Grove City College professor Carl Trueman describes the modern self  with the term expressive individualism in a lecture at the C.S. Lewis Institute. In the contemporary age, we ground our sense of self in psychological satisfaction instead of external obligations. Trueman argues that this shift historically occurred in three stages.

Progressive divinity schools and churches have transitioned from an embrace of inclusivity to instead uproot the fundamental principles of theology. Queer theology branches from Marxist-influenced liberation theology and queer theory. For three centuries, queer theologians attempted to root their armory of arguments and literature in biblical truths. Book titles include Rainbow Theology, Queer Christianities, and The Queer God.
Queer theologian Marcella Althaus-Reid was a driving force in its formation. Althaus-Reid’s theology paints heterosexual and binary norms as oppressive, limiting, and anti-biblical. She asserts that queerness is natural, healthy, and to be celebrated.
In her book, The Queer God, Althaus-Reid wrote that “the Queer God seeks to liberate God from the closet of traditional Christian thought, and to embrace God’s part in the lives of gays, lesbians and the poor… only a theology that dares to be radical can show us the presence of God in our times.” She concluded that “the Queer God…challenges the oppressive powers of heterosexual orthodoxy, whiteness and global capitalism.”
Mainline Protestant divinity schools are exposing these pervasive, heretical, and borderline pornographic ideas to the next generation of ministers.
Most recently, the University of Chicago’s religion department offers a “Queering God” class this fall quarter. The course explores queer and trans foundations in relationship to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and “analyzes the ways that contemporary artists, activists, and scholars are using theology to reimagine gender and experiment with new relational forms.”
Professor Oliva Bustion of the UChicago Divinity School teaches the class. She asks, “Can God be an ally in queer worldmaking? Is God queer? What does queerness have to do with Judaism, Christianity, or Islam?”
In 2018, Duke Divinity School students protested during the divinity dean’s State of the School speech because they believed the school marginalized gay and trans students. Duke Divinity School now offers a certificate in Gender, Sexuality, Theology, and Ministry (GSTM).
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Given that history, we would be better served to abandon the desire for winsomeness and all attempts to repurpose it and make it our own, and to instead return to Scripture’s ideas and terms regarding the multi-faceted virtue which is to be exhibited by the followers of Christ. President Kruger is right in his aim and practice, but we could wish he finds a better theory and terminology in which to dress it. For the excellencies of the Spirit-filled life do not fit well in the rhetoric of contemporary American culture.

