I have to admit that ignorant Christians get on my nerves, especially when it comes to discussing transgender people and genital “mutilation”. This was brought to mind yesterday from a tweet I received:
reSemblance: The surgical mutilation of ur God given body in an attempt 2B something you’re not, is indeed a disgusting pretense.
This isn’t even remotely biblical. Jesus said in Matthew:
“For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”
Eunuchs in the bible were “surgically mutilated” as Jesus says, “by men”. There’s no mention of these eunuchs as sinners by Christ. In fact, in Isaiah 56:3-5, God says:
Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say,
“The LORD will surely exclude me from his people.”
And let not any eunuch complain,
“I am only a dry tree.”4. For this is what the LORD says:
“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose what pleases me
and hold fast to my covenant-5. to them I will give within my temple and its walls
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that will not be cut off.
The emphasis in this scripture isn’t the a eunuch’s body or how it’s been changed, but by their devotion to God. Peterson Toscano eloquently explains this here:
and here:
Early church Father, Origen castrated himself. If this practice were such a sin, how would this man become such an important church father?
But I’ll sum this up with the words of Isis:
“God doesn’t make mistakes and I’m not a mistake. This is the way I am.”
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- Fascinated
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- Bored
- Sad
- Angry
Related posts:
The best I’ve read. I was touched and moved. And I came here right after I posed a question if God disapproved my lifestyle. I’m still unsure inside but Thank you.
The upside-down Church
by Olivia Finnegan
Constantly I observed their behaviour and speech
All for love and in favour to teach
Continueously talking but nothing getting done
They celebrate mildly as a convert is won
Once in the door they welcome you in
They share that this is a new life to begin
They give you bibles and books galore
They tell you to stay away from leaving the door
All about being like Jesus is their goal
But they wont get dirty with a piece of coal
You see it is easy to say we love
And that we are children born from above
But it isn’t quite so easy to act on that
Because their outlook on life is negative and flat
They are like the pharisees, arguing with the law
Taking every matter and trimming it with a saw
While at the same time they look to God and say
Look LORD we did your marvelous will today!
But they will burn, most of them will
As their soothing voice is actually shrill
Jesus came for you and for me
He died on a cross, he hung on a tree
He told us to love and showed us our weakness
He left and told us to get rid of the sickness
The sickness of hatred in this life
To go about places ending the strife
To feed the hungry to clothe the cold
To live out faith, to live it out so bold
It’s easy to be a christian these years
All you do is read your bible and shed a few tears
You sing your songs and you feel spirit led
But what you dont realise is that you’re actually dead
Faith without deeds is mortified
Jesus will say that and you will be terrified
It is impossible to please God without faith
So for me to be me, I know he’ll open the gate
Man looks at the outward appearances says the LORD
But I look at the centre of his being, his heart
Would I ever once be abhorred
Of a child of mine who does their part?
Do I truly want another follower of rules to the tee?
Is that what I sacrificed myself for on that tree?
Would I rather not want someone who does what’s right?
That is a servant, who is dearly loved in my sight
So those who are different, those who are strange
Know that God doesn’t care about the outward appearance
That he doesnt care that you need a gender change
So ignore the people around you, you dont need clearance
All you need is a Father with a heart as big as the galaxy
And I hope my friend that now, eyes open you really do see
Because not everyone who says to me lord lord will enter heaven
But he who does the will of my father
His will is simple and just, so spiritually leaven
Just believe in Jesus and he’ll be your brother
Because you are now in a new family
So walk as Jesus walked, in faith and in work
Full of tears, joy, sadness and glee
Trust me its the best thing it’ll make you go berserk!
In a good way of course!
Jesus is the life, the eternal source!
You have touched my soul. Thank you so much.
I am a post-op transsexual but I do see a difference between eunuchs and transsexual people. Eunuchs do not identify as women. They are emasculated men. I don’t see a similarity. Transsexuals do get get emasculated; their genitals are refashioned in order to resemble those of a women. As far as I know, there is no mention in the Bible about correcting ones physical gender and live in the correct gender role that.
I never said that transsexuality was in the Bible, only that eunuchs and transsexuals share a common bond. That bond being that they had themselves surgically altered genitally and that wasn’t a sin in God’s eyes.
