The Plausibility Problem: The Church And Same-Sex Attraction

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It is cruel and undoable. To answer the key question ‘What is sexuality for?’ with just these answers – however good and true they are – is to set everyone up for a fall, because these answers are not the whole truth. They are not good enough in and of themselves. God has so much more to say on the subject. Cognitive strain. These gaps pose problems for assessing the story as plausible versus implausible. The cognitive strain makes it more difficult to accept a story as plausible. This feature aligns with the concept of bridging inferences ( Foster and Keane, 2015). As a same-sex attracted person, I’m delighted to recommend this passionate and compassionate book by my friend Ed Shaw. Ed shows that the kind of celibate singleness he himself lives out as a same-sex attracted man is both plausible and fulfilling, and thereby offers hope and encouragement to others in his situation, and courage and wisdom to pastors who want to be equipped to support them. - Sean Doherty

Now we have done our study, and analyzed the results. We have achieved our target P value of .05. What then is the likelihood that this positive study is a true positive? Since our P value is .05, we can be 95% sure that our study is correct, right? WRONG! Remember, the P value tells us something about the False Positives. The P value alone tells us nothing about the chances of a True Positive result! This is a very critical concept, and one that is poorly understood by many people. Ed Shaw, a committed evangelical Christian, who experiences same-sex attraction, sensitively and pragmatically highlights areas where he thinks that we, the evangelical church at large, so often fail to support our members. He discusses nine major'missteps' where the nuance of the biblical message is frequently misconstrued (eg 'Godliness is heterosexuality'), causing many of us to stumble. The practical advice ranges from discussing the importance of precision in language when debating these issues right through to how local churches can make a celibate single lifestyle, for anybody, whether same-sex attracted or not, a more openly respected and viable option, just as the Bible teaches.

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Just having these much repeated answers to the question ‘What is sexuality for?’ is so unsatisfying for so many people. It’s why so many of them have walked away from the Bible’s teaching, from historic Christian sexual ethics. It may be why you are wobbling in your beliefs and behaviour orfeeling unable to embrace Christianity for the very first time. To be given such powerful feelings and then to be told that you can never enjoy or express them in any way seems to be both cruel and unliveable.

Following on from our earlier articles on the subject ( 1, 2), the issue of ‘plausibility’ continues to be a hot topic at the EPO. Ed Shaw is a pastor in the United Kingdom and one who has always experienced same-sex attraction. He does not want to and has tried not to, but, at the end of the day, only feels romantic and sexual attraction for men. Yet he understands that the Bible forbids him from acting on this. While friends, family, and the world around him tell him to go ahead and to indulge, he remains fully committed to what the Bible says about sex and marriage being between only a husband and a wife. He understands that the “full life” Jesus offers must be for him, too, even if it is a life of self-denial in such a foundational way.In this personal and emotionally honest book, we’re invited to listen to Ed’s story as someone whose primary identity is in Christ, and who finds himself attracted to other men. Ed explores the plausibility problem – the missteps in current Christian approaches to homosexuality – and challenges Christians to form more biblical communities in which celibate, same-sex attracted people can flourish. - The Rt Revd Tim Dakin

We must work as hard to support single Christians (whatever their sexual orientation) as we do in fighting for the truth of God’s word in the culture and the church. I know of no better resource to help us do both. Thank you Ed Shaw for your honesty, integrity, and Christ-like example to us all. Faced with what seems like a tidal wave of change within our culture, many within the Church are cautious. We believe, or would like to believe, the Church’s long-held beliefs about sex and marriage. But even if our teaching is biblical, is it practical? Are we setting standards that no one can live up to? We suspect, as Ed puts it, that we have a plausibility problem: is the Bible’s teaching on sexuality actually plausible for those who experience same-sex attraction? Lets start with a very basic study design. We are exploring a new treatment for disease X. We would consider the study positive, if the treatments is associated with improved outcomes at some pre-specified level of statistical significance. Ed Shaw writes openly as a man who is attracted to other men. His over-riding aim is to show that a life of celibate singleness is possible and that the world is wrong to assume that it is an implausible expectation. He achieves this by powerfully correcting nine ‘missteps’ the church has made over the years, each being one chapter of the book. With a combination of great honesty, careful exegesis, robust systematic theology, interaction with what others have written, and a pastor’s heart, he shows how we can celebrate and support those whom God calls to celibacy—for whatever reason. Evidence-based medicine has traditionally ignored plausibility when interpreting the evidence for a medical intervention. Science-based medicine, as envisioned by the creators of this blog, includes plausibility when making these judgements.

Ed Shaw

To identify leverage points for building a story a person has to draw on knowledge of the types of causes for events such as those that triggered the explanation process. This causal set is activated just-in-time in response to surprise or to ignorance. In the course of self-explaining, the causal set will be expanded and deepened, and a person’s mental model will become richer–the overall causal repertoire will be expanded. The leverage points people identify (the causes considered, and the cues noticed) will depend on the sophistication of the person’s mental model and the kinds of stories the person has considered in the past. So, stories determine the leverage points that are identified, and the leverage points identified will activate a set of causes and make certain cues more salient. The process of deepening What he is advocating here is a basic requirement of all of us who want to or claim to follow Jesus: laying down our lives, giving up everything for Him.

You will find that Ed’s book is Scripture-based and uses a rich mix of biblical arguments along with arguments drawn from experience, common sense and cultural analysis. Two appendices deal with the key Bible passages that mention homosexuality. However, there are other books that deal with these in more detail, such as Preston Sprinkle’s People to Be Loved. As a Christian who also knows same-sex desire first-hand, I would put a few things differently from how Ed Shaw does here. But that doesn’t stop me from applauding this biblically thorough, evangelistically zealous, humbly self-disclosing, and pastorally compassionate defence of traditional Christian sexual ethics. Ed Shaw’s life and teaching are an inspiring variation on what the church throughout history has celebrated as consecrated, holy virginity. May his tribe increase! - Wesley Hill, author of Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality J. M. Keller. Motivational design of instruction. In C. M. Reigeluth, editor, Instructional-design Theories and Models: An Overview of their Current Status. Lawrence Erlbaum, 1983.In designing a study, it is valuable to look at hypothetical results for a treatment that is effective, and for a treatment that is not effective. Abendroth and Richter (2020) presented an information processing account of plausibility. They considered the importance of plausibility judgments in identifying fake news–information on social media that is accidentally or, most commonly, deliberately false. The study suggested that when individuals are presented with a plausible explanation for an unfamiliar scientific phenomenon, their comprehension of the topic improves. Abendroth and Richter (2020) argued that people are more likely to accept and retain information that is presented in a plausible manner, as it aligns with their existing knowledge and beliefs. The results highlighted the importance of making scientific information accessible and plausible for the public to enhance their understanding and engagement with science.