I received a message on Instagram a few months ago from a student. It read, “I got into a discussion with my friend the other day about transgender and gender identity, and she told me that there were transgender [people] in the Bible. I’m very troubled by this concept as I just can’t understand it.”
How would you respond? Are there transgender people in the Bible? Does the Bible say anything about the topic? Well, you can listen to my response here!
Would you have said anything different? How would you respond to this statement? Let me know in the comment section below!
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Ryan Pauly is the founder and president of Think Well and the Director of Immersive Experiences at MAVEN. He has been working with junior high, high school, and college students for over a decade as a missionary, school teacher, field guide and speaker.
After graduating from college he became a missionary in the Dominican Republic where he spent four years teaching English, Worldview, Apologetics, and Leadership to junior high and high school students. Ryan moved back to Southern California in 2015 and started teaching Historical Christian Doctrine and Apologetics, Comparative Religions and Worldviews, and Philosophy of Ethics at a Southern California Christian high school. He taught high school full-time for 12 years until 2023 when he left to work with Think Well and MAVEN.
Ryan started in the apologetics world back in 2015 with his blog, Coffeehouse Questions. This led to the podcast in 2016 and YouTube in 2020. Think Well was officially launched in June of 2022. Ryan joined MAVEN as a field guide in 2017 and was promoted to Director of Immersive Experiences in 2023. He is also serves as a faculty member at Summit Ministries, an affiliate of Stand to Reason, and a volunteer apologist for Reasons to Believe.
Ryan received Bachelor’s degree in Theology with an emphasis in youth leadership from Vanguard University. He completed his Master’s degree in Christian apologetics from Talbot School of Theology and is currently working toward a Doctor of Ministry in Engaging Mind and Culture. His current research is focused on a theology of technology and artificial intelligence. He also holds a certificate in Science Apologetics from the Reasons Institute.
Oh, no doubt. I’ve heard a variety in the course of my journey as an apologist. It ranges from, “Eve if God does exist, I would refuse to follow Him” to “Truth is subjective, respect my truth”. It all comes down to rebellion.
Why are so many people so concerned with painting trans people as satanic? This is a deeply damaging and unchristian lie. In Christ there are neither male nor female, jew nor greek. It’s only because of the subjugation of women and valorisation of men in the Bible that anyone is worried about upsetting this ‘norm’. If we are indeed all equal, someone’s gender, and whether or not it fits the body they were born in does not matter. It’s the same as when people say that someone was made either male or female by the Lord ‘for a reason’. I used to believe that until I realised the same could be said of children born with birth defects. It’s a toss of a coin whether we are male, female or even somewhere in-between. The Lord can give us grace to be able to deal with it, even if that means transitioning, but to believe it was his intention is simply not true, and this is no more true than if you were born disabled or from a different race.
think-well.org 
July 21, 2019 at 7:01 am
Interesting discussion. I hadn’t known about this argument, so I learned something new. It’s amazing the ways that Satan chooses to twist Scripture.
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July 21, 2019 at 7:52 am
I hadn’t heard that one either. It is interesting what people come up with to justify actions or ideas.
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July 21, 2019 at 7:58 am
Oh, no doubt. I’ve heard a variety in the course of my journey as an apologist. It ranges from, “Eve if God does exist, I would refuse to follow Him” to “Truth is subjective, respect my truth”. It all comes down to rebellion.
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July 21, 2019 at 7:58 am
Oops…”Even if…”
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August 22, 2019 at 12:31 pm
Why are so many people so concerned with painting trans people as satanic? This is a deeply damaging and unchristian lie. In Christ there are neither male nor female, jew nor greek. It’s only because of the subjugation of women and valorisation of men in the Bible that anyone is worried about upsetting this ‘norm’. If we are indeed all equal, someone’s gender, and whether or not it fits the body they were born in does not matter. It’s the same as when people say that someone was made either male or female by the Lord ‘for a reason’. I used to believe that until I realised the same could be said of children born with birth defects. It’s a toss of a coin whether we are male, female or even somewhere in-between. The Lord can give us grace to be able to deal with it, even if that means transitioning, but to believe it was his intention is simply not true, and this is no more true than if you were born disabled or from a different race.
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August 22, 2019 at 3:20 pm
Who is painting trans people as satanic?
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