TRANS SPIRIT FLOURISHING
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gnosticism and heresy?

An old chestnut which is sometimes re-roasted to feed trans ignorance and misdirection is that transgender people are modern 'gnostics', or other kinds of 'heretics', who ignore God's 'good creation; and material reality for the sake of falsely perceived inner realities and self-help means of salvation.  Such crass allegations are surprisingly even occasionally made  by scholars who really should know better.  For it is a truly absurd charge.  Indeed it is quite upside down.!  Transgender people are not aiming to escape this life and our own bodies.  Rather, more than many, we are seeking to live more fully within them.  We may indeed in the past have had imposed on us false idealised mental conceptions of who and what we are  However, in accepting ourselves as loved and accepted chilldren of God, we are actually throwing them off and participating in the making real of our wondrous divine image in the here and now. 

For gnosticism is certainly a spiritual temptation.  It was a powerful entity in the first centuries of the early Church and it appears in different ways at other times in history.  Transgender people however are not contemporary examples.  Rather it is sometimes some of those religious people who oppose us who display such tendencies.  Too often, certain ideas of God and Christ are over-egged: making them akin to gnostic 'saving knowledge' detached from living and growing in the very material, fleshed-out, world in which we live.  For this world is  full of rich diversity which calls us all to deeper engagement not escape from mystery.  If anything, transgender people may thus be potential gifts into deeper 'orthodoxy' (understood both as 'right belief' and right glory').

Here are some other thoughts:
Why is N.T Wright calling transgender people gnostics? - by Morgan Gupton, director of the NOLA Wesley Foundation
Are Transgender people Gnostic?  - a CatholicTrans response

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  • Home
  • About
    • about this site
    • about the author
    • about transgender
  • Blog
  • Theology
    • Genesis and Creation
    • Freedom and Order
    • Gnosticism and heresy
    • Healing and Hope
    • Resurrection and the Body
    • sharing in New Creation
  • Scriptures
    • Christian love & identity
    • gender variant people in scripture
    • crossdressing
    • marriage and family
    • suffering and transformation
    • all one in Christ Jesus
  • Spirituality
    • Kaleidoscope people
    • trans experiences and reflections
    • spiritual practices
    • seeking justice and shalom
    • trans history
    • pioneer priests & inspirations
  • Resources
    • Trans Awareness Days
    • Celebrating Gender Diversity
    • Australian Trans Christian Stories
    • information & support
    • affirming religious groups
    • prayers & worship
    • trans affirmation in many faiths
    • online video clips
    • further reading
  • Contact