Trans issues are never far from the news at the moment, forming the frontline of the so-called ‘culture wars’. It has led to a constitutional face-off between the SNP-led Scottish parliament and the UK government over the former’s attempt to allow self-certification of sex status, as well as lowering the age this can be done to 16. The scandal of self-certification has intensified with the almighty row over the jailing of a rapist in a Scottish women’s jail recently – and subsequent U-turn.
Multiple reasons
The number of people identifying as trans has rocketed in recent years, particularly among teenage girls. Reasons for this are varied. Those at risk include girls with autism (which is much harder to spot than it is with boys) and those who have suffered sexual abuse. Then there’s the recognised phenomenon of social contagion (entire friendship groupings suddenly identifying as trans, for example – a phenomenon formerly more commonly associated with anorexia). Add to that the over-sexualisation of our youth and the promotion of a radical trans ideology in schools and society at large, and we have a very toxic mix.
Many in the Church are rightly concerned and even alarmed. At the same time, most recognise the importance of loving those who find themselves suffering from gender dysphoria. Many words have been written trying to understand this complex issue, and there is no one simple answer. Many have focused on current issues. But what if some of the roots can be traced back much further?
Many words have been written trying to understand this complex issue, and there is no one simple answer.
And what if influences in the Church from its earliest days mean that Christianity in the West has also played its part in allowing for this situation to materialise?
Plato and the alternative reality
This has not been achieved, of course, by buying into the neo-Marxist-driven, anti-family ideology currently sweeping the nation. But by losing the very physical, embodied nature of our faith, as Greek philosophy continues to infiltrate the body of Christ, rather than the Hebraic thinking of the Bible.
As a child growing up in a non-denominational church in the 1980s, I very much imbibed the teaching that ‘spiritual’ matters constituted the most important factors in life. Material things hardly mattered at all. Not that I’m blaming that fellowship particularly, or even the Church as a whole. It was as much a reaction to the materialism of the ‘80s, which rejected the spiritual dimension. And it may well be that, as a suggestible child, I picked up on this far more than was ever intended, and took it as black and white. But such teaching certainly made its mark, and I’ve found myself having to re-evaluate it in more recent times.
Greek philosophy, formed in part by Plato, emphasised the non-reality of our current world, being just a shadow of an alternative reality. This led to Christian teaching often focusing on the reality of heaven, seeking spiritual experiences above material comforts, and ascetism.
Greek philosophy, formed in part by Plato, emphasised the non-reality of our current world, being just a shadow of an alternative reality. This led to Christian teaching often focusing on the reality of heaven, seeking spiritual experiences above material comforts, and asceticism. In the past, it allowed the medieval nobility to profit from the serfs, by asserting that they would get their reward for their poverty in heaven. It allowed the Church to extract tithes and money for indulgences from the poor, pointing again to eternity, whilst doing little to alleviate their daily suffering.
Now, clearly, it is God who has set eternity in the hearts of men (Ecc 3:11). Our spirituality is God-given; He offers himself as our guide, our Lord, and our Saviour for all eternity. There is a spiritual reality which has been denied by many, and it is central to our very existence. Our earthly bodies do indeed fail, sooner or later, and we need this eternal sense.
But our faith is also an embodied faith. It cannot, and should never be, separated from the reality of the world that God created, and in which he placed us.
But our faith is also an embodied faith. It cannot, and should never be, separated from the reality of the world that God created, and in which He placed us. And it is this separation of the soul, spirit and body, which came through the Greek thinking in the Church into the Western world, that forms the scenario in which the current trans crisis has been able to develop. One which allows our earthly bodies to simply be a casing for our true selves.
A physical, practical, community faith
From the outset of Jewish history, we see the way in which faith and the physical go together; for example, Abraham in faith obeyed God to move to the land that would become Israel, as God planted him in the country that he promised him (Gen 12:1-4). We can see that when the three angels (God?) came to visit him, he fed them lavishly from the bounty of the land (Gen 18:1-10). It was through sexual union with Sarah, his wife, that the promise bore fruit, and Isaac was born (Gen 21:2).
Then Moses, through faith, led the Israelites to literal freedom from slavery – as suffering was not God’s future for them (Ex 14:12-14). He then received the law which embodied directions for tangible worship, but which was mostly focused on the reality of living in community and how to treat each other. The book of Ruth is a perfect illustration of how God’s law provides for our physical needs and for our place in community.
