin is easy to read, succinct in what she wants to say, and ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT at affirming the good yet criticising the bad, all while pointing the reader (and secular advocates) to Jesus. Wow. Go McLaughlin. Here's one I can recommend to Christians and non-Christians alike, leaving intensity at the door while preserving depth of thought. Just awesome.
September 30, 2022
McLaughlin beautifully, compassionately, and directly confronts so many of the ideas on both sides of the spectrum in each of these “contemporary claims” that have frustrated and confused me for some time. And, she caused me to think differently about some of them. I’m grateful for her logic and wisdom, her knowledge of scripture, her use of history and context, her unique perspective, and her ability to utilize these things to communicate with such a palpably loving posture. I’ll definitely be reading more of her books.
November 2, 2022
Helpful, concise, steeped in history and statistics. Full of compassion and eye-opening points that make you realize your own sin and failures - but always points you back to the loving arms of Jesus ❤️ My only qualm is sometimes it's a little too concise and I couldn't quite follow - I felt the need for the dots to be connected and shaded in more.
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