But some avoid preaching it altogether. They fear the book is too scandalous to teach from the pulpit because it could be considered vulgar. This is obviously incorrect, but one can see how they reason there with the explicit references to sex and intimacy. More than this, it can be difficult to see how a love poem with strange metaphors can be profitable. I mean, should I really describe my wife’s hair like “a flock of goats” (SoS 6:5)? Maybe not. But I’ve always been a big believer that it is the texts that we are most likely to ignore that most need to be preached.

In reality, Song of Solomon may be one of the most important books of the Bible to preach today. Why, though?

Wisdom on Marriage and Sex

First, you need to exposit the text to provide practical wisdom from God’s Word on marriage and sex. These are deeply contested topics today, but God’s people need to hear from God’s Word regarding marriage and sex.

It seems that many in the Reformed tradition either downplay this or ignore it altogether. Instead, the entire text is treated as an allegory for Christ and the church. That is important, but it is unfortunate that the real wisdom regarding sex and marriage is ignored.

I typically enjoy reading Puritan and Reformed commentaries in my sermon preparation. There are gems that they offer in regard to Solomon, but in general they stretch the metaphors and allegories too far.

Christ and the Church

Second, you also need to show how the text points to Christ and the church. This, of course, is where the Reformed tradition shines. But this makes some squeamish.

To speak of consummation in relation to the eschaton confuses many Christians. Some get very uncomfortable with this kind of language and fear being crude. But if we understand intimacy with Christ, we can see that sex is a signpost that points to union with Christ. Unfortunately, some have a view of sex that is worldly and carnal instead of a beautiful gift designed by God.

It is crucial to preach Song of Solomon with Christ and the church in mind, even in the places where intimacy and ecstasy are addressed.

Clarity on Body, Soul, and Destiny

Finally, the book is clarifying because it reveals fundamental confusion for many regarding the body and the soul and the eternal destiny of mankind.

The book deals with dating, marriage, temptation, lust, desire, fornication, conflict, and sex. All of these are incredibly important topics. And underneath all of them is the gospel. As Paul describes in Ephesians, marriage points to Christ and the church.

If we want to see the church built up in our day and we want to see strong and healthy marriages, Song of Solomon should be a starting point for churches. Perhaps no book of the Bible more directly confronts the gender confusion in our day than the Song of Solomon.

We’ve been preaching through Song of Solomon at The Well Church. You can check out the sermons here.

For many of us, the year 2020 was something of a revelation. Many things were revealed. It was apocalyptic in that sense. And Wiley believes we are seeing another apocalypse with AI. It’s forcing us to see the world and ourselves differently. Not only this but AI is consuming entire segments of the market, including churches. Wiley’s claim is that the technology is not primarily revealing something about machines, it’s revealing something about us.

Most of the Christian conversation about AI is stuck between two bad options. On one side are the doomers, who think the whole thing demonic, believe it will end the world, and log off. On the other side are the evangelical enthusiasts, who will tell you from a conference stage that you can generate your worship set, prompt your sermon, and outsource the pastoral email. I’ve sat through those presentations and they’re worse than you think.

Wiley refuses both. His position is antagonistic but opportunistic: use it, but don’t get used. For him, it’s simple. Use it for the things you genuinely cannot do. Do not use it for the things you are supposed to become competent at.

But Wiley’s biggest warning is about the danger of hacking humans. He cites a University of Stuttgart experiment that turned AI loose on Reddit users and found it roughly six times more effective at changing minds than simple persuasion. What if AI was doing the same thing to us?

Wiley is staunchly against using AI for ministry. I asked him if I could use AI to help come up with an alliteration for a sermon and his answer was a firm “no.” But he did grant one use. Put your work up against the masters. Feed it Spurgeon, ask what you’re missing. Evaluate, don’t generate.

I always appreciate talking with C.R. and even if you don’t agree with his position, I think you’ll enjoy the conversation.

Listen to the episode: https://t.co/nFudx79xBA

Watch the episode:

Pick up Manmade from Canon Press here.

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And that’s the area Isaac Botkin spends his life trying to close.

Isaac is one of the co-owners of T.REX ARMS, a family-owned tactical gear company in Centerville, Tennessee, and the author of Path of Liberty which is a compilation of the English and American founding documents that traces the through-line of armed resistance to tyranny back through King John, Charles I, James II, and finally George III. The argument is simple: the American colonists weren’t doing something new in 1776. They were doing the most English thing imaginable: reminding a king that he is under the law.

The American church has, for the most part, kept the cultural pillar of gun ownership while quietly demolishing its doctrinal foundation. We hold the position out of patriotism or nostalgia and not from the sixth commandment, not from Deuteronomy’s case law on home defense, not from Paul’s commands about providing for one’s family.

On episode 198 of Full Proof Theology, Isaac and I worked through the standard objections: turn the other cheek, Peter’s sword in the garden, Christ’s willingness to be beaten. We also dived into the harder questions of Protestant resistance theory: when does the lesser magistrate have a duty to oppose the greater? What does common law actually require, and what do red flag laws do to that foundation? Is there ever a legitimate restriction on the Second Amendment, or do we really hand backpack nukes to every American?

Discussions on these topics aren’t isolated to gun ownership. They also deal with government authority, crime prevention, and surveillance. Isaac calls AI the crossroads moment for America. Technology, he argues, is neutral but it is never wielded by neutral people. AI is going to be the gunpowder of our era: a massive force multiplier that will either centralize power in the hands of an unaccountable state, or decentralize it into the hands of a self-governing citizenry. The deciding factor isn’t the technology. It’s whether or not America repents.

Subscribers get early access below. For everyone else, the episode will release soon. If you’ve been carrying a Second Amendment conviction without a doctrine to ground it, this conversation will give you the scaffolding you’ve been missing.

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