3/15/2021 A Follow Up about the Karen Swallow Prior Kerfuffle - Founders Ministries

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A Follow Up about the Karen Swallow Prior

Kerfuf e

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TOM ASCOL

Dr. Karen Swallow Prior was removed from her position as a Fellow with the Ethics and
Religious Liberty Commission earlier this year after her book, Cultural Engagement: A
Crash Course in Contemporary Issues, was published. I am sure that was painful for her
but it seemed like a good move for Southern Baptists.

Her book includes a chapter by Matthew Vines advocating the acceptance of same-sex
relationships because Paul’s views in Romans 1 were shaped by an outdated “patriarchal
logic” (88). That, plus the fact that last year she endorsed the spiritually disastrous
Revoice Conference, made me grateful that she was removed. In her promotion of
Revoice she stated,

Now more than ever, the church must love and support our Christian brothers
and sisters who are same sex attracted, yet desire to live biblically faithful
lives, whether in singleness or marriage. I am encouraged that Revoice is here
to meet this great need in the church (source).

I nd it improper that a Fellow at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission would
be endorsing a conference whose stated purpose is:

Supporting, encouraging, and empowering gay, lesbian, same-sex-attracted,

and other gender and sexual minority Christians so they can ourish while
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observing the historic, Christian doctrine of marriage and sexuality.

When Dr. Prior was hired by Danny Akin at Southeastern Seminary, I reached out to Dr.
Akin to express my concern and asked if she had withdrawn her endorsement. Not
getting an answer to my question led me to write her an email on October 25, 2019 to
ask her directly if she had withdrawn her support. She responded in an email the next
day expressing her views on caring for those who are same-sex attracted and giving
some explanation about why she had endorsed Revoice. Though she did not answer my
question, I appreciated what she wrote.

On November 18, an interview Dr. Prior gave to the Biblical Recorder was released, in
which she said:

The reason why I supported the Revoice conference is because the people I
know who organized it are people who believe in the Biblical sexual ethic.…I
want to support those who are struggling with same-sex attraction in their

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desire to live up to a traditional Biblical sexual ethic….I still support its
mission of helping Christians live faithfully regardless of what their sexual
struggles are (emphasis added; source).

My original question, “Has Dr. Prior withdrawn her endorsement of Revoice?” which I
asked rst of Dr. Akin and then of Dr. Prior herself to no avail seems to be answered
unequivocally in this statement. Though I cannot get a simple answer to this simple
question, her statement about Revoice, that she “still support(s) its mission,” seems
clear enough.

I posted my article, “There Is No Peace,” on November 20. It highlights the problem

created by having a Southern Baptist faculty member who has endorsed Revoice. On
November 22, Dr. Prior posted the private email exchange between us from October 25
& 26 as if it were a smoking gun and claimed that that she had “provided a statement”
to me. Here I was thinking it was just a private email exchange.

I’m grateful Dr. Prior has declined any “additional af liation” beyond her endorsement.
I’m also glad she disagreed with “many of the speakers.” But that’s not a withdrawal of
an endorsement or removal of support for Revoice’s mission. And that of course, was
the question I asked. You can see for yourself… since the emails are now public.

The situation was not at all unclear about the kind of conference Revoice was going to
be in the months leading up it (which is when Dr. Prior endorsed it). Kevin DeYoung
was clear in warnings before the conference (source). Rosaria Butter eld and Denny
Burk were clear in their warnings before the conference (source). Revoice leaders were
saying things like this before the conference:

Being gay colors everything about me, even though I am celibate…. Being gay
is, for me, as much a sensibility as anything else: a heightened sensitivity to
and passion for same-sex beauty that helps determine the kind of
conversations I have, which people I’m drawn to spend time with, what novels
and poems and lms I enjoy, the particular visual art I appreciate, and also, I
think, the kind of friendships I pursue and try to strengthen. I don’t imagine I
would have invested half as much effort in loving my male friends, and making
sacri ces of time, energy, and even money on their behalf, if I weren’t gay. My
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sexuality, my basic erotic orientation to the world, is inescapably intertwined

with how I go about nding and keeping friends (Wesley Hill, Spiritual
Friendship, cited here).

Yet, Dr. Prior endorsed the conference and says, “I still support its mission.”

In an exchange with a professor from Southeastern the last two days, I nally broke
down my argument as simply as I can in hopes of being understood (forgive me for not
publishing all the emails here, but for the sake of brevity I will limit myself to posting
the essential point).

The mission of Revoice is contrary to the biblical ethic of sexuality (see the
resources linked in my previous article; plus this one by Kevin DeYoung)
KSP says she supports the mission of Revoice (see her statement to the Biblical
Recorder cited above)
KSP says she holds to the biblical ethic of sexuality (see her many public

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statements or the ones she made to me in her private email to me linked above)

This, my friends, is my dilemma.

However, it has since become even more complicated. When Tom Buck expressed to
Danny Akin that Dr. Prior should “renounce Revoice as loudly and clearly as she once
endorsed it,” Dr. Akin responded, “Tom, she has” (source).

Color me confused. Where is this renunciation of Revoice of which Dr. Akin tweets?
When did Dr. Prior make such a renunciation? November 18 she says she “still
supports” the mission of Revoice. November 22 her President says she has loudly and
clearly renounced it.

This whole thing still seems lame. Why can’t Southern Baptists get a straight answer
about this? Has a newly hired professor at Southeastern renounced her endorsement
of a conference whose theology and ethics of sexuality is spiritually poisonous? Or
does she still support its mission? Why is this so dif cult?

Dr. Prior is a professor of the English and employs that language well. One would think
that she could be more clear-spoken on this crucial matter. Yes, articulate and
eloquent speakers and writers can sometimes deploy nuance and subtleties of
misdirection to confuse matters. But we expect better of her, and there is no reason to
accept less than bold, precise language where the con ict is so momentous for the
soundness of the church.

Is this too much to ask?

I realize that for Dr. Prior to withdraw her support of Revoice might seem to some as
unloving and dismissive of those who struggle with same-sex attraction and gender
dysphoria. But it isn’t. It is lovingly indicating that an organization that, regardless of
how good their intentions are, fails to understand God’s Word at key points and
therefore misleads vulnerable people. The Scripture is not ambiguous on what
constitutes sin or how it is to be dealt with. To confuse both the diagnosis and the cure
may make those seeking help feel good but it leaves them in a worse condition than
before.

Let’s take seriously the thoughtful voices that have assessed Revoice as dangerous.
Rather than support that conference in any way, let’s do the genuinely loving thing and
warn people against it.
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BIBLIC AL RECORDER, BIBLIC AL SEXUALIT Y, DANNY AKIN, DENNY BURK, ERLC, ERLC NATIONAL CONFERENCE, ETHICS
AND RELIGIOUS LIBERT Y COMMISSION, GAY CHRISTIAN, GAY CHRISTIANIT Y, HOMOSEXUALIT Y, K AREN SWALLOW
PRIOR, KEVIN DEYOUNG, MAT THEW VINES, REVOICE, REVOICE CONFERENCE, ROSARIA BUT TERFIELD, SEBTS,
SOUTHE ASTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGIC AL SEMINARY, TOM BUCK

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