Over the past couple of months there’s been a steady stream of articles by Christian leaders weighing in on the Israel Folau controversy. A common theme has been an affirmation of Folau’s commitment to his faith, while expressing concern about his rhetorical strategy; that is, the way in which he’s spoken about it. We see this in such diverse writers as Brian Houston from Hillsong Church and Simon Smart from the Centre for Public Christianity.

However, if you then dive into the comments section on these articles (and on the plethora of social media posts expressing similar sentiments), you’ll find significant pockets of support not only for Folau’s courage, but also defending his approach. The common theme there seems to be: all he’s doing is quoting the Bible. How can we fault him for using the same rhetorical strategy used by the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist, the Apostle Paul, and even Jesus himself?

But is it the same?

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