CBMW convened a meeting of evangelical leaders on August 25th that was hosted by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission during its national conference. The meeting included a coalition of scholars, pastors, and other leaders who discussed and endorsed The Nashville Statement. The statement, comprised of 14 affirmations and denials, addresses issues related to human sexuality, “in the hope of serving Christ’s church,” according to the statement’s preamble.

NASHVILLE – The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) announced August 29th the release of The Nashville Statement, an evangelical coalition statement on biblical sexuality.

CBMW convened a meeting of evangelical leaders on August 25th that was hosted by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission during its national conference. The meeting included a coalition of scholars, pastors, and other leaders who discussed and endorsed The Nashville Statement. The statement, comprised of 14 affirmations and denials, addresses issues related to human sexuality, “in the hope of serving Christ’s church,” according to the statement’s preamble.

The Nashville Statement comes thirty years after CBMW published the Danvers Statement of 1987 – the organization’s founding document – and aims to address current issues of sexuality.

“The spirit of our age does not delight in God’s good design of male and female. Consequently, confusion reigns over some of the most basic questions of our humanity,” said Denny Burk, president of CBMW. “The aim of The Nashville Statement is to shine a light into the darkness – to declare the goodness of God’s design in our sexuality and in creating us as male and female.”

Burk added: “It is our prayer that this statement might provide help for churches and Christian organizations that are looking for biblical guidance on how to address homosexuality and transgenderism. We also aim to foster a coalition of like-minded evangelicals to stand together for the challenging days ahead. Finally, we wish to influence a rising generation of evangelicals who are under pressure to abandon scriptural teaching about marriage, gender, and sexuality.”

CBMW’s co-founder John Piper said, “The Nashville Statement is a Christian manifesto concerning issues of human sexuality. It speaks with forthright clarity, biblical conviction, gospel compassion, cultural relevance, and practical helpfulness. It will prove to be, I believe, enormously helpful for thousands of pastors and leaders hoping to give wise, biblical, and gracious guidance to their people.”

“I am signing The Nashville Statement because I stand with biblical orthodoxy, the only witness for hope and peace and God’s blessing,” said author Rosaria Butterfield. “By God through the merit and power of Jesus Christ, here I stand.”

In addition to Piper and Butterfield, the list of those who have signed the statement includes evangelical figures J. I. Packer, James Dobson, John MacArthur, Russell Moore, Wayne Grudem, Tony Perkins, D. A. Carson, Albert Mohler, Francis Chan, R. C. Sproul, Sam Allberry, and Marvin Olasky.

“The Nashville Statement is an urgently needed moment of gospel clarity,” said Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. “The Sexual Revolution cannot keep its promises, and the church must stand ready to receive with compassion the many who are in need of a better hope. The Nashville Statement is part of that mission, and my prayer is that it will help anchor churches and Christians to the gospel of Jesus Christ for years to come.”

Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and one of the plenary speakers at the meeting in Nashville, said, “Like so many other statements—the Chicago Statement on biblical inerrancy, the Danvers Statement on biblical manhood and womanhood—I think we’ll look back on The Nashville Statement as a word that needed to be said, a message that needed to be sent. It is clarity in the midst of confusion that will stand the test of time and the test of truth.”

Andrew T. Walker, director of the ERLC’s Research Institute, which helped convene the meeting, says that the statement “will have lasting impact for generations to come.” He added, “We are pleased to offer this statement as a faithful expression of Christian conviction in a secular age.”

The entire text of The Nashville Statement can be read here, with a list of endorsements for the statement found here.

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