“Are You a Boy or a Girl?”

Debunking the Arguments in Support of Transgenderism

Those who promote the legitimacy of transgenderism are not without their arguments designed to support this belief. However, as will be seen, all of these are not supported by the Scriptures.

¡ “People are born that way.”

During an interview Bruce Jenner (who has transitioned into Caitlyn Jenner) said: “I have always been confused with my gender identity since I was this small. …I’ve tried to explain it this way. God’s looking down, making little Bruce. He says, ‘O.K., what are we gonna do with this one? Make him a smart kid, very determined[‘]… and then, when he’s just finishing, he says, ‘Let’s wait a second.’ God looks down and chuckles a little bit and says, ‘Hey, let’s give him the soul of a female.'”

Once again God is blamed for pulling a cruel joke on someone by giving them the wrong body. In Bruce’s case there is no conflict with having one of the chromosome syndromes, such as, XXY or hormonal imbalances. And as far as we known his external physical traits are definitely male. Yet somehow he knows that God gave him a female soul. When God created humans on the sixth day, He made them “male and female.” (Genesis 1:26,27). Furthermore, the Bible says nothing about souls being either male of female. In fact, Jesus said, “for in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven” (Matthew 22:30).

Some might claim that being born a transgender has something to do with their genetic make up. Identical twins have identical genes. If one is genetically programmed to be transgender so is the other. Yet, there are many cases of one twin being perfectly content with their gender and the other one having severe gender identity issues.

Even if transgenderism was to be argued by the puesdo-science of Darwinian evolution, it does not make any sense. Evolution assumes random mutations change species based on natural selection of the fittest. How does transgenderism benefit the survival of a human species? Unless they reproduce, the genes responsible are not passed on to another generation of transgenders. Therefore, this argument results in a dead-end.

¡ “God Made Mankind First and then Genders”

Heath Adam Ackley in his coming out sermon originally called “The Genderqueer Gospel” argued:  Binary gender (division into male and female) isn’t clearly defined with words such as “man” or “woman” until the twenty-second verse of the second chapter of Genesis,” the transgender man wrote CP. Before that division, Genesis 2 refers to the first human as “ha’adam,” the creature made of earth. For this reason, Ackley took on the name “Adam” to identify himself as a human before and beyond considerations of gender.

When God separated the first human into two genders, Ackey argues they were incomplete. Only in Christ are they made whole again. This contradicts what God said about humans in Genesis 5:2: ”He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.“ Furthermore his beliefs are in conflict with Genesis 2:24: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

¡ “God looks at the heart and not Gender”

It is argued that God does not look at one’s gender but on their heart. When Samuel expressed surprise at God’s choice of young David as Israel’s next king “the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart’” (1 Samuel 16:7). However, this passage is not proof that God does not consider one’s gender when making leadership choices. After all, all the kings of Judah were male. All the apostles chosen by Christ were male. All the preachers, deacons, and elders of the New Testament church were to be male. The passage is not discussing David’s gender but contrasting his masculine appearance as a young shepherd boy to that of his elder brothers. It also focuses on inner character.

¡ Eunuchs Were Transgender

It is assumed by those who desire to use the Bible to support transgenderism that enuuchs were transgender. Many will quote Matthew 19:11-12 to make this point. Jesus told His disciples, “all cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given: For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.” Are the “eunuchs” of the Bible transgender? To answer one must consider the definition of a eunuch in light of the first century culture. The term “eunuch” comes from the Greek eunouchos, meaning euné (bed) and echein (to have charge of), the word eunuch literally means “chamberlain.” There are three types of eunuchs mentioned by Jesus in the passage above. 1) There are those who were born eunuchs. This is perhaps referring to some birth defect. 2) Next, some men were forced to be eunuchs. 3) Finally, Jesus mentions those who chose to be eunuchs due to their personal choice. In such cases, no physical changes may have been necessary. He was making a personal, mental and/or spiritual choice not to marry. Perhaps, Paul was making reference to this in his letter to the Corinthians. “But I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord But he who is married cares about the things of the world—how he may please his wife” (1 Corinthians 7:32,33). Just because a man is made by other men or nature a eunuch does not make him a female or an individual with no gender. The Bible facts regarding eunuchs is that God makes them men from the moment of conception regardless of birth defects. The Bible refers to all eunuchs as male, such as, “man of Ethiopia, a eunuch” (Acts 8:26-39). No where in scriptures are eunuchs said to be confused about their gender. They are never found claiming to be women “trapped in a male body.” None of these eunuchs are seen in the Bible seeking to transition into a woman. Transgender people are NOT eunuchs and cannot never be considered a eunuch.

¡ “Gender is not an a Part of Christianity”

Using the statement in Galatians 3:28: “there is no male and female” proponents of transgenderism argue that God does not recognize genders and thus Christians ought not to do so either. Again this verse is being jerked out of context and twisted to promote something the Holy Spirit did not intend to address. The issue is not gender identity but the equality of salvation in Christ for both men and women. The first thing students of the scriptures need to do is read the immediate context to see if the proof text being used actually is dealing with gender. “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal 3:26-29).

The Bible offers no support for transgenderism. In fact, the Bible only recognizes two genders: male and female. Yet, the Word of God does offer the hope of eternal salvation to all men and women who put on Christ in baptism.

– Daniel R. Vess

2018-04-29 - “Are You a Boy or a Girl?”, Part 2
2018-05-13 - "Are You a Boy or a Girl?", Part 4
Categories: The Forum