transforming

This book by Austen Hartke was a breath of wonderful fresh air after reading a totally different book on the same theme. Discerning readers may well write this off as basic confirmation bias, where I read a book about a thing and it argued for a conclusion that I wasn't entirely comfortable with so I discounted it and read another one which argued for something that I was more comfortable with, so I took this one to be better - and you may well be right. I'm not infallible, gender is complicated as fuck, and I've been on the fence about coming out as non-binary for the best part of a year.

   But in all honesty, Hartke is a better authority on this issue than Vaughan Roberts, given that he has experienced first-hand the community and theology alienation from evangelical Christianity that Vaughan is all too keen to say 'yes well this is not ideal' but then makes the kind of theological points that keep transgender and non-binary people from actually feeling comfortable in church; he has also approached the issue with much more than a cursory intellectual rigour - and draws on perspectives from church leaders, churchgoers, trans and otherwise, as well as a rich variety of scientific and social theory, but all grounded very much in a contextual and generous reading of scripture,* considered through the lenses of everything from the ambiguity of the Creation narrative poetry to the person and ministry of Christ and its carrying by his apostles to the varying significant re-namings in the Bible to the gender-bending roles eunuchs played and how they were still very much included in the early church.**

   Ultimately this a highly affirming and challenging book about the sovereignty of God, the fluidity of Creation, and the necessity of unity in the Church - an absolute must-read for Christians who are personally experiencing transformational elements in your life and gender identity, and should also be compulsory reading for anyone with any speck of pastoral responsibility, as there are guidelines on how to be meaningfully inclusive given as an appendix which go far beyond most of what I'd seen before.

* Even given my own views and latent identity, the depth of the tendrils of evangelicalism I've grown up in made me feel somewhat uncomfortable at parts of his argument. Though I suppose this could be a good thing, as it has maintained and renewed my vigour to not just settle for 'an answer' but to keep reading and exploring. That said, the general points Hartke makes are probably the best Christian perspective on the issues around gender fluidity that I've read so far.

** Transphobic Christian readers will do well to note that Philip didn't even demand the Ethiopian to grow his cock-n-balls back before receiving salvation!***

*** It was only upon googling this passage that I noticed for the first time that another Ethiopian eunuch features in the Bible, and pulls Jeremiah out of a dunghole.

Transgender

This book by Vaughan Roberts is, I say, trying not to despair, probably the first (and probably often only) thing most Christians will ever read about the complex and sensitive field of gender fluidity. While in terms of overall theological orthodoxy, I don't yet feel I could articulate much of an alternative perspective to his general points (and in terms of my general views on gender I'm not sure I'd need to), but there are* psychological, social and ethical points in which he seems to think a blunt sense of evangelical conformism to traditional binary gender norms overrides any/all complexities in relating to people who sit outside of this - evidenced by his platitudinous use of simplistic bible interpretation to sidestep genuine scientific ambiguities or questions around authenticity and identity or even feminist conceptions of justice. Of course, it's unrealistic to think a writer could do a top-drawer job in a 75-page A6-size book, which is part of the problem. He has not only hugely oversimplified the issues, but done so from an ideological standpoint which draws more on the patriarchal whinges calling themselves the Christian front in the culture war than it does on prophetically challenging people to properly engage with the issues (or - not to mention - the people implicated). As a devout Christian who has been wrestling with the decision whether or not to come out as non-binary for a while now** and looking for helpful faith-oriented literature to help me navigate, this book was profoundly less than useful or encouraging. That said, I know what the gender-argument landscape is like in evangelical Christian circles all too well at the moment, and so I can still probably say that this book might be a good starting point for people new to the issue who want to find out more - though I would also rather insistently add, don't stop here.***

* Lots of these. To the point where they largely underpin many of his core arguments and so isolating particular things to say 'well this is wrong because X' would not be plausible without a comprehensive intellectual dissection of his book, which I fully can't be arsed to give it.

** As to do so would fundamentally disrupt my relationship with my home church, and may be perceived by many I know as less to do with myself than being a 'screw you' to the form of Christianity I've grown up in as well as those involved in that community. I feel kind of safe enough saying this on here because nobody reads this blog.

*** [edit - June] I've just read this. Kind of comes from the opposite end of orthodoxy. I feel a lot more affirmed and based on a number of other factors have made the decision to come out at some point. Don't know how this will go. But anyway, if you read this, read that too. And then keep looking into it because nobody but God has all the good answers.