Transgendering in the Bible?

[Natasha]

Transgendering in the Bible? 

http://www.cclmaine.org/artman/publish/errata/Transgendering_in_the_Bible.shtml
Published: 12/21/2007
Updated: 12/26/2007
By Name withheld

I find your analysis and response to a 10 year old male to female trans-gendered student disgusting and downright un-Christian. Do I need to remind you of the Eunuch in the Acts of the Apostles (what many theologians believe to be an account of someone who was trans-gendered being accepted for who they were.) 

On the web:
- The View From (Ab)Normal Heights (http://abnormalheights.org)
- Pam's House Blend (http://pamshouseblend.com)
- Ex-Gay Watch (http://www.exgaywatch.com)

[Hypatia]

Please check out the book Evolution's Rainbow by transsexual biologist Joan Roughgarden which includes a good study of transgender in the Bible, and how the Biblical text actually supports us rather than condemns us.

[Hazumu]

And I've found this helpful:

Whosoever websites' "A transgender theology"
It talks about eunuchs (transgenders) in the bible.

Karen

[bethzerosix]

also gendertree.com  this helped me A LOT!

[tekla]

Don't read the Bible, it will help you more than all the rest of those books.

[Sheila]

Why would anyone read a book that was revised 6 times by a king in England. He took a book that was thought to be the Bible at that time and rewrote it with his views. This is what millions and millions of people think is sacrament. I would just as soon read Dr Seus and believe in Green Ham.
Sheila

[Lisbeth]

And I've found this helpful:

Whosoever websites' "A transgender theology"
It talks about eunuchs (transgenders) in the bible.

Karen

Ah!  Starchild!  My mentor and salvation.

I was going to recommend Justin Tannis's book, but I can't find any place that sells it.

I can recommend this: By the Grace of God It is fully downloadable.

Why would anyone read a book that was revised 6 times by a king in England. He took a book that was thought to be the Bible at that time and rewrote it with his views. This is what millions and millions of people think is sacrament. I would just as soon read Dr Seus and believe in Green Ham.
Sheila

Since I don't read the King James Version, that's kind of immaterial.

[LostInTime]

The translators even screwed up the commandments. It most certainly is not Thou shall not kill, it is Thou shall not murder.

"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before," Bokonon tells us.  "He is full of
murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way." -- Kurt Vonnegut, "Cat's Cradle"

[tekla]

"Since I don't read the King James Version, that's kind of immaterial."

So you have some sort of access to the original documents (that don't exist) and can translate them from the original Aramaic or Hebrew?  Or perhaps you are using the old version of the Latin Vulgate?

This stuff was recorded in text form after being passed down from generation to generation, written in two languages, one now quite obscure, then translated badly into the Classical Greek, (Koine Greek - also now obscure) then into Latin (also obscure), through a couple of councils that fought over what should and should not be a part of it, and how it should be written, then translated several more time (badly) to arrive in English as "inerrant word of God" (something never claimed until modern times by the way). 

[Lisbeth]

"Since I don't read the King James Version, that's kind of immaterial."

So you have some sort of access to the original documents (that don't exist) and can translate them from the original Aramaic or Hebrew?  Or perhaps you are using the old version of the Latin Vulgate?

Well, uh, yes, I can.  I prefer the Nestle-Alland edition of the Greek and Stuttgard edition of the Hebrew.  I do also have Jerome's Vulgate.  And I am enough of a textual critic that I am satisfied with the semantics of the versions I read. 

And if you are going to put words like "the inerrant word of god" in my mouth, please check with me for proper quotation, first.  I get enough of that when Phil is writing press releases that have my name in them.

[tekla]

I'm kind of fond of the Richmond Lattimore work from the Classical Greek which reads more like a book.  And I put it in quotes, not because you said it, but because someone other than the writer (me) said it.  But like all works from antiquity, say Homer, it has to be read with a few pillars of salt.  It may well be that the 'what' (the destruction of Jericho for example) is true, but the why (metaphysical interference by invisible sky gods on the side of the Jews) might be lacking as a true explanation.

[RebeccaFog]

   I appreciate the initial posting in this thread which draws attention to the news story.


I also am enjoying the discussion between Lisbeth and Tekla.

I also agree with Tekla and Sheila

[Pica Pica]

Why would anyone read a book that was revised 6 times by a king in England. He took a book that was thought to be the Bible at that time and rewrote it with his views.

Think Queen Anne designed chair legs?

[Hypatia]

I thought she made lace.

[IsabelleStPierre]

Why would anyone read a book that was revised 6 times by a king in England. He took a book that was thought to be the Bible at that time and rewrote it with his views. This is what millions and millions of people think is sacrament. I would just as soon read Dr Seus and believe in Green Ham.
Sheila

And when you consider that the bible was actually put together by a group of men and whole chapters that contradicted other chapters were removed...I'm sorry but in my opinion...religion is just some people was of trying to control other's for their own benefit.

Peace and love,
Isabelle St-Pierre

Who thinks the bible is one of the best selling works of fiction in the history of mankind....

[Pica Pica]

but what a story eh? if only us non-committees could get something that textured.

[tekla]

Well part of the problem is that its not one story, like Lord of the Rings, its many - some unique, others like the Flood, ripped off whole cloth from other myths in that area.  They conflict with each other in critical parts, which does not help the credibility deal much.  Given 4 gospels you have two differing accounts of the last words of Jesus.

Moreover, some of the writers are mindblowing, almost beyond measure.  The account of creation is near perfect in its sublime telling.  However other parts were law, and written like it (boring).  And other parts are not as well written, and kind of yeech.  You have the gospel of John, as magical as any Gandalf stuff, and letters of Paul as mean as anything you'll ever read.

[LostInTime]

Almost every story in the Bible came from other cultures. They were merely adapted for public consumption of a new mythology.

[RebeccaFog]

       What if the people who misinterpret everything in the bible were gathered together and reading their bibles and they realized for serious that they were all wrong about homosexuality and ->-bleeped-<-?

       I wonder if they would renounce the whole entire bible, or if they would edit it or if they would just accept they were wrong?

[tekla]

"Almost every story in the Bible came from other cultures"

And that includes most of the New Testament too.  The story of Jesus follows in so many ways the myths of other cultures, but of course, if your trying to sell something new, its best when you can sell them something they already bought under a new name.