Nashville Statement Endorsements

Nashville Statement Endorsements

“The Nashville Statement is a Christian manifesto concerning issues of human sexuality. It speaks with forthright clarity, biblical conviction, gospel compassion, cultural relevance, and practical helpfulness. There is no effort to equivocate for the sake of wider, but muddled, acceptance. It is built on the persuasion that the Christian Scriptures speak with clarity and authority for the good of humankind. It is permeated by the awareness that we are all sinners in need of divine grace through Jesus Christ. It affirms with joy that no form of sexual sin is beyond forgiveness and healing. It touches the most fundamental and urgent questions of the hour, without presuming to be a blueprint for political action. And it will prove to be, I believe, enormously helpful for thousands of pastors and leaders hoping to give wise, biblical, and gracious guidance to their people.”

John Piper
Founder & Teacher, Desiring God
Chancellor, Bethlehem College and Seminary

“The spirit of our age does not delight in God’s good design of male and female. Consequently, confusion reigns over some of the most basic questions of our humanity. The aim of The Nashville Statement is to shine a light into the darkness – to declare the goodness of God’s design in our sexuality and in creating us as male and female.”

Denny Burk
President, Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

“The Nashville Statement is an urgently needed moment of gospel clarity. In a culture nearly defined by sexual confusion and brokenness, the church of Jesus Christ has to proclaim with one voice that God’s good design for gender, marriage, and sexuality. To capitulate to the spirit of the age or wring our hands in outrage at those around us would be to abandon our mission field. The Sexual Revolution cannot keep its promises, and the church must stand ready to receive with compassion the many who are in need of a better hope. The Nashville Statement is part of that mission, and my prayer is that it will help anchor churches and Christians to the gospel of Jesus Christ for years to come.”

Russell Moore
President, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission

“I’m thrilled about The Nashville Statement: it brings much needed clarity to issues where there is often silence, pain and confusion. This will provide a wonderful framework for those seeking to both find and offer grace and truth in today’s world.”

Sam Allberry
Speaker & Apologist, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries

“I am signing The Nashville Statement because I stand with Biblical orthodoxy, the only witness for hope and peace and God’s blessing. By God through the merit and power of Jesus Christ, here I stand.”

Rosaria Butterfield
Author, “The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert”

“A clear, compassionate, pastorally wise, and theologically sound summary of biblical teachings on human sexuality.”

Wayne Grudem, Ph.D.
Research Professor of Theology and Biblical Studies, Phoenix Seminary

“We live in confusing times, and confusing times require extraordinary carefulness and clarity. That’s why I’m thankful for this statement. It is courageous and gracious, wise and winsome, biblically faithful and pastorally sensitive. I pray that it protects us from error and bears good gospel fruit.”

Kevin DeYoung
Senior Pastor, Christ Covenant Church (Matthews, NC)
Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology, RTS Charlotte

“It was a privilege and honor to sign the Nashville Statement, published by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. It is a faithful, clear, and loving statement of Christian truth about sexual identity. It is my hopeful prayer that the Lord would use this statement to offer the freedom of Christ to those who are in sexual bondage, confusion, and deception.”

H.B. Charles, Jr.
Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Florida

“The Nashville Statement aims to help Christians, pastors and churches lovingly, faithfully, carefully, clearly, and persuasively articulate what the Bible teaches, and what historic Christianity has always believed, about sexuality in a time when the biblical conception of what it means to be human in under cultural duress. In our day truth is being forsaken in this arena in the name of love, but we cannot be truly loving without (or against) the truth, because “love does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6). The Nashville Statement is about truth in love, for the sake of true love. As a confessional Protestant, I affirm this faithful articulation of biblical teaching.”

Ligon Duncan
Chancellor & CEO, Reformed Theological Seminary
John E. Richards Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology

“This is one of those moments in which the church must stand and not fall; we must be faithful and not fail. We owe it to our brothers and sisters in Christ and we owe it to a watching world to speak clearly on the most basic truth of what it means to be human, what it means to be male and female, and what it means to encourage human flourishing in faithfulness to God’s order in creation. No doubt these are some of the most controversial issues of our time, and the internal contradictions of the transgender revolution reveal the essential problem with its central claims. But this statement more than anything else serves to make a very clear, gospel-centered declaration of God’s purpose in creating human beings in his image as male and female. And through the affirmations and denials it serves the purpose of clarifying these truths in an age in which confusion reigns. I’m very thankful for the leadership of CBMW and I appreciate the encouragement of the ERLC and all involved. I think the drafters did an outstanding job of drafting the document, and there was great input from a group of evangelical leaders who gave enthusiastic support for both the need for and the form of this statement. I think this an important day. Like so many other statements—the Chicago Statement on biblical inerrancy, the Danvers Statement on biblical manhood and womanhood—I think we’ll look back on The Nashville Statement as a word that needed to be said, a message that needed to be sent. It is clarity in the midst of confusion that will stand the test of time and the test of truth.”

