Yesterday I hung out with an old friend of mine, Cavan, who’s currently working on his dissertation for divinity school. We walked around Davis square and spoke in depth about past and current relationships, as well as how Biblical teachings in that realm might apply to contemporary American society. Cavan is one of the smartest human beings I know, but his views often don’t jive with those of mainline evangelicals. In fact, often they run directly counter to them.
Despite the fact that his views are a repudiation of everything I was raised to believe in, I still find that my faith is strengthened whenever I speak with him. It’s comforting to know that one can be insanely intelligent, devote one’s life to studying the word of God, and STILL emerge with a coherent and compelling faith. And if that means their views have adapted to take into account the historical context under which the Bible was written, so much the better. Here’s a snippet of our conversation: