Sam Allberry’s fall from grace has been the subject of a great deal of debate on the internet this week. He confessed to an “inappropriate emotional attachment” that happened back in 2023/2024 & his church has seen fit to place him under church discipline. In addition…
Shawn Mathis
The Gospel Coalition and others are telling themselves "we saw no signs" that a purportedly celibate gay celebrity they were promoting was up to no good. Pastor Sam Allberry was a problem from the get go.
Never forget those who endorsed him. I'll have a list soon.
John William Noble
I am truly saddened to read that Sam Allberry has fallen into sexual sin. Regrettably, theological compromise within evangelicalism is a significant contributor to how contemporary 'hot topics' are being tackled. This was an article written over a year ago on this subject.
Rick Pidock
It would be nice to be able to have an honest conversation with Sam Allberry the human, apart from all the theology and gender scripts he's trying to affirm. It would also be nice to have a conversation with the other closeted writers for places like TGC who are terrified they might turn out like Allberry. Patriarchy sucks.
The Oxford Center for Christian Apologetics
The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics is suspending Sam Allberry as an associate speaker following his disqualification from ministry at Immanuel Nashville over an inappropriate relationship with a man. OCCA says it will not remove his content at this time, pending further discussions.
Nate Eh
To all the scandal-gluttons blowing up my feed with “christian news” articles about Sam Allberry’s “fall”…
The fall happened some 10,000 or whatever years ago. This is not news. The real problem is how we live thirsting after news about prominent figures, rather than fixing our eyes on the one author and perfecter….
When the substance of our faith stems from social media debate concerning notable personalities (other than Jesus), we are wasting our calling to abide in Christ and live as he lived.
We (often times I) need to do better at minding our own business (for our own sakes)…
Now for those (like me) who do still like to listen to personalities other than Jesus, here’s an interesting conversation that does briefly cover the phenomenon of a modern christian culture which watches intently for failures of prominent leaders, and the effects of this tendency/addiction.
The Gospel Coaltion
On Sunday (May 3), The Gospel Coalition’s board of directors released a statement saying that Allberry had resigned as a fellow at The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics over concerns about “an inappropriate relationship with another man a few years ago.”
“Per TGC policy and procedures, we immediately began to remove all of Sam’s content from our website and other content channels, and we deferred this statement until the church membership was informed,” the statement said. “We are heartbroken over this news, and we continue to pray for Sam, Immanuel Church, and everyone affected.”
Wes Huff
1. I don’t know Sam Allberry personally. We've met in-person a total of once — back in January while I was in Nashville when I did the Shawn Ryan Podcast, where I ran into and took a picture with Sam. When I saw the news initially about his removal from leadership I took that picture down. I had already started to see people commenting that by keeping it up I was implicating myself in his sin. I do not think they were correct. But ironically, said comments were then replaced with ones telling me that by taking it down… I was hiding something and implicating myself in his sin. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
2. I believe the language in the current public statements to be potentially unhelpfully vague. From my (brief though not uninformed) understanding of the details of the situation, what Sam did that disqualified him from leadership was not due to sexual or even a romantic impropriety, but what could best be described as a sinful emotional attachment. This is not to justify it or say that it wasn't disqualifying (I think it probably was). But the lack of clarity has left room for those who desire to gossip, defame, and sinfully speculate online to run wild — which they have.
3. I am genuinely saddened with the internet’s desire to tear down and jump to harsh judgements regarding another Christian’s failing. When someone falls into sin, those who are spiritually mature should work toward their restoration, approaching them with a spirit of gentleness (Gal. 6:1-2). The motivation for restoration carries spiritual weight. Bringing someone back who has wandered from truth saves their soul from death and covers a multitude of sins (James 5:19–20). This isn’t merely about correcting behaviour, it’s about spiritual rescue. The desire to gossip and breed quarrels, which is so obviously warned against in scripture (Proverbs 17:19; 26:17; 2 Timothy 2:14, 23-24; Titus 3:9-11; James 4:1-2) is, to say the least, lamentable and disappointing to see.
4. Sam Allberry is being labelled as “Side B,” this is genuinely confusing to me. To quote Sam in his own words: “Same sex attraction is not a good thing. It is... a consequence of the fall. ...This kind of attraction is not something God designed for us, and it contradicts his design” (Is God Anti Gay, 63). Sam has expressed in multiple places throughout his written work and public talks that he holds to the biblical position of marriage, that homosexual relationships are sinful, and that identifying as a “gay Christian” is incompatible with scripture. To be clear, I don't agree with Sam on all the nuances of how he discusses the issue. But I can only conclude that this attempt to make him into an LBGT advocate comes from either shear ignorance of his public work or some sort of internet-level frothing of the mouth to jump on whoever “we don’t like this week.”
But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. - Heb 3:13.
Philadelphia Apostolic Presbyterian Church (Winston-Salem, NC)
As you can see, responses to Sam Allberry’s moral failure range from “We are better than this, & the Gossip Mill is just astounding,” to “It was bound to happen,” to “Let’s scrub the website.”