Hi, Soulmates. It all depends on the approach taken; it has to be non-confrontational. I was born, raised & educated in the Catholic Church and was taught how to study the Bible by Jesuits. Presenting the information *has* to be done on the terms of the believers, using their belief structure and assumptions, otherwise it comes off as trying to fire magic bullets at their bigotry (uh, please read that as, “heartfelt beliefs”). My goal is to not wait until these passages are needed as a defense, but rather to work to educate Good Christians that they have been led astray from the will of their Lord as it has been very clearly spelled out in the Bible. If their base of support (i.e. regular old churchgoers) can have the darkness lifted from their eyes it will likely put a damper on the evangelicals attempting to use us for political gain (see: local enda laws and bathrooms).
Hi, Soulmates. It all depends on the approach taken; it has to be non-confrontational. I was born, raised & educated in the Catholic Church and was taught how to study the Bible by Jesuits. Presenting the information *has* to be done on the terms of the believers, using their belief structure and assumptions, otherwise it comes off as trying to fire magic bullets at their bigotry (uh, please read that as, “heartfelt beliefs”). My goal is to not wait until these passages are needed as a defense, but rather to work to educate Good Christians that they have been led astray from the will of their Lord as it has been very clearly spelled out in the Bible. If their base of support (i.e. regular old churchgoers) can have the darkness lifted from their eyes it will likely put a damper on the evangelicals attempting to use us for political gain (see: local enda laws and bathrooms).
Hi, Soulmates. It all depends on the approach taken; it has to be non-confrontational. I was born, raised & educated in the Catholic Church and was taught how to study the Bible by Jesuits. Presenting the information *has* to be done on the terms of the believers, using their belief structure and assumptions, otherwise it comes off as trying to fire magic bullets at their bigotry (uh, please read that as, “heartfelt beliefs”). My goal is to not wait until these passages are needed as a defense, but rather to work to educate Good Christians that they have been led astray from the will of their Lord as it has been very clearly spelled out in the Bible. If their base of support (i.e. regular old churchgoers) can have the darkness lifted from their eyes it will likely put a damper on the evangelicals attempting to use us for political gain (see: local enda laws and bathrooms).
Interesting. There’s no point refuting these people though, as they will never listen to reason, they are simply using the bible to justify their pre-conceived views.
Interesting. There’s no point refuting these people though, as they will never listen to reason, they are simply using the bible to justify their pre-conceived views.
It’s always worth trying. Especially if there is something IN their Bible which speaks well about us.
Some recent revisions of earlier translations try to eliminate any mention of eunuchs to better follow a modern political agenda. Here are the two quotes that I use for the first two passages, they flow well with the version of Acts qutoed in my comment above and are as close to a “standard” English translation as one can hope for:
(Isaiah 56:3-5)
For thus says the Lord, “To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.”
(Gospel according to Matthew, 19:12)
Jesus said, “For there are eunuchs, who were born so from their mother’s womb: and there are eunuchs, who were made so by men: and there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can take, let him take it..”.
Some recent revisions of earlier translations try to eliminate any mention of eunuchs to better follow a modern political agenda. Here are the two quotes that I use for the first two passages, they flow well with the version of Acts qutoed in my comment above and are as close to a “standard” English translation as one can hope for:
(Isaiah 56:3-5)
For thus says the Lord, “To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.”
(Gospel according to Matthew, 19:12)
Jesus said, “For there are eunuchs, who were born so from their mother’s womb: and there are eunuchs, who were made so by men: and there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can take, let him take it..”.
Don’t forget Acts 8:26-40, which describes how the Ethiopian eunuch was reading Isaiah and discussing it with the apostle Philip. They continued through the writings of that prophet to the passages specified, at which point the eunuch mentioned that he’d like to join the Church and so Philip baptised him and welcomed him into the Church.
Isaiah 56:3-5
Matthew 19:12
Acts 8:26-40
These passages are the key to changing the hearts of religious believers and we need to use them. They are not just brief mentions, they are complete descriptions in both the Old Testament and New Testament. Regardless of personal belief, we need to get the message out that these are direct instructions from the Christian God to his Followers to be welcoming and inclusive of transsexuals.
The closest mention in the Bible that can be construed to be against transsexual surgery is in Leviticus 19:28. That particular set of warnings came about as a direct result of the Church absorbing a Pagan people that had funeral tattoo traditions and is only interpreted to include other body mods. 1 Corinthians 6:19,20, 1 Corinthians 3:16,17 and 2 Corinthians 6:16 are the other main passages typically called into service against us. They are where Paul’s “Body as a Temple of the Holy Spirit” is mentioned in an effort to counter a growing sense among some believers of the time that hedonism was okay since their souls had been saved. As such it is an interpreted prohibition against “unclean” sexual practices and says nothing about transsexuals. Also requiring interpretation is that transsexual surgery defiles the body which God called “good” in Genesis 1:31. For this argument to be valid and consistent however, one must never shave, get a haircut -or do anything else that changes God’s design for the body such as heart surgery or the repair of an innocent child’s cleft palate.
