Tag: gavin ortland

Members of the left-of-center Big Eva writer’s guild frequently engage in a form of argumentation that seeks to distract believers from the truth of the Gospel, as given by God through the scriptures. Those who believe that scripture has spoken clearly on issues of sexuality, Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, the historicity of Biblical narrative, Biblical inerrancy, and Biblical sufficiency, find themselves labeled “fundies”, “culture warriors”, and “political partisans” by Big Eva leftists. Instead of debating issues on the basis of the scripture, leftist partisans in the church often appeal to extra-Biblical sources, effectively using a denial of Biblical sufficiency as an end-around to minimize or deny that which is clearly addressed in the scriptures.

One such Big-Eva member and TGC writer Gavin Ortlund. Last seen in TGC Contributor Argues Pro-LGBTQ Xtians and Universalists Are Still In the Faith, Ortlund frequently challenges Biblical teaching with false teaching in the form of whataboutism that redirects questions about Biblical interpretation to questions about church history. Gavin recently tweeted an appeal to egalitarianism in church history and non-western Christian traditions, in an effort to prove that not everyone is as narrow-minded as the complementarian American fundies.

Seeking to jettison clear Biblical teaching on God’s design and roles for men and women, Big Eva leftists, like Ortlund, resort to an appeal to the example of people who wore the Christian label, but also deliberately ignored the clear teaching of scripture. Looking for an example in church history to prove that your opinion is Biblical is like looking for validation from random strangers on the internet. If you look long and hard enough in church history, you will find some sect or cult that will validate your teaching through their anti-Biblical traditions. Sure enough, Gavin found validation from several leftist friends. Dr. Michael Bird, famous for his important scholarly work on the erections of Jesus, affirmed Gavin’s presumptions. Apparently, according to Dr. Bird, American complementarianism as we know it originated in affluent white American churches after World War II.

Bird was joined in his affirmation of egalitarianism by David Bumgardner, an effeminate leftist political ideologue who is known for his support of President Joe Biden; and his affiliations with fake news site Baptist News Global and race-baiting pastor Dwight McKissic’s church. Bumgardner continues the whataboutism by appealing to the example of leftist Anglican Denomination, GAFCON’s ordination of female bishops.

Never mind the fact that the Apostle Paul clearly addressed the issue of Biblical Womanhood multiple times in the first-century church, teaching kept by the overwhelming majority of those who claimed to follow Christ for more than 2 millennia.

Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 1 Timothy 2:11-12

and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.  Titus 2:4-5

When pressed to define exactly what Biblical issues can be addressed with his anti-Biblical tradition-based method, Ortlund doubled down and argued that every issue and doctrine is fair game to be subjected to tradition-based examination, even Sola Fide (Justification by Faith Alone).

This isn’t Ortlund’s first rodeo with false doctrine. In February, Ortlund made the argument that Universalists and Pro-LGBTQ people can be Christians. When one’s standard is sinful man rather than the eternal word of God, there are no bounds to the potential for theological folly.

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Editor’s Note. This article was written by Paul Brown for Protestia.