Would you tell your daughter NOT to report being raped?

There are a number of practical and societal reasons why someone (male or female) might resist reporting a sexual assault, from the fear of not being believed, to the very real possibility of retribution, to the tendency of many to victim blame.  If these were not enough, and of course we must add to them the often ridiculous back-log of untested rape kits, there has emerged in connection with recent events in America, a theological/moral argument to refrain from reporting/prosecuting sexual assault and rape that is being drawn from the Mosaic Law.

My introduction to this viewpoint came from a Christian apologist/writer whom I have expressed admiration for in the past, and whose writing on issues of Biblical Criticism are well researched and first rate.  Unfortunately, James White, of Alpha and Omega Ministries, took it upon himself to offer a political commentary regarding the controversy surrounding the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.  As you know if you read my blog, I will refrain from making any political commentary, but the use of the Bible by James White (and others as well, he's just the most well known) to advocate for the silencing of those who have been the victims of sexual assault (or by extension, any crime without corroborating witnesses) deserves a response.  I reached out to Alpha and Omega Ministries a week ago with my concerns by email, but received not response.

Please watch the relevant portion of the video before proceeding, the link is below:

James White, Alpha and Omega Ministries, from 9/25/18

The relevant passage of the video begins at the 7:00 mark and last until the 19:29 mark...It references Deuteronomy 19:15-21 and Deuteronomy 22:23-27

19:15 One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

16 If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse someone of a crime, 17 the two people involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. 18 The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, 19 then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party. You must purge the evil from among you. 20 The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. 21 Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.


22:23 If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, 24 you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the young woman because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you.


25 But if out in the country a man happens to meet a young woman pledged to be married and rapes her, only the man who has done this shall die. 26 Do nothing to the woman; she has committed no sin deserving death. This case is like that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor, 27 for the man found the young woman out in the country, and though the betrothed woman screamed, there was no one to rescue her.

"If you can't prove it, you don't report it" (at 11:30 mark)

My rebuttal to the assertion of James White is not a dismissal of the Mosaic Law, nor is it an abandonment of the principle of "innocent until proven guilty" (both of which he accuses those with a differing view of doing in the video).  It does not come from a secular viewpoint and a liberal agenda, I can't imagine anyone who knows me at all accusing me of either.  This issue is not a case of all-or-nothing as those with a political axe to grind on both sides would have us believe.  Our choice is not between always reflexively believing the man (no matter how many individual women make an accusation, each as the only witness to their alleged assault) or always believing the woman (no matter the collaborating evidence).  James White said that it is our task to "approximate" the justice of God, and he is absolutely correct in that, but then makes it quite clear that because he believes we are incapable of doing anything of the sort, thus any victim of a crime that was not witnessed by others ought to be told, "wait for God's justice, we've got nothing for you here."  Will God judge in the end with absolute truth and justice?  Yes, indeed, but that does not preclude us from doing our best here and now, nor does that excuse us as Christians or as a society from our moral obligation to fight against the evil that exists in humanity.

Is our criminal justice system capable of making mistakes, of letting the guilty go free and convicting the innocent?  Of course it is, sadly often based upon the poverty/wealth and/or skin color of the defendant.  The failure of our system to never convict the innocent does not give us the excuse to throw our hands up and stop trying to prosecute those who are truly guilty.

If a single victim should be morally prevented from reporting the crime which has been done to him/her, if those victims should be dismissed, even threatened with jail for speaking up (by making the assumption that as a single witness it must be a false allegation), we would still have an epidemic of predator priests raging in our nation, and around the world, we would still have Jerry Sandusky, Larry Nassar, and Bill Cosby preying upon their victims {of course, we know how many times attempts to report their heinous crimes were dismissed by those in authority, both in the Church and in the government, allowing the toll of victims to rise ever higher}.

I will continue to defend the need for the people of God to view the Bible as completely authoritative in their lives for both faith (theology) and practice (morality).  I will continue to defend its absolute relevance to us today, as it was to our ancestors in the faith.  I cannot, however, see that in this case, James White, and those who echo his words (more examples in the links below) are showing us the only way to do that.

A criminal justice system must presume innocence, and it must have a high bar of evidence to convict those accused, but it cannot tell the most vulnerable among us that they have no avenue for justice, and it cannot threaten victims with reprisal simply for asking to be heard.  As a society, and as a Church, we have failed to protect the weak and vulnerable from the strong and the privileged, we have far too often allowed politics to color our sense of justice, and we have been complicit in the heaping of shame upon those who have been victimized.  This cannot be what God expects of his people, our call to righteousness demands more.

A perfect system of justice is indeed unattainable, but we've got to do better than to say, "if you can't prove it, you don't report it."  May the LORD spare me from having to ever counsel my daughter about whether or not she should report being sexually assaulted, but I for one would not tell her to be quiet.