The debate over the desirability of winsomeness continues. In a recent entry no less eminent and praiseworthy a gentleman than President Kruger of Reformed Theological Seminary – Charlotte has come to the defense of winsomeness with a polite but unyielding article asserting that instilling winsomeness is a key part of his institution’s efforts. He maintains that character matters; that it affects how our message is likely to be received; and that the Reformed world is in need of much improvement on this point. Those three points are indisputably true, but it is not clear that they have the close relation to winsomeness that President Kruger maintains.
Central to his argument is his contention that being winsome is simply embodying the fruits of the Spirit in our own lives. Let it be stated very plainly that if to be winsome is to be kind, loving, patient, and all the other fruits of the Spirit, then we are indeed under obligation to be winsome. No believer is permitted to disparage the Spirit’s works or embody the works of the flesh (Rom. 8:13), and if President Kruger’s aim is only to inculcate a Spirit-directed life in his students and audience (comp. Gal. 5:25) it is wholly appropriate, and all Presbyterians ought to wish him Godspeed.
I disagree with his definition, however, and assert that while his ministerial efforts are laudable his scheme of classification is mistaken. The essence of winsomeness does not lie in the sundry fruits of the Spirit or being like Christ. The conception of winsomeness that Kruger and others praise regards winsomeness as something in the person who is deemed winsome. Indeed, Kruger uses winsome as a synonym for virtuous or Spirit-filled.
But winsomeness, like attractiveness, is in the eye of the beholder. Its essence does not lie so much in what one is, but in how he or she is perceived by others. We describe other people as winsome when we regard them as charming, likable, pleasant, polished, and generally enjoyable to listen to or keep company with. Such people tend to be many of the things that Kruger regards as essential, such as kind or peaceable, but their winsomeness does not lie in those things as such, but in how those things lead us to have a positive esteem of them. One can only be deemed likable or charming if his character has charmed others or made him likable to them.
If this be doubted, consider how people talk about others. How often have you heard someone say something like ‘He’s a good guy, nice and easy to get along with, but –‘ followed by some caveat that means that his kindness, peaceableness, gentleness, patience, and goodness notwithstanding, the person in question is not likely to be called winsome. In practice there are many people who are kind, good, pleasant, etc., whom we find only partly likable, at best, and who do not inspire that feeling of fondness and positive impression that leads us to praise them as winsome or to take their position in disputed matters.
Note also the contexts in which winsome appears. I have yet to see someone refer to himself as winsome – which is well, for it would be about the most unwinsome and revolting thing he could do. But I have read Robert Burns use it to praise his wife as a delight (“My Wife’s A Winsome Wee Thing”), and I have read many a book review or profile of a prominent figure whose subject was described as winsome by an admiring author.
The problem with the view of Kruger and others is that they have effectively enshrined winsomeness as the preeminent virtue, the one in which in principle all others are found and from which they flow. What arête was to the ancient Greeks or honor to the antebellum Southerner, so is winsomeness to the contemporary evangelical. Again, Kruger defines it as consisting of a conscious embodiment of the fruits of the Spirit and imitation of Christ.
There is an alternative to winsomeness which I will delineate in a subsequent article. For our purposes here I will mention only three more things. One, the worst people in the world can often be described as winsome. Any time you meet a winsome person you ought to tread carefully, for there is a good chance that person is a deceptive, manipulative fiend with bad intentions, an adulterer, con man, abuser, or some other form of blackguard who is compelled to hide his true nature to accomplish his foul aims (comp. 2 Cor. 11:13-15).
Two, my disagreement with President Kruger et. al., does not concern how we are to behave. We are all agreed that we are to imitate Christ, walk by the Spirit, and embody virtue in all that we are and do. The disagreement is merely over what terms and concepts we should use to describe such a manner of living. If anyone comes away from this article with a poor impression of President Kruger or imagining that we are to be curmudgeonly or uncivil, he has misunderstood me entirely.
Three, winsome is an ancient English word that fell out of use until it was revived by eighteenth century Scottish poets such as the aforementioned Robert Burns (Online Etymology Dictionary). Burns was a fierce critic of the Church of Scotland.[1] Consider the thick irony that we are all running about desperately trying to be winsome, ultimately, because an opponent of our Scottish forebears revived the word. For the whole history of the church people have been talking about the goodness of being merciful, just, loving, virtuous, etc. Only in the last generation or two has the emphasis shifted to being this one thing, winsome, and this has only been possible because a critic of the church re-popularized the term in previous generations.
Given that history, we would be better served to abandon the desire for winsomeness and all attempts to repurpose it and make it our own, and to instead return to Scripture’s ideas and terms regarding the multi-faceted virtue which is to be exhibited by the followers of Christ. President Kruger is right in his aim and practice, but we could wish he finds a better theory and terminology in which to dress it. For the excellencies of the Spirit-filled life do not fit well in the rhetoric of contemporary American culture.
Tom Hervey is a member of Woodruff Road Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Simpsonville, S.C.
[1] It must be noted that the Church of Scotland of Burns’ day was by most accounts unhealthy, however, and in need of reform.
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The church must proclaim the mercy of Christ who came to live, die, and rise again to save hell-deserving sinners by faith in Him — forgiving all of His people’s sins, including the sin of abortion. However, the state’s role is not to show grace but to do justice: to praise those who do good and to punish evil (1 Pet 2:14).

