Posted in theology

Repentance and the Sapphic Lifestyle: A Call to Change

By Elizabeth Prata

SYNOPSIS

I discuss a post promoting an inclusive queer community group in my city and express sorrow over the misguided celebration of sexual sin. I emphasize the importance of repentance to align with Christian values. The commentary also presents evolving terms related to sexual identity, while urging spiritual redemption through Jesus.


I read the posts in my county Facebook group and the adjacent city’s group. The city is liberal. The county is conservative. In the City group I saw the following post:

FACEBOOK POST: “I run a queer women/sapphic community group based in Atlanta called Peach City Sapphics, and I’m excited to start bringing inclusive events to Athens! A lot of the queer scene here feels super undergrad-heavy and not always the most diverse, so I’m hoping to create some fun, affirming spaces for sapphic folks of all backgrounds — especially those who are lesbian, bi, queer, or anywhere on the spectrum. If that sounds like your vibe, feel free to follow us on Instagram and DM me if you’d be interested in coming to events or helping brainstorm! Let’s build something beautiful here in Athens too!

I pondered that for a while. Firstly, I am sad that the so-called ‘queer folk’ are so lost. They don’t know how angry God is with sexual sin. They don’t know how ugly their sin is to Him. It’s not “beautiful”. They should not feel “proud”. They should fear God and repent.

‘Sappho of Lesbos’ painting by John William Godward (1904).

My second thought was that after having observed the sexual revolution for some decades now, in a perverse sense, I admire their persistence, dedication, and commitment to their religion, which is self-worship based on sexual sin. They work hard at evangelizing, as we saw with the sudden influx of “drag queens” into children’s story hour at libraries and civic events.

Thirdly, those who are dedicated to this chosen lifestyle are adept at shifting the language so that their sin doesn’t seem so powerfully perverse to those who have not chosen it. I am speaking of this old but newly emerging term, “sapphic”.

Sappho was a Greek poetess who lived from 630 BC to 570 BC. She lived on the island of Lesbos, and she wrote lascivious lyric poetry about the delights of younger women. To many, she is both a feminist heroine and a gay role model whose works subverted traditional marriage. Few of her poems remain, yet she is considered the cornerstone of ancient Greek literature. It’s where we get the term lesbian, and the term sapphic obviously points to the eponymous poetess who is famous for her abominable predilections.

Sadly, to secular researchers, or blessedly to Christians, very little of Sappho’s works remain today. Scholars estimate that she wrote around 10,000 lines of poetry. She was prodigious in her output and her works are constantly quoted or mentioned in ancient texts. Yet, only about 650 lines remain today. Some fragments are as small as a single word. 

fragments of a Sappho poem. It seems crazy to me that a person with as little text to support her life has fomented such worship, but the Bible, with thousands of early copies, is disregarded as ‘old & unreliable’.

So, apparently she was an astounding lyric poetess, but the themes and content of her works are sadly representative of our fallen state. Those wishing to emulate her perverse focus on same-sex attraction continue today, as evidenced by the posting on the Facebook group.

AI explains that “Sapphic is an evolving term used as an umbrella for anyone who is attracted to women, encompassing lesbians, bisexuals, pansexuals, trans women, trans men, non-binary individuals, and cis women, among others. It’s a way to describe the experience of love, attraction, and desire between women, emphasizing the focus on the person rather than their gender identity.

Yes, descriptions and terms to identify those with same-sex lifestyle choices have undergone an evolution. As fast as we are inured to one term, another comes to the foreground, which, by the way, is usually less incendiary than the last one. For men, we’ve seen an ‘evolution’ of terms such as Sodomite->homosexual->gay. For women, we have Lesbian->gay->Queer->Butch/femme->Dyke->Sapphic.

Though the term ‘sapphic’ has been around since the 1700s, its use is becoming more popular and used in non-homosexual contexts, as we see in the poster for the Facebook event.