We need to speak in their own tongue to let them know that the Lord’s message has been twisted by the Devil, using those who wish to sow hatred instead of love. We need to warn them against those who wish to divide the Father’s flock in order to increase their own power and judgement. They are the ones that speak of transsexuals as ‘deviants’ and as being ‘un-natural’, without paying heed to the Word of the Lord.
Okay, that may seem like it’s laying it on a bit heavy…but it works.
In formal Bible study, it’s not just enough to quote passages. The key to the importance of the three passages listed above is that the Bible includes very clear proclamations regarding transsexuals from all three crucial time periods: Before Jesus (The Prophet Isaiah, circa 700 BC), Jesus’ own words (Gospel of Matthew) and after Jesus’ Ascension (the missionary journeys in Acts, circa 3-400 AD). Equally important is that the Bible internally cross references and joins them together by referring back to the previous passages in such a way that there can be no doubt as to God’s Will. It is and always has been intended for believers to recognize that transsexuals are His children, they are part of His Kingdom and they are to be loved as God loves them.
The above is how we need to present the issue of the transsexual medical condition to Christians. We need to educate them from within their own primary text and beliefs, followed by a (brief) review of modern neurological findings compared to descriptions from historical texts regarding eunuchs. And we need to publicly call them on their hypocrisy every chance we get, but with the polite assumption that they have been led astray and need to find their way back to the Flock lest they burn in Hell forever…it’s the Christian thing to do.
Don’t forget Acts 8:26-40, which describes how the Ethiopian eunuch was reading Isaiah and discussing it with the apostle Philip. They continued through the writings of that prophet to the passages specified, at which point the eunuch mentioned that he’d like to join the Church and so Philip baptised him and welcomed him into the Church.
Isaiah 56:3-5
Matthew 19:12
Acts 8:26-40
These passages are the key to changing the hearts of religious believers and we need to use them. They are not just brief mentions, they are complete descriptions in both the Old Testament and New Testament. Regardless of personal belief, we need to get the message out that these are direct instructions from the Christian God to his Followers to be welcoming and inclusive of transsexuals.
The closest mention in the Bible that can be construed to be against transsexual surgery is in Leviticus 19:28. That particular set of warnings came about as a direct result of the Church absorbing a Pagan people that had funeral tattoo traditions and is only interpreted to include other body mods. 1 Corinthians 6:19,20, 1 Corinthians 3:16,17 and 2 Corinthians 6:16 are the other main passages typically called into service against us. They are where Paul’s “Body as a Temple of the Holy Spirit” is mentioned in an effort to counter a growing sense among some believers of the time that hedonism was okay since their souls had been saved. As such it is an interpreted prohibition against “unclean” sexual practices and says nothing about transsexuals. Also requiring interpretation is that transsexual surgery defiles the body which God called “good” in Genesis 1:31. For this argument to be valid and consistent however, one must never shave, get a haircut -or do anything else that changes God’s design for the body such as heart surgery or the repair of an innocent child’s cleft palate.
We need to speak in their own tongue to let them know that the Lord’s message has been twisted by the Devil, using those who wish to sow hatred instead of love. We need to warn them against those who wish to divide the Father’s flock in order to increase their own power and judgement. They are the ones that speak of transsexuals as ‘deviants’ and as being ‘un-natural’, without paying heed to the Word of the Lord.
Okay, that may seem like it’s laying it on a bit heavy…but it works.
In formal Bible study, it’s not just enough to quote passages. The key to the importance of the three passages listed above is that the Bible includes very clear proclamations regarding transsexuals from all three crucial time periods: Before Jesus (The Prophet Isaiah, circa 700 BC), Jesus’ own words (Gospel of Matthew) and after Jesus’ Ascension (the missionary journeys in Acts, circa 3-400 AD). Equally important is that the Bible internally cross references and joins them together by referring back to the previous passages in such a way that there can be no doubt as to God’s Will. It is and always has been intended for believers to recognize that transsexuals are His children, they are part of His Kingdom and they are to be loved as God loves them.
The above is how we need to present the issue of the transsexual medical condition to Christians. We need to educate them from within their own primary text and beliefs, followed by a (brief) review of modern neurological findings compared to descriptions from historical texts regarding eunuchs. And we need to publicly call them on their hypocrisy every chance we get, but with the polite assumption that they have been led astray and need to find their way back to the Flock lest they burn in Hell forever…it’s the Christian thing to do.