Does God Care about Gender Identity? E-Book

Samuel D. Ferguson

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: TGC Hard Questions
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

A Biblical Vision of Gender Identity  Since the beginning of humanity, people have recognized God's distinct design of male and female gender. But at the onset of the gender revolution, individuals became more likely than ever to question who they were designed to be. As a society, we have expelled gender distinctions and celebrated psychology over biology. Do the core teachings of the Bible uphold this modern divorce?  In this concise booklet, Samuel D. Ferguson carefully and compassionately compares the core beliefs and practices of the transgender movement with the fundamental truths expressed in Scripture. Ferguson argues human identity is not determined by the individual but is given to us by our Creator, who designed us with purpose and encourages us to live in Christlikeness—valuing heavenly transformation over earthly transition.  - Short, Accessible Format: A concise biblical exploration of gender identity  - TGC Hard Questions Series: Equips readers with answers to difficult questions facing the modern church   - Great Resource for Parents, Pastors, or Those Struggling with Gender Identity: Offers advice for tackling personal and corporate controversies related to sex and gender

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“This small book is big on wisdom. Yes, God does care about gender identity, and Sam Ferguson explains why. More importantly, he helps readers go deep in understanding why the God who created us wants us to flourish as the creatures we are, and he equips readers to accompany those who struggle with this life-giving truth.”

Ryan T. Anderson, President, Ethics and Public Policy Center; author, When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment

“Loaded with practical advice, this book is a must-read for those who struggle with gender identity—and for their parents, youth leaders, and pastors. Ferguson’s academic work, pastoral experiences, and clear thinking uniquely position him to bring clarity and compassion to a movement that is often muddled and full of pain. If you’re trying to understand the transgender phenomenon and think about it biblically, this book’s for you.”

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra, Senior Writer, The Gospel Coalition; editor, Social Sanity in an Insta World

“In this book, Sam Ferguson engages basic questions facing many today. Is our identity as male and female fundamentally oppressive or creative? Should we change the body to heal the mind? What’s the answer to current hurts and pains? How does transitioning compare with the Bible’s promise of transformation? Whose voices are informing and shaping minds today on these issues? Ferguson addresses these questions and more with compassion, clarity, humility, respect, and helpful guidance.”

Mark Dever, Pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, DC

“Sam Ferguson’s Does God Care about Gender Identity? exhibits a rare combination of pastoral wisdom, intellectual brilliance, and compassionate engagement of the culture. Highly recommended!”

Andreas Köstenberger, Founder, Biblical Foundations; Theologian in Residence, Fellowship Raleigh; author, God, Marriage, and Family

“In an era of gender and sexual confusion, Sam Ferguson has written a refreshing examination of the Bible’s perspective, providing clear and articulate understanding for the Christ follower.”

Foley Beach, Archbishop, Anglican Church in North America

Does God Care about Gender Identity?

TGC Hard Questions

Jared Kennedy, Series Editor

Does God Care about Gender Identity?, Samuel D. Ferguson

Is Christianity Good for the World?, Sharon James

Why Do We Feel Lonely at Church?, Jeremy Linneman

Does God Care about Gender Identity?

Samuel D. Ferguson

Does God Care about Gender Identity?

Copyright © 2023 by Samuel D. Ferguson

Published by Crossway1300 Crescent StreetWheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway® is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

Cover design: Ben Stafford

Cover images: Unsplash

First printing 2023

Printed in the United States of America

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated into any other language.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-9115-0 ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-9117-4 PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-9116-7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Ferguson, Samuel D., 1982– author.

Title: Does God care about gender identity? / Samuel D. Ferguson.

Description: Wheaton, Illinois : Crossway, 2023. | Series: TGC hard questions | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2023000671 (print) | LCCN 2023000672 (ebook) | ISBN 9781433591150 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9781433591167 (pdf) | ISBN 9781433591174 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Church work with transgender people. | Gender identity—Religious aspects—Christianity.

Classification: LCC BV4437.6 .F47 2023 (print) | LCC BV4437.6 (ebook) | DDC 261.8/357—dc23/eng/20230419

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023000671

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023000672

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

2023-09-13 12:10:47 PM

Contents

Does God Care about Gender Identity?

Notes

Glossary

Recommended Resources

Scripture Index

“It’s just been so hard,” Marie said quietly through tears. The mother of four was updating me about her eldest child’s gender transition. There’s no question how much Marie loves her child. Through each phase of the transition, Marie’s done her utmost to remain informed, loving, and in close communication. But watching her eighteen-year-old start hormone treatments, then two years later undergo a double mastectomy, and now, at age twenty-three, struggle to manage a newly chosen identity that requires a regimen of monthly treatments, has been hard to the point of heartbreaking.

Marie and her husband first asked me to meet with them when their high school child, Skylarr,1 announced that though biologically female, she was actually a boy. I was in the middle of doctoral work in the field of theological anthropology, studying what the Bible says about being human. My particular focus touched on areas of human embodiment and identity. I’m also a pastor with some experience walking with friends who experienced gender dysphoria—the technical term for severe and persistent discomfort between one’s biological sex and one’s psychological sense of gender.2 Skylarr and I met at the family’s house monthly for about a year. Skylarr was binding her chest and exploring masculine dress at the time. We talked a lot about what, in 2017, newscaster Katie Couric and National Geographic deemed the “Gender Revolution.”3

That year, young people posed on the cover of the magazine, each one representing an emerging gender identity, including nonbinary, trans-female, androgynous, trans-male, straight female, and bigender. The cover made clear that the gender revolution was about more than a biological male being able to be a woman, or a biological female becoming a man. It marked the collapsing of a two-sexed world, the triumph of psychology over biology.

Up until the 1960s, the term gender was used interchangeably with sex to refer to the biological reality that humans are born as either male or female. These two biologicalsexes were distinguishable by their chromosomes, reproductive structures, hormone levels, and anatomical features.4 Many modern thinkers—including feminist psychologist Hilary Lips—still acknowledge the reality of two sexes, male and female.5 But in recent decades, gender has come to mean something different from biological sex. The term as now used refers exclusively to “the psychological, social and cultural aspects of being male or female.”6 As such, peoples’ gender identity—their self-understanding of their gender—may or may not be related to their biology. This is the revolutionary idea of the gender revolution. And with the riverbanks of biology removed, gender identity is now as free-flowing and expansive as one’s feelings.

A recent list of gender identities includes gender expansive (for those who identify in a range of ways outside the male/female binary) and gender-fluid (for those who experience their gender identity as shifting to some extent).7 The gender revolution is still developing, and opinions about terminology vary. But one thing is clear. The movement is sweeping, affecting areas from media to medicine, from entertainment to education, from literature to legislation. It has even affected my pastoral ministry.