Journal: Eikon
Volume: EIKON 03:1 (Spring 2021)
Article: Affirming God’s Image: Addressing The Transgender Question With Science And Scripture
Author: Christopher Yuan

Eikon 3.1 (Spring 2021) p. 139

Affirming God’s Image: Addressing The Transgender Question With Science And Scripture

REVIEWED BY

Christopher Yuan

Christopher Yuan (D.Min., M.A. Exegesis) is a speaker and author on biblical sexuality. His most recent book is Holy Sexuality and the Gospel: Sex, Desire, and Relationships Shaped by God’s Grand Story.

Alan Branch. Affirming God’s Image: Addressing the Transgender Question with Science and Scripture. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2019.

“I recommend you support your teenaged daughter as she begins transitioning into a boy...and you should start calling him Tom.”

Receiving these words from a psychologist who denies Christ is expected. But when a top Christian expert dispenses this advice to an already confused and broken-hearted mother and father, it must give us pause. How did we get to this point where misguided ministry leaders embrace and celebrate transgender identities over against biological reality? Why are even some leading Christian therapists recommending gender reassignment — even if only starting with the least invasive procedures? And most importantly, what is the good news of the gospel for people who identify as transgendered, experience gender dysphoria, or have loved ones who do?

Eikon 3.1 (Spring 2021) p. 140

In Affirming God’s Image: Addressing the Transgender Question with Science and Scripture, Alan Branch provides biblical, scientific, and practical insight on this complex and relevant phenomenon of transgenderism. This much-needed and important book makes the case that “transgenderism is not a trait like hair or skin color but is in fact an identity rooted in multiple causes and is completely inconsistent with Christian ethics” (9). Additionally, the book raises fundamental ethical and scientific problems with gender reassignment while providing practical suggestions for parents and the church.

Summary

Chapter 1 surveys the history of transgenderism from antiquity until now. Even prior to modern times, transgender-like behavior was present, for example, in ancient Rome with the “Galli” of the Cult of Cybele. The modern transgender movement burgeoned out of the sexual revolution of the 1960s and the literary deconstruction movement in academia.

In order to engage our ever-changing culture with the never-changing gospel, we must continue to learn its ever-evolving language. In Chapter 2, Branch serves the church well by explaining current terminology that Christians must know to understand and engage well on this topic. Some of the vocabulary I used when I identified as a ga...