Though homosexuals choosing their lifestyle talk a lot about ‘being our authentic selves’ or mention their ‘identity’ (we are NOT identified by our sexual activity), it’s human beings’ fallen state that is our most common bond. If we are unconverted, we are being our most authentic selves – sinners – when we choose same sex activity. It is only through faith and repentance, submission to Jesus who paid the penalty for that sin that we become who we need to be, not ‘who we are’.

For ‘sapphics’, Jesus stands ready to receive you, if you forego the lifestyle and repent. His standards for human morality are clear in His word. Sex is an activity to be engaged in with one person of the opposite sex within marriage, for life. Outside of marriage, celibacy and abstention from pornography are the standards.

It makes me mournful to see the advance of homosexuality because I know that people who choose that lifestyle are in spiritual pain and darkness. But as much pain as they are in, the wrath of God abides upon them, and we must share that fact with those who, absent repentance, will endure much worse pain throughout eternity in hell, along with all who sin of any type. But God gives grace and mercy to those who seek Him. He stands ready to receive those who seek to abandon their sinful ways and turn to Him for righteousness. He is a great savior, who saves the lost from their sin. In Him, there is peace.

Posted in theology

AI: A Dangerous Shortcut for Pastors, Writers

By Elizabeth Prata

SYNOPSIS

I share Ken Ham’s insights on the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) for pastoral work. Ham argues that using AI diminishes pastors’ theological study and reliance on God’s wisdom. The piece emphasizes the importance of genuine engagement with Scripture rather than easy technological shortcuts in ministry, as well as warnings about technology’s advance and potential for supplanting proper worship of the true Creator.


I respect Ken Ham. I’ve been following his ministry for a long time. I finally got to hear him at a G3 conference. His commitment to creation exposition, to Genesis 1-11 as the foundational belief for our faith, and his persevering and unwavering dedication that built the Creation museum and the Ark Experience is to be praised. He recently wrote a short-ish essay on Facebook about AI becoming a digital god.

I’ve been watching the rise of technology since the 1980s when a lot of things were invented, such as personal computers with graphical user interface (I took a computer elective in 1978 to try and learn coding language FORTRAN…), CDs, VCRs, video games and so much more. My father bought Pong when it first came out in 1972. Our family has always enjoyed the earliest and most advanced tech inventions.

In this era of the 2000s, the rise of sophisticated AI is a concern not only over potential plagiarism issues, laziness issues, or how easily technology controls us (cell phones, anyone?), or how the recent discovery of ‘kill switches’ in Chinese technology sold to the US could wipe us out with one click (Business Today), but because of prophecy.

Revelation 13 discusses how in the future one man and his cronies institute a global world economy and that all who wish to participate in this economy must accept the Mark (of the Beast). From my vantage point of having observed the economy since 1965, I have seen how this prophecy is becoming easier and easier to implement when it arrives on the scene.

In Ken Ham’s recent essay he asked the question, “Should pastors be using AI to write their sermons?”. I am re-posting the essay below in case the link in this paragraph doesn’t work for you, or if you are not on Facebook. He raises some good questions and makes some exhortations to pastors and others who should be wrestling with the scriptures instead of asking an impersonal digital presence to give them instant content.

Answers in Genesis, being a science ministry, also has other great essays pointing to the issues with AI and tech in general. For example, in this essay we read that ,

Google Co-founder Wants to Build AI as a “Digital God”

It’s an interesting notion, how easily we transfer worship to anything other than the only One who should receive it. We’ve seen it over and over in the Bible, and over and over in our own lives. I’ve written before about how prescient EM Forster was in his 1909 novella The Machine Stops, which a 116 years ago predicted this exact moment in technological time. It’s eerie how Forster predicted the loss of original thought, dependence then worship of a machine, and the lack of human contact. Friends and family are on screens only, not real life. You can read Forster’s novella online here.

AiG’s scientist Patricia Engler is an expert in AI, transhumanism, and other technological ethical issues. She recently spoke at the AiG for women conference in April on the issue of transhumanism. Others term the issue “human enhancement”. Engler explains in this 2023 article Thinking Biblically About Transhumanist Technologies at AiG,

The term “human enhancement” can mean anything from moderately improving someone’s natural abilities to radically modifying humankind.

