I recall the late theologian Uta Ranke-Heinemann writing a 1988 critique of the Catholic Church called “Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven”, based on this same Bible passage (Matthew 19:12).
That Bible passage is about how male Christians should reject sexual desire, not about how gender-nonconforming individuals are “model disciples”.
Also, in places as diverse as Ancient Assyria and medieval England, castration was used as a punishment for crime.
I doubt any of the poor blokes who got their privates hacked off as a result, would have been comforted by the idea that they were now Special Gender Folk.
The Complete Gospels by Robert J. Miller goes back to the original Greek and translates the line as, “There are castrated men who are born that way, and there are castrated men who were castrated by others, and there are castrated men who castrated themselves…”
Friends of mine work as simultaneous interpreters. In their work, they may have the right to say “HOLD UP. The interpreter is unable to provide an equivalent message in the target language due to the speed of the presenter. Please adjust your pace to one which is manageable.” . . Well, something to that effect. But, as these interpreters like to point out, GIGO. If the person receiving the interpreted message thinks, “What a load of bollocks!!”, then perhaps a successful interpretation has happened.
This is possibly going to disturb those TRAs who are convinced that believing there are only 2 sexes is an explicitly religious belief.
Let there be trans! — Love, God (they/them).
Then the mighty Trans Cult subsumed Christianity.
Absurd is right.
I recall the late theologian Uta Ranke-Heinemann writing a 1988 critique of the Catholic Church called “Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven”, based on this same Bible passage (Matthew 19:12).
That Bible passage is about how male Christians should reject sexual desire, not about how gender-nonconforming individuals are “model disciples”.
Also, in places as diverse as Ancient Assyria and medieval England, castration was used as a punishment for crime.
I doubt any of the poor blokes who got their privates hacked off as a result, would have been comforted by the idea that they were now Special Gender Folk.
The Complete Gospels by Robert J. Miller goes back to the original Greek and translates the line as, “There are castrated men who are born that way, and there are castrated men who were castrated by others, and there are castrated men who castrated themselves…”
“Are trans people mentioned in the Bible?”
“No. But if we pretend eunuch means trans person, then suddenly yes.”
Friends of mine work as simultaneous interpreters. In their work, they may have the right to say “HOLD UP. The interpreter is unable to provide an equivalent message in the target language due to the speed of the presenter. Please adjust your pace to one which is manageable.” . . Well, something to that effect. But, as these interpreters like to point out, GIGO. If the person receiving the interpreted message thinks, “What a load of bollocks!!”, then perhaps a successful interpretation has happened.