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Bible, Theology & Philosophy
Evangelical Theological Society
Transgender Politics

“Draycott argued that Christians must “prophetically test each other’s word and testimony,” urging churches to welcome those who identify as transgender Christians but also to challenge their testimony.” - World

Discussion

Fri, 01/04/19

ETS has had problems for many years. Draycott isn’t alone in his views. The question: Will members of ETS maintain that views like Draycott’s are compatible with ETS’s position on inerrancy? In other words, can you deny or reinterpret Biblical teaching on sexual matters and still maintain belief in Biblical inerrancy with integrity? If the answer is NO, then will ETS do anything about members who hold positions incompatible with inerrancy? If not, then why would conservative Evangelicals and Fundamentalists still hold membership in an organization that will not enforce it’s (limited) doctrinal statements?

Wally Morris
Huntington, IN

Fri, 01/04/19

You and I are agreeing an awful lot lately. What is happening!?

Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.

Fri, 01/04/19

My take here is that this is really a wonderful challenge to us. OK, we think transgenderism is wrong—and I agree. Now, let’s demonstrate it from Scripture. It’s really a lot like abortion; you will find no easy proof-texts about it in Scripture, I’m guessing in great part because either act was unthinkable at the time for the vast majority. Rather, you’ve got some inference from societal attitudes—I’d offer Galatians 5:12 and other texts—as well as a look at the culture around it, medical realities (changing hormones/etc., is a life shortening reality), and the like.

Agreed with Wally that ETS has some reckoning to do regarding where the boundaries of inerrancy lie, and it’s precisely this kind of work that needs to help define them.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.

Fri, 01/04/19

After 2000 years of some of the smartest men in the world poring over and parsing every word of written Scripture and coming to the same conclusions concerning transvestism—that it is scripturally forbidden—, when the matter becomes the darling of the western media all of a sudden we find out that all those godly scholars were wrong, and it is not a matter to be avoided at all, but to be embraced.

All that said in a one-sentence paragraph. Channeling my inner Paul. :)

Back to the topic: it makes one wonder how much popular culture actually affects our theology, even in seemingly conservative evangelical circles.

Lee