Jesus, God incarnate
The ultimate evidence, however, that our faith is an embodied faith, comes in Jesus, as God became human for around 33 years. He left His heavenly throne to come into the world that He created. He became a baby, dependent on Mary for warmth, food, love, even toileting. If God’s Son did not despise the body that He created for Himself, but cared for it, sharing in our humanity, then we also need to honour the bodies that He gave us.
If God’s Son did not despise the body that He created for Himself, but cared for it, sharing in our humanity, then we also need to honour the bodies that He gave us.
Jesus did indeed fast for 40 days, in preparation for His ministry, denying for a time His physical needs. But when it came to preparing for His ultimate task, His self-sacrifice, which caused him immense physical, emotional and spiritual suffering, then He chose to spend the evening before it in feast, celebrating the Passover meal with His closest companions, in scenes of true intimacy.
Physical worship
The act that He gave His followers to remember Him by is a very tangible one, as we share wine and bread (Lk 22:19-20). In some churches this has been so whittled down in significance that one otherwise excellent church I visited had people taking a piece of bread then queuing to dip it in blackcurrant squash before eating it. But it’s not only communion that is a physical act. Worship should involve the whole body, as we not only eat together (Acts 2:42), but sing together (Eph 5:12-19), raise holy hands (1 Tim 2:8), kneel (Ps 95:6), clap (Ps 47:1) and dance (Ps 149:3).
And it is in Jesus’ ministry that we see the emphasis He puts on our spiritual, emotional and physical wellbeing, as the hungry were fed, the sick healed, the demon-afflicted set free – and even the dead raised, often in a compassionate response to the anguish of family members. We are called to do the same, both practically, and, where needed, miraculously through prayer.
And ultimately, we will not live an ethereal, disembodied, eternal life in heaven; rather, the Bible tells us again and again that it is the resurrection to which we must look forward, when we shall all be clothed in immortal, but nevertheless recognisably corporeal bodies (e.g., Rom 6:5; 1 Cor 15:1-58).
Our biology is a fact that cannot be denied. Our bodies form part of who we are. How we care for them – for our own and for others – really matters (Eph 5:29).
Integration of body, mind and spirit
Science shows us the many ways in which our minds and bodies interact, how our physical actions affect how we feel. For example, recent research has focused on the fact that damaging the gut through poor diet can bring about anxiety and depression. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) focuses on how we can use our bodies’ processes to control anxiety, as well as choosing to manage our thoughts in the way Jesus taught: “Why worry about tomorrow…” (Matt 6:25-34). How we feel physically affects our emotional state, and can impact, for better or worse, our relationship with God.
Our bodies, minds and spirits are all interconnected and indivisible whilst in this life.
Our bodies, minds and spirits are all interconnected and indivisible whilst in this life, and God’s word tells us this. The separation brought about by Greek thinking has allowed for people to divide who they are into constituent parts, leading to some feeling they can say ‘I’m a boy in a girls’ body’ or vice versa. But our body is part of who we are, flaws and all.
Reintegrating the physical with faith to help those with dysphoria
Those who truly struggle with gender dysphoria are struggling with reality, seeing their soul as separate from their body, and they need help to embrace how God has made them. This is a complex issue that has no easy answers, but may well include trauma therapy, acceptance of their differences (such as autism), and safe, non-sexualised touch, as Jesus demonstrated, for example, while washing His disciples’ feet.
But what could also help is if we exemplify an environment where the material, the spiritual and the intellectual all form an integral part of our whole-life worship, so that we can model to the secular world the wholeness that faith brings.
But what could also help is if we exemplify an environment where the material, the spiritual and the intellectual all form an integral part of our whole-life worship, so that we can model to the secular world the wholeness that faith brings.
How can we do this? We can declare the beauty and wonder of God’s creation – not just the trees, flowers, and animals, but the entire world, which includes our amazing bodies and minds. We proclaim it both in word and in deed, as we care for others and for creation.
We can celebrate communion not just as a symbolic act, but also in shared meals, serving each other.
We need to not just enter the debate with well-processed secular reasoning – vital though the arguments of safe spaces for women, fairness in sport, and damage to children truly are – but seek to bring back the true biblical teaching that underpins the reality of who we are – people created in God’s image, body, soul and spirit.
Discussion of trans rights and women’s safety are relevant, but the heart of the issue is the need to show those with gender dysphoria the wholeness that only Jesus can bring.