Albert Mohler, Jr.
President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

“The Research Institute exists to be a catalyst that connects the agenda of the gospel to the complex moral questions of the day, for the good of local congregations and the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom…We are pleased to offer this statement as a faithful expression of Christian conviction in a secular age.”

Andrew T. Walker
Director, ERLC Research Institute

“In order to be truly for the world, when the world is going the wrong way, you must be against the world. Athanasius knew this when he positioned himself contra mundi. For the good of our world we position ourselves, with The Nashville Statement, against the sexual heresy that is the spirit of our age.”

Jerry A. Johnson, PhD
President and CEO, National Religious Broadcasters

“The world is changing, but God’s Word is not. We must stand our ground on the unchanging Word of God in the midst of an ever-changing culture. The Nashville Statement is a courageous and compassionate affirmation of human sexuality, addressing what are difficult and painful issues for many people. At the heart of this statement is genuine love for our neighbor—love that is founded on the love of God, demonstrated at the cross of Christ, and defined by the truth of God’s Word. The purpose of the Nashville Statement is to serve the church of Jesus Christ and to bring glory to our triune God as we proclaim his truth about human sexuality and the hope he promises in the gospel. For it is only when we know and believe the truth that we will experience genuine freedom in Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life.”

Burk Parsons
Copastor, St. Andrew’s Chapel
Editor, Tabletalk

“The biblical vision for human sexuality is breathtakingly glorious.  That is why The Nashville Statement is not asking us to settle for something unworthy.  It declares the very heart of Christianity with uplifting clarity — that our true and ultimate Bridegroom, having given us his redeeming love, is calling us to stand faithfully for him in our generation, come what may.”

Ray Ortlund
Pastor, Immanuel Church

“The issue of God’s good design concerning biblical sexuality is under a torrid assault in the cultural climate of our day. Gender confusion is rampant and lives are being damaged as a result. The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ must speak with a clear voice and The Nashville Statement does this. With conviction and compassion, we have articulated what God’s Word says about issues of sexuality and gender. The transforming power of the gospel sings throughout the document offering clarity and hope. I am honored to have name attached to this important declaration.”

Daniel L. Akin
President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

“The velocity of cultural change in recent years has left many Christians perplexed and confused on issues fundamental to God’s purposes for humanity. The Nashville Statement provides much needed clarity that will equip believers to respond to such issues with courage, compassion, and biblical fidelity.”

Jeff Purswell
Director of Theology, Sovereign Grace Churches

“Times arise where believers must take a stand for the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ. This includes loving others enough to tell the truth. In a time of cultural confusion over complex matters, we have an obligation to state the biblical position with compassionate conviction. The Nashville Statement clearly articulates evangelical beliefs on biblical sexuality, and I am proud to affirm these truths alongside my brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Thomas White
President, Cedarville University

“Historically, Evangelicals have served churches and the watching world well when they have labored to speak together with clarity about issues of pressing importance—in Chicago on inerrancy, in Danvers on biblical manhood and womanhood, and now in Nashville on gender and sexuality. I’m grateful for the unity among Evangelicals The Nashville Statement represents, and I pray that it will serve and help many in this post-Christian age to see the good purposes of God for human sexuality revealed in Christian Scripture.”

Jason G. Duesing
Provost, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary & College, Kansas City, Missouri

“Our Creator knows us best, and what is best for us. But we need to listen to his word if we are going to find life in him and his abundant gifts to us. My earnest prayer is that God will use The Nashville Statement to help make clear what so many find confusing today—so that many will find life and joy in the enjoyment of God and of his good design for women and men.”

Erik Thoennes
Professor and Chair of Theology, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University

“In every generation, the confessing church has been called upon to articulate biblical truth, with clarity and conviction, especially toward areas of cultural confusion and Scriptural compromise. In the present generation, confusion and perversion surrounding gender, marriage, and human sexuality continue to define our times. This is why The Nashville Statement is so important and why I chose to be an original signer. May the Lord use The Nashville Statement as a timely witness to the world and to strengthen his church.”

Jason Allen
President, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary