God and the Transgender Debate: What does the Bible actually say about gender identity?

What is transgender and gender fluidity? What does God's Word actually say about these issues? How can the gospel be good news for someone experiencing gender dysphoria? How should churches respond?

This warm, faithful and careful book helps Christians understand what the Bible says about gender identity. It will help us to engage lovingly, thoughtfully and faithfully with one of the most explosive cultural discussions of our day.

If you want to learn more and love better, and are open to considering what God has to say about sex and gender, this hope-filled book is for you.

Includes a section looking at practical questions including:

- Can someone be transgender and Christian?
- Should I mind if people who are biologically the other sex are in my restroom?
- What should church leaders do if a congregation member asks for their child to be identified as the opposite gender?
- Is it true that Christian teaching is harmful and can lead to depression and higher suicide rates?
- What about people who are born intersex?

Andrew T Walker is the Director of Policy Studies for the Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

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God and the Transgender Debate: What does the Bible actually say about gender identity?

What is transgender and gender fluidity? What does God's Word actually say about these issues? How can the gospel be good news for someone experiencing gender dysphoria? How should churches respond?

If you want to learn more and love better, and are open to considering what God has to say about sex and gender, this hope-filled book is for you.

Includes a section looking at practical questions including:

Andrew T Walker is the Director of Policy Studies for the Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

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Overview

What is transgender and gender fluidity? What does God's Word actually say about these issues? How can the gospel be good news for someone experiencing gender dysphoria? How should churches respond?

If you want to learn more and love better, and are open to considering what God has to say about sex and gender, this hope-filled book is for you.

Includes a section looking at practical questions including:

Andrew T Walker is the Director of Policy Studies for the Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781784981785
Publisher:	The Good Book Company
Publication date:	08/15/2017
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.59(d)

About the Author

Andrew T. Walker (@andrewtwalk) is Director of Policy Studies for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Foreword 9

1 He Had Compassion 13

2 How We Got to Where We Are 19

3 The Language 29

4 On Making a Decision 37

5 Well-Designed 47

6 Beauty and Brokenness 61

7 A Better Future 79

8 Love Your Neighbor 93

9 No Easy Paths 107

10 Challenging the Church 121

11 Speaking to Children 133

12 Tough Questions 145

13 Open Hands 161

Appendix 165

Acknowledgments 173

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Editorial Reviews

Walker's advice is tangible and believable. His writing is itself compassionate and robust, and he addresses the challenges of responding pastorally to the gender confused with much needed clarity.

Jonathan Saunders

The Bible says to love your neighbor and to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. How can Christians love our transgender neighbors compassionately, without compromising our faith? Andrew Walker puts us on the right path.

Erick Erickson (Editor of The Resurgent)

I have been waiting for a resource that would provide me with a clear, loving, and gospel-centered analysis on the topic of gender dysphoria, and I have finally found it. This resource will be incredibly helpful in assisting the body of Christ to be a light in today’s cultural climate.

Jackie Hill Perry (Writer and artist)

One of evangelicalism’s brightest young stars helps us understand how the gospel can be good news, and how the church can be a faithful community, for somebody experiencing gender dysphoria. If you are looking for a one-stop resource for responding biblically to questions about transgender and gender fluidity, look no further.

Bruce Riley Ashford (Provost and Professor of Theology and Culture

This book resonates with gospel clarity and gospel compassion. It will empower you to share the good news of Jesus with those who grapple with gender-identity issues. The book is smart, wise, persuasive, and practical.

Russell Moore (President

God and the Transgender Debate is exactly the book I have been longing for and praying that someone would write. Andrew T Walker brings biblical clarity to a minefield of complexity and controversy, and manages to boldly demolish the stronghold of radical gender ideology with gospel truth and Christlike humility. He sets out a clear pathway to help Christian leaders and all believers navigate the tricky terrain with grace, gentleness and genuine love for transgender people.

Jonathan Berry (Director of True Freedom Trust and author of Satisfaction Guaranteed: A Future a

This is an extremely important book, not just in Andrew Walker’s practical treatment of the tricky and confusing topic of transgenderism, but in the very truthful and compassionate way he deals with it. This is really a book about how we love the gender-dysphoric person with the full grace and glorious truth of the gospel itself. It is a uniquely beautiful and very practical book. Absolutely ‘Must-Read’ material.

Glenn T. Stanton (Director of Family Formation Studies at Focus on the Family)

Walker has done what many could not. He has not only given the church a tool for greater understanding of this area, but has done so with grace, conviction, careful study and thought, and deep love for others. This is not only a timely book; it’s a timeless resource for anyone desiring to serve and love their neighbor as themselves.

Trillia Newbell (Author of Enjoy and Fear and Faith)

This book puts the hand of the suffering into the hands of the Savior, and therefore, this is the book that I will put into the hands of parents struggling to know how God’s word speaks into loving a child who struggles with gender-identity issues. In addition to its loving pastoral care and biblical family guidance, this book models how to discern the times, and to respond with Christian hope.

Rosaria Butterfield (Author of Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert)

Andrew T. Walker is one of the young bright lights in the evangelical church. Here, he helps the church both understand and compassionately respond to today’s challenges on gender identity. (Senior Research Fellow

This will not be the last word on this complex experience but the author’s tender application of God’s Word to our muddled lives today should make this book one of the first places to turn for Christ-like grace and truth as we seek to love all our neighbours as ourselves.

Ed Shaw (Pastor of Emmanuel City Centre

Andrew Walker offers overdue clarity, compassion, and practical wisdom on one of the most difficult questions of our day. Along the way he demonstrates not only that we need not choose between truth and love, as we are often told, but that especially on these issues of human identity, we cannot. This is such an important book.

John Stonestreet (President

This book combines an extraordinary range of attributes. It tackles a contemporary issue; it is marked by humanity and compassion; it respects the Bible; it is open and honest; it is full of Christ-like love; it is usefully practical; and it places the discussion in the context of the big picture of the Bible. It is a model for the open and sensitive discussion of many contemporary issues.

Peter Adam (Retired Principal of Ridley College

Gender-identity questions are among the most radical of our time—and the church is not prepared. Andrew T. Walker has thought deeply about these things, and is an invaluable guide for faithful Christians walking through the heat and confusion of this debate.

Rod Dreher (Author of The Benedict Option)

The post-Christian West says that we are what we think we are, not what our bodies reveal us to be—and this is one of the chief challenges to Christianity today. That is why God and the Transgender Debate is so important. It is a countercultural, compassionate, must-read book.

Denny Burk (President

What should Christians think and say about those who feel their gender is out of line with their biological sex? Should we accept that or silently acquiesce? Andrew Walker rightly says no, but in a compassionate manner that recognizes the psychological struggles and the suffering of people who experience alienation from themselves as God made them.

Robert P. George (McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence

There aren’t many areas of Christian theology where you might say “We don’t have enough books about that.” For a while now, though, we’ve been crying out for resources to help us reflect on and respond to the transgender movement. We are still far from having enough, but Andrew T. Walker’s book has plugged an important gap.

David Shaw

Walker’s book confidently and graciously wades into the muddy water of gender and identity and brings clarity and understanding to the cultural debate surrounding transgenderism and the new consensus of gender fluidity and erotic paucity that underpins it. He argues that the decoupling of biology and gender is a form of cultural Gnosticism (pg. 29), where self-perception is not only different but more important than their physical body (realty). Walker helpfully warns the Church not to make the mistake of universalising cultural expressions of gender, while affirming gender differences rooted in the biology of male and femaleness, by God’s good design. Walker sums it up ‘God’s design for men and women in this way: equal, and different; intended, not interchangeable… and created to complement one another.’ (pg. 58-9) Understanding that the biblical teaching is like eating gravel for many in our culture, let alone some in the Church, Walker’s response is not just a doubling down on orthodox anthropology; it’s a passionate call for a gospel response to both sin and brokenness. He then spends many chapters painting a practical picture of what this looks like to love our neighbour, be the church and bear with those that suffering gender dysphoria. He calls for the church to be compassionate, convictional and gracious communities where those suffering gender dysphorias find hope in the gospel, grace in his promises, and willing travellers for the hard journey home. There is an important chapter helping think through how we should speak to children about this issue at home and church. It includes a heartfelt plea to parents not to cut off their children who are transgender but to treat them more like a prodigal child whom you love and yearn to return home. The book helpfully concludes with a chapter of ‘tough questions’ that are often faced by parents, congregations, and pastors with wise biblical and pastoral answers. I would warmly recommend Walker’s book to pastors, congregations, and parents as a helpful gospel contribution to the transgender debate.

Darren Middleton

To many of us the transgender discussions are bewildering and unsettling. Andrew Walker's short book deals well with the emotional issues and is a kind and clear lesson in how to respond with godly love and wisdom. We must see the groaning of people today as a wonderful way to introduce the groaning for "the glorious freedom" (Romans 8:21). This book will help us all to care and counsel well.

