A Biblical Conversation About Transgender Identities

By Preston Sprinkle  – The Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender – Pastoral Paper 12

This paper has a narrow aim: to understand what the Bible says about the categories of male and female as they relate to questions about transgender (and non-binary) identities. I’ve titled the paper a “Biblical Conversation” instead of a “Biblical View” for at least two reasons. First, modern questions related to transgender identities are very new and there has been relatively little interaction with the complexities of this discussion. (Although, of course, there is no shortage of dogmatic opinions littered across conversations on social media.) Since this conversation is so fresh, any thoughtful interpreter should humbly be open to the possibility that their current assumptions should be reconsidered (or corrected) in light of further studies and research.

Second, the transgender conversation involves the convergence of many different academic disciplines: Biblical and Theological Studies, Ancient Near Eastern and Greco-Roman History, Psychology, Psychiatry, Gender Theory, and Biology (among others). While I have done my best to read and wrestle with many of the relevant works in these areas, I make no claim to be an expert in them all.

In light of these two realities, I will try to exercise great caution, and in some places tentativeness, in drawing conclusions from my observations of what the Bible says and doesn’t say.

Read the Article: https://www.centerforfaith.com/resources