Transgenderism and the Bible:
The bible doesn’t differentiate between gender and sex. Genesis1:26-27 says that we are made in God’s image and male and female He made them. What does it mean that God created us in His own image? Let’s eliminate some wrong ideas first.
1) God is not like us only bigger.
2) We don’t evolve into a god or God.
The first mistake leads to a smaller view of God. The second mistake leads to an idolatrous view of humans.
There are some characteristics that we share with God only in smaller amounts. Things like love, mercy, morals and emotions. But there are certain characteristics that only God retains for Himself. Things like omni-presence (being everywhere at any and all times), omnipotence (being all-powerful) and omniscience (knowing everything about everything).
So, being made in God’s image means we have a spiritual life, ethical and moral sensitivities and a conscious. We are also a trinity. We have a body, soul and spirit. God is also a trinity of a different kind. He is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Our gender is a work of God, is intentional and purposeful. It is not an accident of nature or just a biological phenomenon. When God created us as perfect in the Garden of Eden as “male and female”, He called it very good (Genesis 1:31). Because of the “Fall” in Genesis 3, our wants and desires have become distorted and idolatrous (Romans 1:18-23). These distorted desires have led to sexual sin and moral chaos among other things (Romans 1:24-27). The importance of maintaining gender is seen in Deuteronomy 22:5, which says that women shouldn’t wear men’s clothes and vice versa. This is an abomination to God. The New Testament supports these distinctions also. Mark 10:6 and Matthew 19:4 reaffirm that God made us male and female. The teachings about roles of spouses in a marriage assume that we retain our original sex (Ephesians 5:21-33, Colossians 3:18-21 and 1st Peter 3:1-7).
If our “feelings” disagree with the gender that God made us, then our “feelings” are wrong. Correctly understanding our gender doesn’t begin with our “feelings”. It begins with God. Our human feelings are a notoriously unreliable indicator of God’s will. The reason people have confused “feelings” about gender is because we live in a “fallen” world corrupted by sin. Its so much easier to rationalize our “feelings” than to deal with why we have them and to work to change them.
Paul gives us a healthy appreciation of our original sex and appropriate ways to express it in 1st Corinthians 6”19-20. He says that our body is no longer ours to do with as we please. God holds us morally accountable for what we do with and to our body. Surgical mutilation of our genitals or rejecting our original sex is a rejection of God’s created order and purpose for our lives. The human body receives no greater honor than in the doctrine of the resurrection. Resurrected bodies will be continuous with our present bodies like a plant is continuous from the seed from which it springs. The bible presents human beings as whole entities earthen material initially enlivened by the breath of God which will one day become glorified with the Spirit of God. Gendered bodies are part of God’s good creation.
Consider the following analogies:
1) suppose a 70 year old man wants to identify as a 16 year old boy. Would we go along with it or would we recommend psychiatric help?
2) suppose a white man wants to identify as a black man. He could have his skin chemically darkened. But should we think that he is really black?
3) suppose a very thin girl identifies as being overweight and goes on a starvation diet. We would diagnose her with anorexia nervosa disorder and recommend a psychologist to her.
The above 3 people have persistent false beliefs about themselves. Our solution to their dilemma would be psychological/psychiatric counseling to restore their mental faculties to a properly functioning state of reality. Medicine is about restoring mental and bodily functions to their proper usage.
References:
https://stream.org/memo-to-the-washington-post-the-bible-does-reject-transgender-behavior/
https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2016/08/no-god-isnt-transgender#print
http://robgagnon.net/ArticlesOnline.htm