Simon Manchester (Senior Minister

There is certainly no doubt that following the high-profile transitions of Bruce Jenner to Caitlyn, of film directors Andy and Larry Wachowski to Lilly and Lana, and boxing promoter Frank Maloney to Kellie, issues concerning gender and gender dysphoria have never been more in the public eye. Walker claims that, too often, Christians have been on the back foot and have been too slow in responding to these social changes – and, above all, in responding well to the individuals involved. He wrote his book so that Christians might understand, love and relate to transgender people (and to the wider culture) in a biblically-authentic manner.

Peter Dray

Andrew Walker writes on a tough subject with courage and compassion. This is the book Christians need to read to cut through the politically-correct noise and get to the heart of one of the most contentious issues of our time.

David French (Senior Fellow

Almost every day the western world's media evokes sympathy and asserts change for the plight faced by transgender people. So, as an applied theologian I am pleased this excellent book has been published. Walker’s book starts as the title suggests with God first, and its biblical depth and sensitivity is well worth the price alone. Unpacking the challenge of Transgender is handled compassionately and carefully, and the closing chapters are especially important regarding the role of the church, the effect on children and the resultant tough questions that arise. A book I will certainly recommend concerning a vitally important topic.

Colin Bennett (Vice Principal

Andrew Walker brings a sharp mind and pastoral heart to a complex and often painful issue, and the result is a hugely helpful resource for the church today, full of wisdom, grace and truth. I recommend it highly.

Sam Allberry (Speaker with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries; Editor at The Gospel Coalition)

Walker’s wisdom is not his own; it is the result of faithful theological, gospel and pastoral wisdom. This book is both a resource and a challenge to the church; a challenge to be compassionate, convictional and gracious communities where those suffering gender dysphoria find hope in the gospel, grace in his promises, and willing travellers for the hard journey home. It is not just a call to an orthodox anthropology; it’s a call for a gospel response to both sin and brokenness.

Darren Middleton (Convener

One despairs of so much of the literature available today on the ever-expanding sexuality debates. Andrew T. Walker has written a book not about the debates but about people. It is clear and so clarifies matters in a way which will help us all. In the end, we are designed, and reality reflects that. Get that wrong, and God is offended, and people get badly hurt. This book should enable Christians to contribute something to the healing process.

Peter Barnes (Editor of AP Magazine (formerly Australian Presbyterian))

The transgender debate is one that easily arouses passions – on both sides. With gospel clarity and Christ-like compassion, Andrew Walker skilfully navigates a path between the folly of affirming transgenderism and the cruelty of dismissing the distress of those who experience gender incongruence. In so doing, he helps us to see why the gospel of Jesus Christ is good news for the transgendered and how Scripture equips the church for the good work of loving the LGBTQ community. I highly commend this clear-headed and warm-hearted introduction to one of the most challenging issues of our time.

Rob Smith (Lecturer in theology

We need an extra measure of wisdom and an extra measure of compassion in walking with people who struggle with their gender identity. Andrew Walker demonstrates the kind of wisdom and compassion we will need in the days ahead.

Trevin Wax (Author of This is Our Time)

Topics like this require a mixture of compassion and clarity, and Andrew Walker writes with both. This is a hugely helpful introduction to a complex, controversial and often painful subject.

Andrew Wilson (Pastor

Andrew Walker has given us a much-needed resource for understanding the questions around transgender issues. With clarity and gentleness, he calls us back to a biblical vision of humanity, creation, and gender, and invites us to see fidelity to that vision as the most loving way we can engage with a confused world.

Mike Cosper (Founder of Harbor Media; author of The Stories we Tell)

Andrew Walker has done the church a great service. … All Christians, but especially pastors and elders, must think clearly, faithfully, and lovingly on the transgender issue—and for that reason, should read this book.

Todd Miles

Christians must begin to think and speak biblically, in truth and love, about this issue. Andrew Walker has provided a steady foundation from which the church can begin to grapple with this cultural shift.

Karen Swallow Prior (Author of Fierce Convictions—The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More: P

Andrew T. Walker is one of the young bright lights in the evangelical church. Here, he helps the church both understand and compassionately respond to today’s challenges on gender identity.

Ryan T. Anderson (Senior Research Fellow

Christians must begin to think and speak biblically, in truth and love, about this issue. Andrew Walker has provided a steady foundation from which the church can begin to grapple with this cultural shift.

Karen Swallow Prior (Author of Fierce Convictions—The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More: Po

God and the Transgender Debate: What does the Bible actually say about gender identity?

God and the Transgender Debate: What does the Bible actually say about gender identity?

Paperback

Paperback

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Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Table of Contents

Customer Reviews

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Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Table of Contents

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Customer Reviews