I remember the splash the television show The Six Million Dollar Man made in 1973 when it debuted. He was an “enhanced human.” Wikipedia has a summary, which I excerpt- “a former astronaut, USAF Colonel Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors… After being seriously injured in a NASA test flight crash, Austin is rebuilt (at considerable expense, hence the title of the series) with bionic implants. His right arm, both legs and left eye are replaced with “bionic” implants that enhance his strength, speed and vision far above human norms.”

Viewers including me, marveled at the thought that robotic implants could enhance human capabilities. Of course, 50 years later we are used to hip replacements, knee replacements, organ transplants, hearing aids for the deaf, and the like. We are also used to terms like cyborg, droids, clones, bot, algorithm…

Personally, it is my opinion we have passed a threshold with technology where its grip is on humankind is so tight we can never escape until we are called home. I hear of issues in colleges, high schools, and even younger of plagiarism in using ChatGPT, video games consuming minds for double digit hours on end, parents who prefer their phones to their children, critical thinking abandoned by the wayside in using Grok. Ask Google a question and at least it will yield links that the questioner must sort through and decide for herself if they are credible or not. Grok just tells you. I view AI-generated art as plain creepy. I hate to see it all, I just hate it. I pray the Lord comes for us soon.

As for Grok, the artificial intelligence Elon Musk has built, the name comes from Robert Heinlein’s 1961 science fiction novel, “Stranger in a Strange Land“. I read that book in the 1990s when a hippie friend gushed about its supposed deep truths and wise philosophy. I found it unintelligible. Though the title is taken from Exodus 2:22 KJV, the religion the book espoused is far from anything reasonable. But by secular standards, it seems wise and deep.

We must always remember that God is Creator. Our bodies are a machine on a level that no human creator could ever imagine when building a robot or an artificial intelligence. The sturdy delicacy of our bodies’ systems is amazing to behold. The brain is still a mystery. The Creator is worthy of praise for this and for all living things He has created.

Here is Ken Ham’s essay on AI (artificial intelligence). Though it’s aimed at pastors, anyone who studies, researches, writes on theological topics should be convicted by it. The link to his Facebook page where the essay originated is above.


Should pastors be using AI to write their sermons? I recently saw a website for a company that advertises itself as “Your AI-Powered Sermon Assistant” designed to help pastors “create better sermons in less time” using artificial intelligence.

A video on the website claims you can just type a word (like “forgiveness”) into the sermon builder tool and “instantly have a sermon ready to preach” and if you like the sermon “copy it, paste it, you’re ready to preach.” In other words, as a pastor you don’t even need to go to the Bible yourself to prep for your sermon—AI will do it all for you.

There are many good uses for AI—this is certainly not one of them! Yes, perhaps AI could be useful in pulling some cross-references, finding related passages, or pulling quotes to consider from church fathers (although resources to do all of these things already exist). But using AI to write sermons strips away a pastor’s wrestling with and studying of God’s Word. When a member of such a pastor’s flock comes to him for wisdom, counsel, and shepherding, he won’t know God’s Word to apply it properly!

And pastors surely should be praying (as any teaching pastor should do) for God’s guidance and wisdom as they build sermons. Be assured, AI doesn’t pray for any wisdom from God!

Contrast “copy, paste, preach” with these commands to pastors from God’s Word:

“Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. (1 Timothy 5:17)

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. (2 Timothy 4:2)

He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. (Titus 1:9)

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)”

The work of pastoring isn’t meant to be easy—it’s laboring; it’s having patience; it’s training to be ready. It’s a hard calling, but a worthy one for those who are willing to be trained by the Word of God.

If you’re a pastor, don’t take the easy way out. Labor in your preaching and teaching as God has commanded you to. Don’t outsource one of the most important aspects of your job—opening the Word for your flock—to a robot!

