09.29.2017. — CBMW

Joe Rigney: Sola Scriptura, the Natural Law, and Sexual Ethics

by Denny Burk

In my book What Is the Meaning of Sex?, I made the case for a hybrid deontological/teleological approach to sexual ethics. I wish the case that I made there were half as good as the address that I just listened to by Dr. Joe Rigney (see above).

In a recent chapel address at Bethlehem College, Dr. Rigney explains how the natural law and sola scriptura are not at odds but are necessary complements. This address is so clarifying and helpful and has direct application to sexual ethics. In fact, the relation he’s arguing for is why the Nashville Statement itself mentions God’s “design” no less than nine times.

This address is really well done, and I commend it to you. Thank you, Dr. Rigney!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Denny Burk

Denny Burk is the President of the Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood. He joined the faculty of Boyce College in 2008, where he currently serves as Professor of Biblical Studies. He also serves as one of the preaching pastors at Kenwood Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. He has written extensively about the Bible's teaching on sexuality and gender, including Male and Female He Created Them (Christian Focus, 2023), Transforming Homosexuality (P&R, 2015), and What Is the Meaning of Sex? (Crossway, 2013). He has also authored a commentary on the pastoral epistles (Crossway, 2017) and has written articles that have appeared in the Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Tyndale Bulletin, Bulletin for Biblical Research, and the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. He is married and has four children.
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Denny Burk

Denny Burk is the President of the Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood. He joined the faculty of Boyce College in 2008, where he currently serves as Professor of Biblical Studies. He also serves as one of the preaching pastors at Kenwood Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. He has written extensively about the Bible's teaching on sexuality and gender, including Male and Female He Created Them (Christian Focus, 2023), Transforming Homosexuality (P&R, 2015), and What Is the Meaning of Sex? (Crossway, 2013). He has also authored a commentary on the pastoral epistles (Crossway, 2017) and has written articles that have appeared in the Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Tyndale Bulletin, Bulletin for Biblical Research, and the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. He is married and has four children.

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