(Below are a few examples of Deuteronomy 19 being applied to the current political drama, simply there to show that the commentary of James White is echoed by others.)

AFA commentary: What Should Be Done About the Kavanaugh Nomination?

Engage Magazine: Brett Kavanaugh: Innocent till proven guilty

{Update 11/21  The James White that I used to listen to while working no longer has the same ministry.  In the past 3-4 years he has followed Eric Metaxas down the road of political 'sky is falling' conspiracy theory laden hysteria.  I no longer recommend listening to his messages with the exception of the older material related to textual criticism}

Sermon Video: Be Strong and Courageous - Joshua 1

** Note, we are utilizing new sound equipment for recording the sermons; hopefully you will notice considerable improvement.**

As Joshua prepares to take over the leadership role of Israel following the death of Moses, the LORD encourages Joshua with specific and powerful promises that he will be with Joshua as he was with Moses and that "I will never leave you nor forsake you."  In light of his word, the LORD tells Joshua to "Be strong and courageous" as he leads the people across the Jordan into the land that God has promised to give to the people of Israel.  The encouragement to be strong and courageous is repeated three times in the chapter, and the emphasis that God will give the land to Israel is repeated five times. 

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: Doing the right thing for the right reasons - Philemon

In his short letter to Philemon, an important member of the church at Colossae, and a slave-owner.  The Apostle Paul encourages Philemon to be merciful to his "son" Onesimus, a runaway slave whom Paul had evidently met in Rome and led to faith in Christ, and whom he is now sending back to Philemon.  Aside from Paul's bold statements of Onesimus' equality with Philemon in Christ, the letter is notable for Paul's unwillingness to utilize his authority as an Apostle to order Philemon to do what Paul clearly believed to be the right thing.  Instead, Paul appeals to Philemon on the basis of love, hoping to persuade him to view Onesimus as the spiritual brother that he now is, and for the sake of his friendship with Paul, to send him back to be Paul's helper. 
We, as a Church, often appeal to the need to be morally upright for its own sake; doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do.  And while this is true, and will be effective for some, Paul's appeal to love reveals that it is more fundamental to morality than any intellectual argument.  Does God want us to obey and choose what is right because it is the right thing?  Of course, but it cannot stop there, God ultimately desires for his people that they choose righteousness and holiness out of love for him; in the end, morality is relational.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: Completing the work of the Lord - Colossians 4:7-18

As Paul finishes his letter to the church at Colossae, sending greetings and vouching for those accompanying the letter, a pattern emerges that enlightens us about the Early Church: Paul had a lot of help.  The Apostle Paul may get most of the limelight, and the average Christian may know about his inner circle of helpers like Silas, Luke, and Timothy, but the team that was required to support the ambitious Gospel mission of Paul was far larger and more capable than most people realize.  For us, then, as a modern Church with paid staff leadership in varying configurations, the lesson from Paul's reliance upon a network of helpers is simple: Don't forget the laity.  If we are to be the Church that Christ has called us to be, we need a wide and deep level of involvement from the people sitting in the pews on Sunday.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

The Church: The most diverse organization in the history of the world

The Church, founded by Jesus Christ nearly 2,000 years ago, is indeed the most diverse organization in the history of the world, and at the same time, the most cohesive and tightly knit together.  When Jesus sent his disciples out into the world to share the Good News of his death and resurrection, he sent them to peoples and lands without regard for the race, ethnicity, class, or gender of their audience.  As the Church became established and grew, it soon encompassed a vast array of people who, until their commitment to Christ, would have believed that they had little in common. 

While it is true that the people who comprise the Church have not themselves always been immune to the temptation to sin by treating fellow believers as "other", the spiritual bond of union with Christ that binds the Church together is stronger than any other familial bond, let alone the various other bonds that people enter into willingly.  Those who are indeed part of the universal body of Christ, who have been washed clean by the blood of the lamb, share one characteristic that transcends human frailty and the human propensity to squabble or divide: Each and every Christian is a sinner saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  Unity on that basis cannot be destroyed by the failures of the people who have been called by God out of the darkness and into the light, for it is maintained not by our power, but by the power of God.

Perhaps the vast majority of your experience with church has involved people who look, speak, and think as you do.  Perhaps you've been lulled into thinking that the Church (universal) is a mirror image of the local church to which you belong.  If that is the case, you're not seeing the whole picture.  The Church, universal, is incredibly diverse in virtually every category, much of it very different, perhaps uncomfortably so, on the outside, from what you may have experienced.  And yet, at the same time, that universal Church is bound together by one singular and all-encompassing commonality: Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord of each and every one of his adopted brothers and sisters.