This, Readers, is what spiritual abuse looks like.
When Sinclair Ferguson dared to challenge the status quo by daring to suggest Grandma attend her trans grandchild’s wedding, Dr. Ferguson’s peers behaved like Gibsonites shunning the Levite in Judges 18. Now, over an “emotional attachment” that happened in 2022, they are treating him like a social pariah & stoning him.
All of this, every bit it is the result of centuries of reliance on Ecclesiastical Tradition & Liturgical Philosophy that ultimately spiritually abuses people, dumbs us alll down, & destroys people’s lives & livlihoods.
To quote John William Noble of Doxa Theo:
A sinner who is attracted to someone of the same sex needs to hear the Bible’s diagnosis in all its fullness and needs to be called to repent.
No, what they need to hear is the truth about this issue drawn from the grammar & syntax of the Bible itself that forbids us to look to the VISIBLE attributes of the created order instead of **God’s** INVISIBLE attributes as the basis of our theology, philosophy, & ethics.
They need to see for themselves how those who hold to the tradition bound view tell a homosexual who appeals to his or her biogenetics &/or psychology to underwrite his or her sexual ethics is recognized (correctly) by a Christian apologist like Greg Koukl only for the same apologist to look at Romans 1:26 - 27 & say “but that is exactly what Paul is talking about in this text, except Paul is saying that the created order points to heteronormativity. The Accuser calls this baptized reasoning, as if the Bible provides exceptions to metaphysical naturalism, not what it really is — Special Pleading.
What does the Bible actually teach about homosexuality?
According to its own grammar & syntax, this is what it has to say:
Leviticus 18:
Shema/Prologue (Lev. 18:1 - 5)
General & Specific Prohibitions (Lev.18: 6 -23)
Document Clause, Witnesses, & Victory (Lev. 18: 24 - 30), which refers to statutes & rules & charges the people as witnesses & proclaims victory over the nations (& Israel should they behave like the nations)
Romans interprets Lev. 18 & vice versa.
Romans 1:18 - 32:
Paul is following the outline of Leviticus 18, following the form of a suzerain covenant / Hebraic lawsuit.
Shema and Decalogue (1:18 - 21) God’s Image testifies to His attributes & authority.
God created people. His temple bears His Image & runs according to His Law & Gospel.
Historical Prologue (1:22 - 23)
They suppressed God’s image & authority substituting their own, & made idols that looked & behaved like themselves.
Stipulations/Prohibitions (1:24 - 28) In Canaan & Rome, people did heterosexual & homosexual sex for their gods. At times they deployed animals too. (Lev. 18: 6 - 23).
Document Clause, Covenant Sanctions/Renewal & Witnesses, Victory (1: 29 - 32)
Kitchen sink immorality will lead to Rome’s burning, just as it did to Sodom, Egypt, Israel, Babylon, &tc.
The text is about how we are supposed to think/reason. God’s created order testifies to His image & authority. God indicts us for suppressing His image & authority & supplanting it with our own & other created images & reasoning accordingly. When someone teaches that human anatomy, physiology, &/or psychology is a proper warrant for sexual ethics, they are teaching the opposite of what the Bible teaches.
This has multiple applications.
Natural = Male Dominance/Hegemony
Unnatural = Egalitarianism
= Misogyny
Natural = White/Caucasian
Unnatural = Anything else
= Racism
Natural = Heteronormative
Unnatural = Homosexual
= Homophobia
Natural = Conservative
Unnatural = Liberal
= Political Idolatry
Natural = Liberal
Unnatural = Conservative
= Political Idolatry
Natural = Non-Jewish
Unnatural = Jewish
= Anti-Semitism
In other words, any interpretation of “natural” & “unnatural” Romans 1:18 - 32
as a functional callback to any image drawn from the created order, the human image, included is forbidden by the text.
The human image does not provide a proper epistemic warrant for sexual ethics. It can’t, because the Bible says it can’t. It expressly forbids substituting the INVISIBLE attributes of God with the VISIBLE attributes of the created order to do theology, philosophy, & ethics.
The tradition bound view, by doing this, commits the Naturalistic Fallacy, Overspecification of the meaning of “natural” & “unnatural,” confuses God’s decretal & moral wills, Special Pleading, & is viciously circular, replacing a necessary, principled, & reason epistemic warrant (God Himself) with an unnecessary yet principled & reasoned epistemic warrant — the visible human image.
The words in 1 Corinthians 6 come out of Leviticus, so what Romans has to say about Leviticus applies there to o & to 1 Timothy. Jude is analogizing between the activity of demons & the idolatry, sorcery, & witchcraft of those creeping into the churches in his time.
The problem within Evangelicalism is much more its enslavement to Ecclesiastical Tradition & Liturgical Philosophy than anything else. The Bible, when allowed to speak for itself, does not support the tradition bound view. What happened to San Allberry is its result. The problem isn’t really Sam Allberry, it’s Evangelicalism’s enslavement to Ecclesiastical Tradition & Liturgical Philosophy and the culture of spiritual abuse that has developed around it.
O LORD, Hear our prayer(s)!
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