Christians of Alabama: In gratitude for God’s grace in the Gospel, you need to be the modern-day William Wilberforce.
No, not someone else — you. Yes, you. God commands us: “seek justice, correct oppression” (Isa 1:17).  What did that mean in Wilberforce’s day? The most heinous injustice in his time was the slave trade. So Wilberforce preached against that evil and sought for it to be outlawed.
What is the most barbaric injustice of our time? Worldometer statistics report that abortion is the leading cause of death in the world today, accounting for about 40% of all deaths. Abortion is also the leading cause of death in the United States, where there are “1,500 to 2,500 abortions per day. Nearly 20% of all pregnancies in the USA … end in abortion.” One out of five. This is a crisis! Christians ought to be speaking out against this evil and seeking to outlaw it.
The church must proclaim the mercy of Christ who came to live, die, and rise again to save hell-deserving sinners by faith in Him — forgiving all of His people’s sins, including the sin of abortion. However, the state’s role is not to show grace but to do justice: to praise those who do good and to punish evil (1 Pet 2:14).
Many people think that abortion is illegal in Alabama, but it is not. By way of analogy, imagine there was a crisis of 13-year-olds being killed. So a law is passed that says you cannot hire an assassin to kill your 13-year-old, but you can kill your 13-year-old if you “do it yourself” (DIY). If that was the solution, we would all agree that is not going nearly far enough. We need to make it a crime for you to kill your 13-year-old.
Well, that is what has happened in Alabama with regard to preborn babies. In the Human Life Protection Act, Alabama has passed a law that basically says you cannot hire an assassin (an abortionist) to kill your baby, but you can kill your baby if you “do it yourself.” DIY abortion is not a crime in Alabama. Of course, it would be a crime for you to kill your 13-year-old child or your 40-year-old child, but it is not a crime for you to kill your preborn child. That means the preborn do not have equal protection under the law. According to attorney Bradley Pierce, there are an estimated 3,500 DIY abortions on Alabama soil annually.
This lack of equal protection for the preborn is unjust. It is showing partiality toward those who are born and discrimination against those who are preborn. This is in direct violation of God’s Law: “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial…” (Lev 19:15).
In Wilberforce’s time, there was a law against kidnapping and enslaving white people, but there was not such a law regarding black people. That was an “iniquitous decree” because it showed partiality, and Wilberforce let the magistrates of that day know, “Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression” (Isa 10:1). In theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s time, there was a law against killing non-Jewish Germans, but there was not a law against killing Jews. That was partiality. In our time in Alabama, there is a law against killing born people, but there is not a law against freely, willingly, knowingly, and intentionally killing preborn people (as long as you do it yourself). That is an iniquitous decree because it shows partiality.
“How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality…? Give justice to the weak and the fatherless” (Ps 82:2-3). Christian, that is what we must say to our magistrates today in Alabama who are practicing partiality by not giving equal protection to the preborn.
For this reason, Rep. Ernie Yarbrough (R-Trinity) is putting forth the first ever bill of equal protection under the law for the preborn in Alabama.
How can you be a modern-day Wilberforce?

You can pray. Pray for our leaders (1 Tim 2:1-2). Pray for “justice [for] the fatherless and the oppressed” (Ps 10:18).
You can inform people that the murder of babies in Alabama (DIY abortion) is not illegal. Do so peacefully, but speak out about this evil. “Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute” (Prov 31:8). If we are doing nothing about the bloodshed in our land, then God is disgusted with our worship (Isa 1:11-15). As Bonhoeffer said: “Only he who cries out for the Jews may sing Gregorian chants.” Are we crying out for the preborn?
If you take a stand for life, prepare to be rejected. “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim 3:12). If you speak out, then you will be maligned as evil. It will harm your reputation. But the life of the preborn matters more than our reputations (Matt 5:11-12).
You can speak of God’s Word not only to your family and to your church, but to your civic leaders. “I will also speak of your testimonies before kings” (Ps 119:46). You can tell them that partiality against the preborn is evil. You can tell them to promote equal protection for the preborn. One way that can look is you can tell your state representative to support Rep. Yarbrough’s first ever bill of equal protection under the law for the preborn in Alabama.
You can make this article available to others, encouraging them to act for justice for the preborn. As Chuck Colson put it, “Wilberforce… knew that a private faith that did not act in the face of oppression was no faith at all.”

Allan Bledsoe is a pastor at First Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Prattville, Alabama. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. This article is used with permission of the author.

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