— Ken Ham

FURTHER READING

Owen Strachan had some thoughts about digital media, here on Facebook

Tony Reinke wrote the book called God, Technology, and the Christian Life, you can download a 32 page sample here

Posted in theology

The Righteous vs. The Wicked: A Psalm Reflection

By Elizabeth Prata

SYNOPSIS

I discuss Psalm 1, which contrasts the righteous with the wicked who are likened to chaff, which is worthless and destined for destruction. Through biblical references, chaff represents unrepentant sinners who reject God and face eternal punishment. The discussion emphasizes grace and the importance of salvation through Jesus, reminding readers of their own past.

Continue reading “The Righteous vs. The Wicked: A Psalm Reflection”
Posted in creation grace, glassy sea

Creation Grace: A Glassy Sea

By Elizabeth Prata

EPrata photo

This picture was taken in Lubec Harbor, easternmost point in the US and next to New Brunswick Canada. The waters are part of the Bay of Fundy, known for having the highest tidal range in the world. A large volume of water has to rush in and out within a few hours. The more water that needs to come in, the more it roils. When the tide comes in, the roiling starts abruptly and for a while it almost looks like it’s boiling. The weather in northern Maine and Canada is rough, too, with constant wind and storm.

This picture was taken because it is unusual to see such calm waters in this area of the world. Calm mid-tide, no storm, no fog, no wind.

The world isn’t calm now, not for more than mere moments in a few places, sometimes. There will come a day when the sea will be glassy always, and hearts will be calm. We will fully know peace.

Posted in theology

John Newton’s Advice on Engaging in Debate

By Elizabeth Prata

SYNOPSIS

The ongoing theological controversy between Arminians and Calvinists, highlighted in 1771, underscores the struggle for unity among Christians. John Newton’s pastoral advice to a minister engaged in debate emphasizes compassion, humility, and self-reflection. He advises writers to focus on love and truth, avoiding pride and contentiousness, in order to promote understanding and spiritual growth, advice we can well adopt today.

Continue reading “John Newton’s Advice on Engaging in Debate”
Posted in theology

Prophecy: A Testament to Biblical Accuracy and Sovereignty

By Elizabeth Prata

SYNOPSIS

The post emphasizes the significance of prophecy in Christianity, highlighting its role as a movement toward fulfillment, particularly regarding the lineage of Jesus. It illustrates God’s divine providence in governing all aspects of life and underscores the importance of prophecy as a testament to God’s sovereignty and the accuracy of the Bible.

Continue reading “Prophecy: A Testament to Biblical Accuracy and Sovereignty”
Posted in theology

Thou Shalt Judge

By Elizabeth Prata

SYNOPSIS

I discuss the common phrases “Judge not!” and “Only God knows the heart” used by those defending false teachings. I argue that such phrases taken out of context often are attempts by individuals to shield themselves from confronting uncomfortable truths about their beliefs. I discuss the importance of discernment and correct judgment, skills which protect the Church from false doctrines and promote spiritual integrity.

Continue reading “Thou Shalt Judge”
Posted in theology

Little Known Bible Characters #8: Tryphena and Tryphosa

By Elizabeth Prata

SYNOPSIS

Paul’s letters reflect his deep affection for the Roman Church, as he greets many individuals, including Tryphena and Tryphosa, who were likely sisters. Their names suggest a background of luxury, yet they embraced the Gospel and served the Lord. This highlights God’s knowledge of all believers and the unifying power of the Gospel.

Continue reading “Little Known Bible Characters #8: Tryphena and Tryphosa”
Posted in theology

Creation Grace: Seasons

By Elizabeth Prata

May’s Memorial Day is almost here. This holiday in America is the traditional gateway to official summer. Schools are let out or almost done, weather is warming up, foliage is flowering, leaves are bursting and baby animals are born. It’s a time of renewal as spring slides into summer and we’re all feeling fine.

Summer is also a time when people take vacations, families have more outdoor opportunities (pool, splash pad, petting zoo, beach, strawberry patch…). We tend to take things slowly, morph into different routines. One of those changed routines might be to allow church attendance to slide or to let Bible reading go.

Stay strong! The Lord is present in every season and we need to be with Him in every season. He made the flowers we enjoy and the sun we enjoy and the gentle rains we need…Enjoy the creation of summer but enjoy the Lord who created it too.

EPrata photo