LGBTQ+ ISSUES
If the Bible reveals God’s character and will for our lives as believers, then we must ask the inescapable questions: What does the world say about gender identity and sexual preference? What does God say about the same topics? How do I as a Christian love my neighbor and while remaining faithful to God’s word?
BOOKS
IDENTITY AND TRANSGENDER ISSUES
Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution (TGC)
Carl R. Trueman and Ryan T. Anderson
How did the world arrive at its current, disorienting state of identity politics, and how should the church respond? This book shows how influences ranging from traditional institutions to technology and pornography moved modern culture toward an era of “expressive individualism.” Investigating philosophies from the Romantics, Nietzsche, Marx, Wilde, Freud, and the New Left, he outlines the history of Western thought to the distinctly sexual direction of present-day identity politics and explains the modern implications of these ideas on religion, free speech, and personal identity.
How to Find Yourself: Why Looking Inward Is Not the Answer
Brian S. Rosner and Carl R. Trueman
In the 21st-century West, identity is everything. It has never been more culturally important to know who you are and be true to yourself. Expressive individualism―the belief that looking inward is the way to find yourself―has become the primary approach to identity formation, and questioning anyone’s “self-made self” is often considered a threat or attack. This book argues that personal identity is formed not only by looking inward, but also by looking around to your relationships, backward and forward to your life stories, and upward to God.
God and the Transgender Debate: What Does the Bible Actually Say about Gender Identity?
Andrew T. Walker
In the West, more and more Christians are coming across the topic of gender identity in their everyday lives. Legislative changes are impacting more and more areas of life, including education, employment and state funding, with consequences for religious liberty, free speech and freedom of conscience that affect everyone. So it’s a crucial moment to consider how to engage lovingly, thoughtfully and biblically with one of the most explosive cultural discussions of our day. This book also answers questions such as: What is transgender and gender fluidity? How should churches respond? What does God’s word actually say about these issues?
Embodied: Transgender Identities, the Church, and What the Bible Has to Say
Preston Sprinkle
With careful research and an engaging style, Embodied explores: (1) What it means to be transgender, nonbinary, and gender-queer, and how these identities relate to being male or female; (2) Why most stereotypes about what it means to be a man and woman come from the culture and not the Bible; (3) What the Bible says about humans created in God’s image as male and female, and how this relates to transgender experiences; (4) Moral questions surrounding medical interventions such as sex reassignment surgery; (5) Which pronouns to use and how to navigate the bathroom debate; (6) Why more and more teens are questioning their gender.
When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment
Ryan T. Anderson
Can a boy be “trapped” in a girl’s body? Can modern medicine “reassign” sex? Is our sex “assigned” to us in the first place? What is the most loving response to a person experiencing a conflicted sense of gender? What should our law say on matters of “gender identity”? This book provides thoughtful answers to questions arising from our transgender moment. Drawing on the best insights from biology, psychology, and philosophy, it offers a nuanced view of human embodiment, a balanced approach to public policy on gender identity, and a sober assessment of the human costs of getting human nature wrong.
Understanding Transgender Identities: Four Views
James K. Beilby and Paul Rhodes Eddy
The “Four Views” series from Baker Academic presents different perspectives on a range of subjects of contemporary Christian debate. This book is about how to understand the identity of transgender people—that is, those whose gender identity as man or woman or other does not match the biological sex into which they were born.
BOOKS
(HOMO)SEXUALITY ISSUES
What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality?
Kevin DeYoung
Massive shifts in public opinion have radically reshaped society’s views on homosexuality. Feeling the pressure to forsake long-held beliefs about sex and marriage, some argue that Christians have historically misunderstood the Bible’s teaching on this issue. But does this approach do justice to what the Bible really teaches about homosexuality? This book challenges the skeptic, the seeker, the certain, and the confused to humblely examine God’s Word. It responds to popular objections raised by Christians and non-Christians alike by examining key biblical passages in both the Old and New Testaments and the Bible’s overarching teaching regarding sexuality.
Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was, and Who God Has Always Been
Jackie Hill Perry
This book shares Jackie’s story, offering practical tools that helped her in the process of finding wholeness. She grew up fatherless and experienced gender confusion. She embraced masculinity and homosexuality with every fiber of her being. She knew that Christians had a lot to say about all of the above. But was she supposed to change herself? How was she supposed to stop loving women, when homosexuality felt more natural to her than heterosexuality ever could?
Welcoming but Not Affirming: An Evangelical Response to Homosexuality
Stanley J. Grenz
This book asks: are same-sex relationships a viable, God-given way of giving expression to our sexuality? He reviews scientific research, the history of Christian teaching on homosexuality, the issue of biblical authority today, and the practical issues the church now faces, such as the blessing of same-sex unions, the ordination of homosexuals, and the church’s public stance on gay rights issues. Ultimately it proposes that it is possible for Christian communities to welcome homosexuals without affirming same-sex unions.
BOOKS
RESPONDING TO THE ISSUES
Messy Grace: How a Pastor with Gay Parents Learned to Love Others Without Sacrificing Conviction
Caleb Kaltenbach
Messy Grace shows us that Jesus’s command to “love your neighbor as yourself” doesn’t have an exception clause for a gay “neighbor”—or for that matter, any other “neighbor” we might find it hard to relate to. Jesus was able to love these people and yet still hold on to his beliefs. So can you. Even when it’s messy.
Messy Truth: How to Foster Community Without Sacrificing Conviction
Caleb Kaltenback
What should we do? This is a question many Christians are asking as they face shifting societal norms, conflicting opinions, and often inaccurate scriptural interpretations regarding those who identify as LGBTQ+. This book argues there’s a more helpful question: What am I willing to do to keep and build influence with ______________?
Embracing the Journey: A Christian Parents’ Blueprint to Loving Your LGBTQ Child
Greg and Lynn McDonald
Greg and Lynn McDonald had never interacted with members of the LGBTQ community until they discovered that their son was gay. Without resources or support, they had no idea how to come to terms with this discovery. At first they tried to “fix” him, to no avail. But even in the earliest days of their journey, the McDonalds clung to two absolutes: they would love God, and they would love their son. Based on their experience from counseling and coaching hundreds of struggling Christian parents, they offer in this book tools for understanding your own emotional patterns and spiritual challenges. They also help you experience a deeper relationship with God while handling difficult or unexpected situations that are out of your control. You will discover tested principles, patterns, and spiritual lessons that can change the way we all see our families and help Christians at large think through Christ-like ways to respond to the LGBTQ community.
3 Ways Parents Can Help Kids Navigate Transgender Ideology
Maria Baer
It’s the age of awkward elbows. Growth spurts. Acne. Body-image distortions. Hushed whispers at the lockers you’re convinced are about you. Adolescence can be terrible. But today’s young people face a new challenge on top of all the regular stuff: the ubiquity of transgender ideology.
How Should I Address My Transgender Colleague?(TGC)
Charlie Self
In this article Charlie Shelf discusses two foundational pillars and four facets of wisdom that can help in navigating this hot button issue.
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